Putin goes to bed at night knowing he can break all the rules, and the West will follow all the rules.

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

I’m not a big politics guy.

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.

Everything rises and falls on leadership.

In Romania, American forces have found a devoted NATO ally.

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.

Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.

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.

Barack Obama is probably the most exciting candidate that either the Democratic or Republican party has produced at least since I’ve been around. He’s fresh, he’s new, he’s insightful.

If we could just find out who’s in charge, we could kill him.

In a democracy, allegations will never improve situations. So, I’m against allegations, but I always welcome criticism.

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?

If you have to control people, you have to have an administrative force that does it. So in U.S. industry, even more than elsewhere, there’s layer after layer of management – a kind of economic waste, but useful for control and domination. And the same is true in universities.

It is a fine game to play – the game of politics – and it is well worth waiting for a good hand before really plunging.

All of us are mentors. You’re mentors right here and now. And one of the things I’ve always done throughout my life, I have always found that person, that group of people that I was going to reach my hand out and help bring them along with me.

Everywhere I go I find that people… both leaders and individuals… are asking one basic question, ‚Is there any hope for the future?‘ My answer is the same, ‚Yes, through Jesus Christ.‘

By what principle of original right is it that one-fiftieth or one-ninetieth of a great nation, by calling themselves a State, have the right to break up and ruin that nation as a matter of original principle?

Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war you can only be killed once, but in politics many times.

Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.

When it comes to the health of our families, Barack refused to listen to all those folks who told him to leave health reform for another day, another president. He didn’t care whether it was the easy thing to do politically – that’s not how he was raised – he cared that it was the right thing to do.

I have spoken to Chinese leaders occasionally on human rights, but I’ve always done it in private.

Senator McCain is Israel’s most unconditional ally in Mossad’s machinations, something that even his worst adversaries would have been able to imagine. McCain participated alongside this secret service in the creation of the Islamic State, which has appropriated a considerable part of Iraq as well as a third of Syria, according to its affirmations.

Yup, the whole birther movement was racist.

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.

Winning the election is a good-news, bad-news kind of thing. Okay, now you’re the mayor. The bad news is, now you’re the mayor.

Life in general has never been even close to fair, so the pretense that the government can make it fair is a valuable and inexhaustible asset to politicians who want to expand government.

You don’t lead by hitting people over the head – that’s assault, not leadership.

What we need to understand is that when traditions become laws, rules, obligations and expectations others put on us that we don’t want to fulfill, then they lose real meaning and steal the joy from our lives. And if we’re too religious, we won’t be able to be led by the Holy Spirit and enjoy an intimate relationship with Him.

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

I speak directly to the people, and I know that the people of California want to have better leadership. They want to have great leadership. They want to have somebody that will represent them. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, young or old.

I would rather earn 1% off a 100 people’s efforts than 100% of my own efforts.

Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.

Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.

The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore we should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive.

I always believe the rule by king or official leader is outdated. Now we must catch up with the modern world.

Ohio claims they are due a president as they haven’t had one since Taft. Look at the United States, they have not had one since Lincoln.

If I’m going to get you to do stuff, I need to lead you. I can’t just order you to do it.

Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

If the federal government had been around when the Creator was putting His hand to this state, Indiana wouldn’t be here. It’d still be waiting for an environmental impact statement.

I don’t say very much I don’t really think through. I know that sounds inconsistent with Joe Biden.

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

Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.

No matter how hard we might wish, we will not be able to transform China’s behavior overnight.

One’s only rival is one’s own potentialities. One’s only failure is failing to live up to one’s own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king.

The spirit of this country is totally adverse to a large military force.

We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.

The governments of the present day have to deal not merely with other governments, with emperors, kings and ministers, but also with the secret societies which have everywhere their unscrupulous agents, and can at the last moment upset all the governments‘ plans.

For all who love freedom and peace, the world without Saddam Hussein’s regime is a better and safer place.

There is but one way for a president to deal with Congress, and that is continuously, incessantly, and without interruption. If it is really going to work, the relationship has got to be almost incestuous.

There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.

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.

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.

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.

People and organizations don’t grow much without delegation and completed staff work because they are confined to the capacities of the boss and reflect both personal strengths and weaknesses.

I believe that in every country the people themselves are more peaceably and liberally inclined than their governments.

Unless a president can protect the privacy of the advice he gets, he cannot get the advice he needs.

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

Politics is the womb in which war develops.

And frankly, I don’t understand – I mean, I’m obviously a card-carrying Democrat – but I can’t understand why any woman would want to vote for Mitt Romney, except maybe Mrs. Romney.