When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.

Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.

But for me to have the opportunity to stand in front of a bunch of executives and present myself, I had to hustle in my own way. I can’t tell you how frustrating it was that they didn’t get that. No joke – I’d leave meetings crying all the time.

My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty… it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein.

A President’s hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right.

The worst disease which can afflict executives in their work is not, as popularly supposed, alcoholism; it’s egotism.

Our chief justices have probably had more profound and lasting influence on their times and on the direction of the nation than most presidents.

It is just as important that business keep out of government as that government keep out of business.

Power is poison. Its effect on Presidents had always been tragic.

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

The true history of my administration will be written 50 years from now, and you and I will not be around to see it.

You cannot be President of the United States if you don’t have faith. Remember Lincoln, going to his knees in times of trial in the Civil War and all that stuff.

Those newspapers of the nation which most loudly cried dictatorship against me would have been the first to justify the beginnings of dictatorship by somebody else.

I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the President. I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn’t return. I’ve shared the pain of families who’ve lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who’ve lost their jobs.

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

The time has come for all evangelists to practice full financial disclosure. The world is watching how we walk and how we talk. We must have the highest standards of morality, ethics and integrity if we are to continue to have influence.

I love that we can trust Barack to do what he says he’s going to do, even when it’s hard – especially when it’s hard.

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

Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel.

There’s no difference between one’s killing and making decisions that will send others to kill. It’s exactly the same thing, or even worse.

The time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips closed.

Every man, every woman who has to take up the service of government, must ask themselves two questions: ‚Do I love my people in order to serve them better? Am I humble and do I listen to everybody, to diverse opinions in order to choose the best path?‘ If you don’t ask those questions, your governance will not be good.

Science is the captain, and practice the soldiers.

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

Some years ago I became president of Columbia University and learned within 24 hours to be ready to speak at the drop of a hat, and I learned something more, the trustees were expected to be ready to speak at the passing of the hat.

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

It is necessary for him who lays out a state and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all men are evil and that they are always going to act according to the wickedness of their spirits whenever they have free scope.

If you want to reach the top, don’t run over others. Likely, the only way you’ll reach the top is to be carried there by others.

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

Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.

Even to observe neutrality you must have a strong government.

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

I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end… I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside of me.

Some single mind must be master, else there will be no agreement in anything.

Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.

I think I’d be a better president because I was in combat.

I don’t like to see a president who is just out campaigning all year long or for the last four years. I’d like to see somebody who’s going in the office. In fact, I’d like to not see them because that way you’d be sure that they’d be working.

I’m going to be so much better a president for having been at the CIA that you’re not going to believe it.

Always do everything you ask of those you command.

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.

Example is leadership.

The issues that cross a president’s desk are never easy. The easy questions don’t even get to the president.

In George Bush you get experience, and with me you get – The Future!

We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly.

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

In order to fulfill the aspirations of masses, we have to sharpen the tool called the government machinery: we have to make it keen, more dynamic, and it is in this direction that we are working.

The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.

Being president isn’t anything like reality TV. It’s not about sending insulting tweets or making fiery speeches; it’s about whether or not the candidate can handle the awesome responsibility of leading this country.

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

Anybody who tells you that a two-day conference, you’re going to turn into the General Patton of leadership, they’re not telling you the truth. But you can learn the fundamentals; you can absolutely understand the fundamentals.

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

Just as discipline and freedom are opposing forces that must be balanced, leadership requires finding the equilibrium in the dichotomy of many seemingly contradictory qualities between one extreme and another.

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

The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, ‚We did it ourselves.‘

A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today – and in fact we have forgotten.

It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea.

No policy that does not rest upon some philosophical public opinion can be permanently maintained.

Do I think faith will be an important part of being a good president? Yes, I do.

Surveys show our standing around the world is higher than when I was elected to this office, and when it comes to every important international issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead – they call us.

You can play fast but not in a hurry. As a point guard, I can dictate that.

Romney and Ryan would do a much better job running the country, and that’s what everybody needs to know.