Quotes by Colin Powell
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The country would be a lot better off if we stopped having comment sections. And if we got rid of Twitter.

Throughout my career, I learned plenty about war on the battlefield, but I learned even more about the importance of finding peace. And that is what the State Department and U.S.A.I.D. do: prevent the wars that we can avoid so that we fight only the ones we must.

For all the hardship, I was still excited to be on the trail, testing my endurance, feeling especially alive as strength and fatigue flowed alternately through my limbs.

No one has done more to prevent conflict -- no one has made a greater sacrifice for the cause for Peace -- than you, America's proud missile submarine family. You stand tall among our heroes of the Cold War.

There is no such thing as an unimportant person in an organization.

You can be sure that the American spirit will prevail over this tragedy.

With vision only, you get no follow-through. With enforcers only, the vision is realized but leaves a lot of wreckage.

Yup, the whole birther movement was racist.

An organization that is not facing up to people who are not getting the job done, is going to have difficulties.

There is no question about the fact that we had very serious disagreements with my German, French, and Russian colleagues over the Iraq war. But I never stopped talking.

We are rather candid with them about the nature of their political processes and the state of development of their institutions, but they are looking to the West because they know that's where success lies.

We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, is determined to make more.

Perpetual Optimism is a Force Multiplier.

One of the fondest expressions around is that we can't be the world's policeman. But guess who gets called when suddenly someone needs a cop.

Bahrain is moving at one pace, Morocco another, Qatar at another, Kuwait at yet another. And we are there to assist our friends.

We are not dictating. We are not telling them Saudi Arabia how they should do it or who they should look like. We are their friends. We have mutual interests and we will help them in any way that is possible.

I think our initiative with respect to education and economic development can work in Saudi Arabia and it is up to the Saudis to decide how they wish to transform their society in order to make it prepared for the challenges of the 21st century.

There is only one China. Taiwan is not independent. It does not enjoy sovereignty as a nation.

So has the strategic decision been made to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction by the leadership in Baghdad? I think our judgment has to be clearly not.

I don't think we handled the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad as well as we might have. But that's now history.

High-quality early-childhood programs and health coverage have expanded, and the number of mentoring relationships for at-risk youth has risen dramatically. That progress is encouraging, but it's not evenly distributed.

No war on the face of the Earth is more destructive than the AIDS pandemic.

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.

It is the job of leaders to eliminate uncertainty.

Have a vision. Be demanding.

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.

The ties that bind us are stronger than the occasional stresses that separate us.

Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.

Too often we act -- ask our schools to be truant officers, our teachers to be truant officers, because we're giving them children who have, you know, they're not ready to learn. And if they're not ready to learn by the third grade, they know they're behind.

The United States is not stingy. We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world.

I try to be the same person I was yesterday.

If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.

I think whether you're having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude.

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'.

Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.

A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.

Wouldn't it be great if we could look forward to a whole world in which no child will be left behind?

90 percent of my time is spent on 10 percent of the world.

I don't want to spend the rest of my life giving speeches.

Get mad, then get over it.

In terms of the legal matter of creating a contract between two people that's called marriage, and allowing them to live together with the protection of law, it seems to me is the way we should be moving in this country.

I respect the fact that many denominations have different points of view with respect to gay marriage and they can hold that in the sanctity in the place of their religion and not bless them or solemnize them.

It's nice to say let's be bipartisan. But we're a partisan nation. We were raised as a partisan nation.

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

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.

We need to understand that we as citizens and as a government in any community throughout this country have no more important obligation than to educate those who are going to replace us.

You don't know what you can get away with until you try.

I consider myself a moderate Republican. I have very, very moderate social views, and I'm pretty strong on, on defense matters.

It's a disgrace that we have millions of people who are uninsured.

Don't bother people for help without first trying to solve the problem yourself.

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.

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.

Giving back involves a certain amount of giving up.

Don't let your ego get too close to your position, so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn't go with it.

Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.

Fit no stereotypes. Don't chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team's mission.

It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.

Many interviewers when they come to talk to me, think they're being progressive by not mentioning in their stories any longer that I'm black. I tell them, 'Don't stop now. If I shot somebody you'd mention it.'

If a leader doesn't convey passion and intensity then there will be no passion and intensity within the organization and they'll start to fall down and get depressed.

My own experience is use the tools that are out there. Use the digital world. But never lose sight of the need to reach out and talk to other people who don't share your view. Listen to them and see if you can find a way to compromise.

Politics is not bean bags. It's serious, tough stuff.

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.

The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.