The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.

I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is opposed to every instinct in my body. But as president I must put the interests of America first Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.

All my authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.

As a child, when asked what I would be, I usually said I was going to be a huntsman. A fine profession, truly!

I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.

I can’t imagine what this place would be – I can’t imagine what the country would be – with Donald Trump as our president.

You just wait. I’m going to be the biggest Chinese Star in the world.

We did not choose to be the guardians of the gate, but there is no one else.

Leadership is absolutely vital if there are comparable countries which can affect the security of the world you live in. Between Lincoln and Roosevelt’s time, America was protected by huge oceans and, in practice, by the British navy. Today, it’s different, and the obsession of the Obama administration has been for retrenchment.

Leaders in all spheres who are living with HIV should be encouraged, not coerced, to lead by example and disclose their HIV status.

Kids will remind you that, even though you’ve gone down a road 100 times, it’s brand new for them – and that’s healthy.

My dad had a church of 90 people when I was born. It was just, over the years it continued to grow.

It’s stasis that kills you off in the end, not ambition.

Whatever position I occupied, it was the result of colleagues – of my comrades in the movement – who had decided in their wisdom to use me for the purpose of focusing the attention of the country and the international community on me.

The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.

Every wall is a door.

When you’re young, you keep reading new writers and you keep changing your mind about how you ought to sound.

But now, being a parent, I go home and see my son and I forget about any mistake I ever made or the reason I’m upset. I get home and my son is smiling or he comes running to me. It has just made me grow as an individual and grow as a man.

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.

I believe the most solemn duty of the American president is to protect the American people. If America shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.

A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman.

Leadership is hard. It’s a skill. It’s a technique.

I think if someone gets kicked in the face it is their fault – they watched the foot come towards their face.

I love that for Barack, there is no such thing as ‚us‘ and ‚them‘ – he doesn’t care whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or none of the above… he knows that we all love our country… and he’s always ready to listen to good ideas… he’s always looking for the very best in everyone he meets.

When you meet chimps you meet individual personalities. When a baby chimp looks at you it’s just like a human baby. We have a responsibility to them.

Love is the answer, and you know that for sure; Love is a flower, you’ve got to let it grow.

Wise kings generally have wise counselors; and he must be a wise man himself who is capable of distinguishing one.

It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.

The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.

I think New York has evolved in my work just the way the city has.

I think Clinton, after getting into office and into Washington, was shocked at being bludgeoned. So he spent time trying to be all things to all people – one way guaranteed not to be successful or respected in a lion’s den. You can’t just play around with all those big cats – you’ve got to take somebody on.

I just think it is important that you realize, that you’re the best in the world. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican or whether you’re libertarian or whatever, you are the best. And we should not ever forget that. And when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go.

My mother had a saying: ‚Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you’re not the last.‘

The ideal girl is driven, working on something other than modeling or being a singer.

Everybody that I was in school with had an uncle or father in the law, and I started to realize that I was going to end up writing briefs for about ten years for these fellows who I thought I was smarter than. And I was kind of losing my feeling for that.

If you change and adapt your persona, you are seen as inauthentic; if you stay the angry young man, you fade from attention or seem tiresome.

A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune and favour cannot satisfy him.

I break ground. I trailblaze.

Control is the source of strategic power.

The prospect of dating someone in her twenties becomes less appealing as you get older. At some point in your life, your tolerance level goes down and you realize that, with someone much younger, there’s nothing really to talk about.

Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.

It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are the more gentle and quiet we become towards the defects of others.

Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country? If you are the first, then you are a parasite; if the second, then you are an oasis in the desert.

The function of posterity is to look after itself.

Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.

I do the dishes every night – other people volunteer, but I like the way I do it.

Blessed are the people whose leaders can look destiny in the eye without flinching but also without attempting to play God.

I’m definitely gaining new fans, and that’s the key of any success… gain more love.

It is a fine thing to have ability, but the ability to discover ability in others is the true test.

A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.

Big results require big ambitions.

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.

Each life is made up of mistakes and learning, waiting and growing, practicing patience and being persistent.

We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.

I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.

I’m not trying to get myself up a notch on the ladder by shoving somebody else down on the ladder, whether it’s a candidate or the president of the United States or anybody else. I just don’t believe that’s the way one oughta campaign, I’ve never done that.

Experience is one thing you can’t get for nothing.

An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.

There’s a lack of people in power that are motivated by the idea of helping people.