Inspirational Quotes
Words to motivate, inspire, and guide you.
Colin Powell Quotes
Work EthicProfessionalismBalanceDedication Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.
ResponsibilityGovernanceConsequenceOwnership You need to understand, if you take out a government, take out a regime, guess who becomes the government and regime and is responsible for the country? You are. So if you break it, you own it.
OptimismHopePerspectiveEncouragement It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
RepublicanismSocial ViewsDefense I consider myself a moderate Republican. I have very, very moderate social views, and I'm pretty strong on, on defense matters.
PerseveranceResilienceDetermination I was born in Harlem, raised in the South Bronx, went to public school, got out of public college, went into the Army, and then I just stuck with it.
LeadershipVigilanceAttention to Detail Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.
International RelationsCooperation I don't know that there is much the United States can do except work with the international community.
SuccessPerfectionHard WorkLearningLoyaltyPersistence Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.
VotingDecision MakingInformed Choice 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.
PurposeStrategyDecisivenessResolution You have to make sure you know why you are going to war and then use decisive force to end it as soon as possible.
IntoleranceAdvocacyReligious TolerancePolitics In 2008, I spoke out against calling the president a Muslim as if that was a curse. And then in 2012, once again, I was very disturbed about some of the intolerance I was seeing in the party, so I made a statement saying there's a level of intolerance in some parts of the Republican Party. And there was, and I think there still is.
Social UnrestInequalityDiscontentProtest What you're seeing with Occupy Wall Street and the others are people who are unhappy and they're directing their unhappiness now toward Wall Street and toward those they think are doing too well in our society.
ResilienceProblem SolvingLeadershipFailure In other words, don't expect to always be great. Disappointments, failures and setbacks are a normal part of the lifecycle of a unit or a company and what the leader has to do is constantly be up and say 'we have a problem, let's go and get it'.
VotingPolitical PhilosophyAgendaPlatform You're not just voting for an individual, in my judgment, you're voting for an agenda. You're voting for a platform. You're voting for a political philosophy.
GenerosityInternational AidContribution The United States is not stingy. We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world.
DreamDeterminationHard WorkPerseverance A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.
DiplomacyListeningRelationshipCollaboration Diplomacy is listening to what the other guy needs. Preserving your own position, but listening to the other guy. You have to develop relationships with other people so when the tough times come, you can work together.
Support for ChildrenUnity Standing in support of children is something we should all be able to get behind, regardless of party affiliation.
WarPrudencePurposePublic Support War should be the politics of last resort. And when we go to war, we should have a purpose that our people understand and support.
StrengthPeaceServiceDiplomacy Indeed, we're strongest when the face of America isn't only a soldier carrying a gun but also a diplomat negotiating peace, a Peace Corps volunteer bringing clean water to a village, or a relief worker stepping off a cargo plane as floodwaters rise.
Dishonesty President Assad, I worked with. I know him reasonably well, met with him a few times, and he's a liar.
HopePeaceDisarmamentA Better World Today I can declare my hope and declare it from the bottom of my heart that we will eventually see the time when that number of nuclear weapons is down to zero and the world is a much better place.
EducationSafetyValueResponsibilityOpportunity Children need to get a high-quality education, avoid violence and the criminal-justice system, and gain jobs. But they deserve more. We want them to learn not only reading and math but fairness, caring, self-respect, family commitment, and civic duty.
DiplomacyPeaceReconciliationConflict We have practiced diplomacy since the very beginning of the nation. Sometimes it has not worked, and we've had to go to war. I always believe you should try to find peace and reconciliation before conflict. That has been the approach I've taken.
Founding FathersConstitutional ConventionSlavery You should see what our Founding Fathers used to say to each other and in the early part of our nation. But what they were able to do, especially in Philadelphia in 1787, four months, they argued about what a House should be, what a Senate should be, the power of the president, the Congress, the Supreme Court. And they had to deal with slavery.
BeliefWinningConfidence So like any football or basketball coach, you always always believe you're going to win.
Social MediaPublic DiscourseSocietal Improvement The country would be a lot better off if we stopped having comment sections. And if we got rid of Twitter.
American LeadershipGlobal Dominance Look at the world. There is no pure competitor to the United States of America.
PeaceSecurityJusticeLegitimacyPower The purposes of the United States should not be doubted. The Security Council resolutions will be enforced - the just demands of peace and security will be met - or action will be unavoidable. And a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power.
Religious FreedomAmerican IdentityOpportunityAspiration Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no. That's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be president?
Self-RelianceProblem SolvingIndependenceEffort Don't bother people for help without first trying to solve the problem yourself.
Civil WarInterventionInternational RelationsConflict There are lots of countries that are having these kinds of internal civil wars in other parts of the world and nobody is talking about intervening.
LeadershipProblem SolvingTrustEmpathy 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.
DiplomacyValueInvestmentNational Identity Our diplomacy and development budget is not just about reducing spending and finding efficiencies. We need a frank conversation about what we stand for as that 'shining city on a hill.' And that conversation begins by acknowledging that we can't do it on the cheap.
PeaceHarmony There's not going to be a World War III, because there is no one to have World War III with.
Military StrategyEffectivenessProgress Some of the generals are saying, 'We're making progress. We are clearing an area.' But you really don't defeat the Taliban by clearing an area. They move.
Global EngagementNational Interest The idea that putting Americans 'first' requires a withdrawal from the world is simply wrongheaded because a retreat would achieve exactly the opposite for our citizens.
EgoHumilitySelf-awareness Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
FreedomOpportunityChangeDemocracy We got rid of a terrible dictator. We gave the Iraqi people an opportunity for a new life under a representative form of government.
CompromiseConsensusProgress But just as they did in Philadelphia when they were writing the constitution, sooner or later, you've got to compromise. You've got to start making the compromises that arrive at a consensus and move the country forward.