To rule is easy, to govern difficult.

The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of because words diminish your feelings – words shrink things that seem timeless when they are in your head to no more than living size when they are brought out.

In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.

Most of the problems a President has to face have their roots in the past.

You do the policy, I’ll do the politics.

Many people, including some conservatives, have been very impressed with how brainy the president and his advisers are. But that is not quite as reassuring as it might seem.

How do leaders serve their people? They may pay good wages and treat employees with respect.

It’s amazing, the culture Coach Belichick has been able to create in our system.

No one ever teaches well who wants to teach, or governs well who wants to govern.

It doesn’t take a majority to make a rebellion; it takes only a few determined leaders and a sound cause.

I will keep America moving forward, always forward, for a better America, for an endless enduring dream and a thousand Points of Light. This is my mission, and I will complete it.

We must have government that builds stamina into communities and men. That makes men instead of mendicants.

I don’t need a successor, only willing hands to accept the torch for a new generation.

I played by the rules of politics as I found them.

One of the things that was really an issue was I did not want to just be a woman secretary of state. I wanted to be a secretary of a state who was a woman, but not just chosen for that particular reason.

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.

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

The more nobly a man wills and acts, the more avid he becomes for great and sublime aims to pursue. He will no longer be content with family, country, and the remunerative aspect of his work. He will want wider organisations to create, new paths to blaze, causes to uphold, truths to discover, an ideal to cherish and defend.

I have no ambition to govern men; it is a painful and thankless office.

Some day I shall be President.

Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs.

The people of the world genuinely want peace. Some day the leaders of the world are going to have to give in and give it to them.

Put two or three men in positions of conflicting authority. This will force them to work at loggerheads, allowing you to be the ultimate arbiter.

If you’re going to change things, you have to be with the people who hold the levers.

I remember the last three days that I was president, I never went to bed at all. I never went to bed until we had negotiated the final release of the hostages.

I think whether you’re having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude.

Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth’s surface relative to other matter; second, telling other people to do so.

I neither will aspire to nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief.

I hate letting my teammates down. I know I’m not going to make every shot. Sometimes I try to make the right play, and if it results in a loss, I feel awful. I don’t feel awful because I have to answer questions about it. I feel awful in that locker room because I could have done something more to help my teammates win.

Those who cannot think or take responsibility for themselves need, and clamor for, a leader.

Military school was great and especially great for leadership and then I spent two years in Vietnam.

The proper study of Man is anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.

History reminds us that dictators and despots arise during times of severe economic crisis.

Decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.

When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible.

No foreign policy – no matter how ingenious – has any chance of success if it is born in the minds of a few and carried in the hearts of none.

You think that the heads of state only have serious conversations, but they actually often begin really with the weather or, ‚I really like your tie.‘

If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results.

When I was elected President nobody asked me to negotiate between Israel and Egypt. It was not even a question raised in my campaign. But I felt that one of the reasons that I was elected President was to try to bring peace to the Holy Land.

If you call yourself a leader, then you have to be decisive. If you’re decisive, then you have the chance to be a leader. These are two sides to the same coin.

I don’t think I would run for president.

To govern means to pillage, as everyone knows.

That’s the good thing about being president, I can do whatever I want.

In various countries and times, leaders of groups that lagged behind, economically and educationally, have taught their followers to blame all their problems on other people – and to hate those other people.

You want me to own a team and deal with these rich, spoiled stubborn athletes, and try to get them to perform? No thank you.

To some degree it matters who’s in office, but it matters more how much pressure they’re under from the public.

How can we help President Obama?

I try to lead by example, being conscious of others and being responsible.

The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands.

With tech companies, whoever’s the leader is always questioned, you know. They say, ‚Is this the end of them?‘ And – there’s more – more times people think that’s the case than it really is the case.

I always tell people that you should only hire people to be on your team if you would work for them.

The man who occupies the first place seldom plays the principal part.

Personally, I’d like to see more of our leaders take a technocratic approach to solving our biggest problems.

In action a great heart is the chief qualification. In work, a great head.

The best leaders are readers of people. They have the intuitive ability to understand others by discerning how they feel and recognizing what they sense.

I want to be just a pure spiritual leader.

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.

Most people don’t like change. They revolt against it unless they can clearly see the advantage it brings. For that reason, when good leaders prepare to take action or make changes, they take people through a process to get them ready for it.

Be the chief but never the lord.

The measure of a man is what he does with power.

Earn your success based on service to others, not at the expense of others.