Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf; is better than a whole loaf.

When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.

For my career, I wouldn’t go racing if I didn’t enjoy it. I still need to have my say, and not just get put with a team and get told to deal with it.

War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.

If the critics are right that I’ve made all my decisions based on polls, then I must not be very good at reading them.

The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.

Let’s just be smart this time. I’m looking for smart.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the undecideds could go one way or another.

Barack Obama would not be President if he were dark skin. You know what I mean? That’s just the truth. I might not be as successful as I am now if I was dark skin.

The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it.

To compromise simply means that you go a tiny bit below what you know is right.

International affairs is very much run like the mafia. The godfather does not accept disobedience, even from a small storekeeper who doesn’t pay his protection money. You have to have obedience; otherwise, the idea can spread that you don’t have to listen to the orders, and it can spread to important places.

Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes.

The men who have guided the destiny of the United States have found the strength for their tasks by going to their knees. This private unity of public men and their God is an enduring source of reassurance for the people of America.

Thinking isn’t agreeing or disagreeing. That’s voting.

All modern revolutions have ended in a reinforcement of the power of the State.

I hope that no American will waste his franchise and throw away his vote by voting either for me or against me solely on account of my religious affiliation. It is not relevant.

Sure there are dishonest men in local government. But there are dishonest men in national government too.

I don’t usually admire Sarah Palin, but when she was making fun of this ‚hopey changey stuff,‘ she was right: there was nothing there.

I think that people are tired. They’re tired of the same old kind of politics. People want a new tone to politics.

I wish I could make music about politics. I feel like it’s such an art and a talent that I admire tremendously, but when I step into the studio, I step out of the real world, and it’s therapeutic.

Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering.

Politically, the world is so confused right now – there’s so much suffering caused by various movements by various parties and people in power in government.

Not brute force but only persuasion and faith are the kings of this world.

No body can be healthful without exercise, neither natural body nor politic, and certainly, to a kingdom or estate, a just and honourable war is the true exercise.

In every society some men are born to rule, and some to advise.

When it comes to the qualifications that we should demand of our president, to start with, we need someone who will take the job seriously.

I think my message to the politicians who have within their power the ability to make change is, ‚Do you really, really not care about the future of your great-grandchildren? Because if we let the world continue to be destroyed the way we are now, what’s the world going to be like for your great-grandchildren?‘

I think business has to be stupider. I want to do really straightforward, stupid business – just talk to me like a 4-year-old. And I refuse to negotiate. I do not negotiate. I can collaborate. But I’m an artist, so as soon as you negotiate, you’re being compromised.

As I have done in every election since I started voting so many years ago, I always like to take my time and examine the two candidates, see not only the two candidates but the policies they will bring in, the people they will bring in, who they might appoint to the Supreme Court, and look at the whole range of issues before making a decision.

One of the things being in politics has taught me is that men are not a reasoned or reasonable sex.

Positional leaders ignore the fact that every person has hopes, dreams, desires, and goals of his own. And leaders must bring their vision and the aspirations of the people they lead together in a way that benefits everyone.

I had therefore to remove knowledge, in order to make room for belief.

You may either win your peace or buy it: win it, by resistance to evil; buy it, by compromise with evil.

I would just like to say something, ladies and gentlemen. Something that I think is very important. It is that, you, we – we own this country. We – we own it. It is not you owning it, and not politicians owning it. Politicians are employees of ours.

I’m not a marketing person. I don’t ask myself questions. I go by instinct.

Commodities such as gold and silver have a world market that transcends national borders, politics, religions, and race. A person may not like someone else’s religion, but he’ll accept his gold.

Since it is difficult to join them together, it is safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.

So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for every thing one has a mind to do.

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

The most important thing for a director is being able to communicate.

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.

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.

There’s a reason why the Foo Fighters don’t blast out Nirvana songs every night: because we have a lot of respect for them. You know, that’s hallowed ground. We have to be careful. We have to tread lightly. We have talked about it before, but the opportunity hasn’t really come up, or it just hasn’t felt right.

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

I have learned, in my life and work as a sportswriter, that big-time Sports and big-time Politics are not so far apart in America. They are both a means to the same end, which is victory… And why not? Victory is good for you, and don’t let anybody tell you different.

Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room.

Carry the battle to them. Don’t let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive and don’t ever apologize for anything.

I did my utmost to ensure that everyone below me in the chain of command felt comfortable approaching me with concerns, ideas, thoughts, and even disagreements.

If you can ask a young man to give his life for his country, you can lead people.

The fundamental question I believe is, ‚Is political Islam in our best interest?‘ If not, what is our policy to authoritatively support the countervailing forces?

Politics… have always been the systematic organization of hatreds.

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.

It makes a great deal of difference whether one wills not to sin or has not the knowledge to sin.

I think I became more productive through not having children. I never really had the desire to have them. My husband didn’t want them either, so it worked out well.

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

Politics has always been ugly to me, and yet I accept that as a fact of life.

Politically there were failures. And also on the personal level, there were tremendous failures.

Sometimes we be playing the politics too much and forget who we are just to win.

An election is a moral horror, as bad as a battle except for the blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.

Before we acquire great power we must acquire wisdom to use it well.