We also can’t try to take over and rebuild every country that falls into crisis. That’s not leadership; that’s a recipe for quagmire, spilling American blood and treasure that ultimately weakens us. It’s the lesson of Vietnam, of Iraq – and we should have learned it by now.

I believe in Coach Louis Wong. He is so much more than just a football coach.

The trouble with Nixon is that he’s a serious politics junkie. He’s totally hooked and like any other junkie, he’s a bummer to have around, especially as President.

Leaders who are kind of insecure or egocentric, they basically sabotage themselves.

A master performer like Bill Clinton never lost sight of the fact that as president he had to project confidence and power, but if he was speaking to a group of autoworkers he would adjust his accent and his words to fit the audience, and do the same for a group of executives.

Only the guy who isn’t rowing has time to rock the boat.

So while I will never minimize the costs involved in military action, I am convinced that a failure to act in Libya would have carried a far greater price for America.

Ever since Israel has been a nation the United States has provided the leadership. Every president down to the ages has done this in a fairly balanced way, including George Bush senior, Gerald Ford, and others including myself and Bill Clinton.

I’m not a one-man show. I was never that in my life, and I never want to be that.

It is as hard and severe a thing to be a true politician as to be truly moral.

Managers today have to do more with less, and get better results from limited resources, more than ever before.

Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy.

People who add value to others do so intentionally. I say that because to add value, leaders must give of themselves, and that rarely occurs by accident.

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

What kind of people do they think we are? Is it possible they do not realize that we shall never cease to persevere against them until they have been taught a lesson which they and the world will never forget?

Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.

If people lose faith in their government, the result is the same whether or not the loss of confidence is justified.

When I started Virgin from a basement in west London, there was no great plan or strategy. I didn’t set out to build a business empire… For me, building a business is all about doing something to be proud of, bringing talented people together and creating something that’s going to make a real difference to other people’s lives.

A president either is constantly on top of events or, if he hesitates, events will soon be on top of him. I never felt that I could let up for a moment.

You know I vowed when I became President not to talk about the loneliest toughest job in the world and I didn’t.

Leadership is a choice, not a position.

In 1961, the United States began chemical warfare in Vietnam, South Vietnam, chemical warfare to destroy crops and livestock. That went on for seven years. The level of poison – they used the most extreme carcinogen known: dioxin. And this went on for years.

Arafat’s departure has created an awesome opportunity.

I want the politicians to prioritise the climate question, focus on the climate and treat it like a crisis.

I don’t see the wisdom in modern politicians that I once saw in men like Dean Acheson, David Bruce, or George Marshall. In my day, the northeastern establishment dominated foreign policy formulation, but the composition and distribution of our population is very different today.

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.

Don’t blame the marketing department. The buck stops with the chief executive.

For success of any mission, it is necessary to have creative leadership. Creative leadership is vital for government, non-governmental organisations as well as for industries.

I’ve never seen America as an imperialist or colonialist or meddling country.

I think if we go back and check our record, the Negro has proven beyond a doubt that we have been more than patient in seeking our rights as American citizens.

I’m more than comfortable just sitting back and scoring 21, 22 points or whatever and getting 10, 11 assists whatever the case might be. More than comfortable with that. It’s just a matter of the pieces that you have around you and what you can do to elevate everybody else.

For me every ruler is alien that defies public opinion.

Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.

When you’re one of the leaders of the team, there are no days off.

Every President wants to do right.

I think with the Romans, that the general of today should be a soldier tomorrow if necessary.

I can die a happy man never having been president of the United States of America. But it doesn’t mean I won’t run.

Let me tell you what I literally told every world leader I’ve met with, and I’ve met them all: It’s never, never, never been a good bet to bet against America. We have the finest fighting force in the world.

But even the President of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked.

In my country we go to prison first and then become President.

I had rather be first in a village than second at Rome.

For somebody who loves foreign policy, being Secretary is the best job in the world – but it doesn’t happen twice.

Especially when you’re at a high level in an organization, criticism can be devastating to an employee. I prefer to praise employees for what they’re doing right, and it tends to lead to them doing more of the same. Not always, but it’s the way I choose to bet.

I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well.

The list of U.S. vetoes at the Security Council to protect Israeli aggression and occupation is huge.

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

It is my view that we cannot conduct foreign policy at the extremes.

Many years ago, I concluded that a few hair shirts were part of the mental wardrobe of every man. The president differs from other men in that he has a more extensive wardrobe.

The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men.

This President is going to lead us out of this recovery.

The other day the President said, I know you’ve had some rough times, and I want to do something that will show the nation what faith that I have in you, in your maturity and sense of responsibility. He paused, then said, would you like a puppy?

Certainly in the next 50 years we shall see a woman president, perhaps sooner than you think. A woman can and should be able to do any political job that a man can do.

I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together.

Good leaders must communicate vision clearly, creatively, and continually. However, the vision doesn’t come alive until the leader models it.

We should work with the principle that a work that can be done at a lower level should never be escalated to a higher level.

In politics nothing is contemptible.

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

All leaders in the Lord’s Church are called by proper authority. No prophet or any other leader in this Church, for that matter, has ever called himself or herself. No prophet has ever been elected.

If September 11th has taught us anything, it’s certainly that the world has never been so interdependent. It is impossible now to be an island of prosperity in a sea of despair.

In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.

What I admire most about Hillary is that she never buckles under pressure. She never takes the easy way out. And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life.