Background Image
...
I Try To Be The Same Person I Was Yesterday.
-Colin Powell
...
Please Wait....
Translating....

I Try To Be

Colin Powell
...
I Try To Be The Same Person I Was Yesterday.

Understanding the Quote: "i try to be the same person i was yesterday...."

This quote by Colin Powell reflects deeply on the theme of yesterday. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Yesterday, Trying, Persons, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Colin Powell interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Colin Powell

Colin Powell is celebrated for insightful thoughts on yesterday and trying. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

Views: 4
Topic
Yesterday
Trying
Persons
More From Colin Powell
Always Focus On The Front Windshield And Not The Review Mirror.
Mirrors
Perspective
Car
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.
Country
Government
Community
What We Would Be Committed To Would Be A Representative Government Where All The Iraqi People Decide Who Should Lead Their Nation, And Lead It In A Way That Keeps It Together As A Single Nation And Where All Parts Of The Nation - Shia, Sunni And Kurds - Are Able To Live Free And In Peace And Believe That Their Interests Are Represented By The Government.
Believe
Government
People
Every Organization Needs To Be Introspective, Transparent, And Honest With Itself. This Only Works If Everyone Is Unified On The Goals And Purposes Of The Organization And There Is Trust Within The Team. High-performing, Successful Organizations Build Cultures Of Introspection And Trust And Never Lose Sight Of Their Purpose.
Team
Successful
Sight
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.
Thinking
Iraq
Wmd
Terrorism Threat Is Serious, And Not Just To American Interests. The Assaults In Russia Against Two Airliners, Bringing Them Out Of The Sky, And Against A Subway Station, And Then That Horrible Scene At The School In Beslan. This Kind Of Terrorist Activity No One Is Immune From It. And So It Suggests That We Have To Do Even More Together To Make Sure The Civilized Worlds Join Together In The War Against Terrorism.
War
School
Russia
Leadership Is All About People. It Is Not About Organizations. It Is Not About Plans. It Is Not About Strategies. It Is All About People-motivating People To Get The Job Done. You Have To Be People-centered.
Jobs
Organization
People
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.
Feelings
Endurance
Hardship
We Believe, From Everything We Have Been Told By The Intelligence Community, By 12 Years Of History With Iraq, By The Experience Of The U.n. Inspectors And By Other Intelligence Agencies In Other Countries That Saddam Hussein Had The Intention To Develop Weapons Of Mass Destruction And To Have Such Weapons, And That Was A Sound Judgment Which I Still Believe To This Day Because He Had Had Them In The Past, He'd Used Them In The Past.
Country
Believe
Past
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.
Peace
Military
War
I Will Look For A Candidate, Republican Or Democrat, Who Seems To Be On The Way Or Understands How To Resolve The Economic Difficulties We're Having, How To Do Something About Unemployment, How To Make Sure That We Free Up Our Businesses And We Don't Over-regulate Ourselves.
Way
Unemployment
Looks
I Would Not Presume From This Distance, Nor Would America Presume To Say Who Should Be The Leader Of The Iraqi Nation.
Distance
America
Leader
Always Show More Kindness Than Seems Necessary, Because The Person Receiving It Needs It More Than You Will Ever Know.
Friendship
Kindness
Receiving
Generally You Should Act Somewhere Between P40 And P70, As I Call It. Sometime After You Have Obtained 40 Percent Of All The Information You Are Liable To Get, Start Thinking In Terms Of Making A Decision. When You Have About 70 Percent Of All The Information, You Probably Ought To Decide, Because You May Lose An Opportunity In Losing Time.
Opportunity
Thinking
Decision
The Troops May Whine And Moan, But When They Meet The Standard, There's A Sense Of Pride.
Pride
May
Troops
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.
School
Army
College
The United States-israeli Relationship Is Based On The Broadest Conception Of American National Interest In Which Our Two Nations Are Bound Forever Together By Common Democratic Values And Traditions. This Will Never Change.
Two Nations
Israel
Forever
When We Are Debating An Issue, Loyalty Means Giving Me Your Honest Opinion, Whether You Think I'll Like It Or Not. Disagreement, At This State, Stimulates Me. But Once A Decision Is Made, The Debate Ends. From That Point On, Loyalty Means Executing The Decision As If It Were Your Own.
Loyalty
Mean
Thinking
Let's Not Forget That Congress Bears A Lot Of Responsibility For Many Of The Problems We Have Now
Responsibility
Bears
Problem
Just Hit My 75th Birthday, I'm Feeling Great!
Birthday
Feelings
Feeling Great
You Have To Comply, You Have To Obey - Or You'd Better Resign And Leave. But That Is Also The Mark Of A Great Leader - Somebody Who, In The Presence Of Inner Conflict, Will Do The Right Thing.
Leader
Conflict
Mark
It Is Good If Your Enemy Underestimates You. The Dumber They Think You Are The More Surprised They Are When You Kill Them.
Thinking
Interesting
Enemy
There's No Doubt In My Mind, Though, That The Iraqi People Would Be Better Off With A Different Leader Who Did Not Waste Their Oil On Weapons, As Opposed To Education, As Opposed To Healthcare, As Opposed To Food, As Opposed To Roads, As Opposed To Clean Water. It Is Really Sinful, A Crime, What Saddam Hussein Has Done With The Wealth Of The Iraqi People Over The Last 30 Years.
Years
Oil
People
The Commander In The Field Is Always Right And The Rear Echelon Is Wrong, Unless Proved Otherwise. In My Experience, The People Closest To The Problems Are Often In The Best Position To See The Solutions. The Key Here Is To Empower And Not Be The Bottleneck.
Keys
People
Empowering
The United Nations Will Spearhead Our Efforts To Manage The New Conflicts (that Afflict Our World)... Yes The Principles Of The United Nations Charter Are Worth Our Lives, Our Fortunes, And Our Sacred Honor.
Our World
Effort
Honor
I Strongly Believe That At This Point In America's History, We Need A President That Will Not Just Continue, Even With A New Face And With Some Changes And With Some Maverick Aspects, Who Will Not Just Continue, Basically, The Policies We Have Been Following In Recent Years. I Think We Need A Transformational Figure. I Think We Need A President Who Is A Generational Change.
Believe
Thinking
America
I Think The Iranians Are Clearly Determined To Have A Nuclear Program. And We Have To Assume That With A Nuclear Program They Have The Capability And The Will To Create A Nuclear Weapon.
Thinking
Nuclear
Weapons
This Is About Americans Getting Off The Sidelines And Getting Onto The Playing Field, .. This Is About Each And Every One Of Us Who Have Been Blessed By The Wealth Of This Country Sharing That Blessing By Reaching Down And Reaching Back And Lifting Up Somebody In Need. That's What America Is All About. That's What Being American Is All About.
Country
Blessed
Blessing
The United States Presents A Value System To The World That Is Based On Democracy, Based On Economic Freedom, Based On Individual Rights For Men And Women, .. I Think That Is What Makes Us Such A Draw For Nations Around The World. People Come To The United States To Be Educated, To Become Americans. We Are A Country Of Countries And We Touch Every Country, And Every Country In World Touches Us.
Country
Men
Thinking
People Get Work Done, Not Buildings, Not Staffs In A Generic Sense, And Not Plans, But People
Love
Friendship
Relationship
When I Was Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff, I Would Still Have Junior Officers Brief Me. Usually These People Knew More About The Subject We Were Discussing Than I Did. I Had To Make Sure That They Felt Confident Enough To Tell Me Everything They Believed.
People
Juniors
Joints
No War On The Face Of The Earth Is More Destructive Than The Aids Pandemic.
War
Pandemics
Earth
A Mirror Reflects A Man's Face, But What He Is Really Like Is Shown By The Kind Of Friends He Chooses.
Men
Mirrors
Company You Keep
Our Senior Officers Knew The War Was Going Badly. Yet They Bowed To Groupthink Pressure And Kept Up Pretenses. ...many Of My Generation, The Career Captains, Majors, And Lieutenant Colonels Seasoned In That War, Vowed That When Our Turn Came To Call The Shots, We Would Not Quietly Acquiesce In Halfhearted Warfare For Half-baked Reasons That The American People Could Not Understand.
Senior
War
Government
If You Are Black, If You Are Puerto Rican Or Hispanic, Be Proud Of That. But Don't Let It Become A Problem. Let It Become Somebody Else's Problem.
Black
Proud
Problem
I'll Tell You What They're All Going To Face, Whichever One Of Them Becomes President On January 21st Of 2009. They Will Face A Military Force - A United States Military Force That Cannot Sustain - Continually Sustain 140,000 People Deployed In Iraq And The 20-odd Or 25,000 People We Have Deployed In Afghanistan And Our Other Deployments.
Military
Iraq
People
If You Get The Dirty End Of The Stick, Sharpen It And Turn It Into A Useful Tool.
Dirty
Sticks
Tools
Only When You Have Got A Clear Statement Of What You Want To Achieve, Do You Ask Yourself How You Are Going To Achieve It. In The Military We Are Taught Never To Go For A Single Answer, No Matter How Obvious That Might Be.
Military
Might
Matter
The Commander In The Field Is Always Right And The Rear Echelon Is Wrong, Unless Proved Otherwise.
Leadership
Fields
Call Of Duty
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.
Expression
Political
Needs
The Less You Associate With Some People, The More Your Life Will Improve. Any Time You Tolerate Mediocrity In Others, It Increases Your Mediocrity. An Important Attribute In Successful People Is Their Impatience With Negative Thinking And Negative Acting People.
Successful
Thinking
People
Nobody Is Ready To Leave Iraq To Be Interviewed.
Iraq
Ready
Ready To Leave
If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It' Is The Slogan Of The Complacent, The Arrogant Or The Scared. It's An Excuse For Inaction, A Call To Non-arms.
Arrogant
Arms
Complacency
With Vision Only, You Get No Follow-through. With Enforcers Only, The Vision Is Realized But Leaves A Lot Of Wreckage.
Vision
Wreckage
Follow Through
1. It Ain't As Bad As You Think. It Will Look Better In The Morning. 2. Get Mad, Then Get Over It. 3. Avoid Having Your Ego So Close To Your Position That When Your Position Falls, Your Ego Goes With It. 4. It Can Be Done! 5. Be Careful What You Choose. You May Get It. 6. Don't Let Adverse Facts Stand In The Way Of A Good Decision. 7. You Can't Make Someone Else's Choices. You Shouldn't Let Someone Else Make Yours. 8. Check Small Things. 9. Share Credit. 10. Remain Calm. Be Kind.
Morning
Fall
Thinking
I Have Always Tried To Do My Job In A Way That I Have People Give Me Different Points Of View.
Jobs
Views
People
I Worked With The Nato Military Committee. The Head Of The Luxembourg Armed Forces Had Equal Standing With Me, And I Had To Respect That. He Was The Leader Of The Armed Forces Of A Sovereign Country. I Had To Make Sure He Never Thought That I Was Looking Down On Them, Merely Because They Had Less Power Than We Did. With That Kind Of Approach You Can Develop Bonds Of Trust. I Tried To Do The Same Thing With My Colleagues When I Was Secretary Of State.
Country
Military
Leader
The One Thing The Terrorists Cannot Do -- Not One Of Them, Not 10 Of Them, Not 10,000 Of Them -- They Cannot Change Who We Are.
Who We Are
Terrorist
One Thing
We Know That Saddam Hussein Is Determined To Keep His Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Is Determined To Make More.
Iraq
Wmd
Mass Destruction
Look At The World. There Is No Pure Competitor To The United States Of America.
America
United States
Looks
In The Military, We Are Also Taught To Only Use One Third Of The Available Decision-making Time, So That Our Subordinates Have Time To Go Through Their Own Decision Processes When They Learn What We Want Them To Do.
Military
Decision
Use
I Think You Can Improve On That Natural Ability With Training And Exposure To Great Leaders Of The Past And To Management Theories.
Past
Thinking
Leader
Keep Looking Below Surface Appearances. Don't Shrink From Doing So Just Because You Might Not Like What You Find.
Might
Call Of Duty
Appearance
Fit No Stereotypes. Don't Chase The Latest Management Fads. The Situation Dictates Which Approach Best Accomplishes The Team's Mission.
Team
Fads
Management
We Can Seldom Get Our Children To Do What We Tell Them, But They Almost Never Fail To Imitate Us.
Children
Failing
Our Children
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.
Country
Moving
Writing
Nobody Wants To Be In A Mediocre Organization. You Don't Have The Same Energy Flowing Through.
Organization
Energy
Want
The United States Is Not Looking For A Way To Launch War.
War
United States
Way
Lying Offshore, Ready To Act, The Presence Of Ships And Marines Sometimes Means Much More Than Just Having Air Power Or Ship's Fire, When It Comes To Deterring A Crisis. And The Ships And Marines May Not Have To Do Anything But Lie Offshore. It Is Hard To Lie Offshore With A C-141 Or C-130 Full Of Airborne Troops.
Lying
Military
Mean
One Of The Greatest Talents Of All Is The Talent To Recognize And To Develop Talent In Others.
Talent
With Respect To Where We Are Now, We Have A Voluntary Army. And If We Ever Go Back To Conscription I Hope That At Time It Will Be The Kind Of Conscription That Was Put In At The End Of The Vietnam War. And That Is, Everybody Is Equally Liable To Be Called To Serve The Nation In Time Of Conflict.
War
Army
Vietnam
The Ties That Bind Us Are Stronger Than The Occasional Stresses That Separate Us.
Stress
Ties
Stronger
Good Leaders Must Know How To Reward Those Who Succeed And Know When To Retrain, Move, Or Fire Ineffective Staff.
Leadership
Moving
Fire
Have Fun In Your Command. Don't Always Run At A Breakneck Pace. Take Leave When You've Earned It, Spend Time With Your Families.
Running
Fun
Military
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.
Father
Philadelphia
House
Be Careful What You Choose: You May Get It.
May
Be Careful
Careful
The Media Only Report Stupid Or Careless Answers, Not Stupid Or Unfair Questions.
Stupid
Media
Answers
My Responsibility, Our Responsibility As Lucky Americans, Is To Try To Give Back To This Country As Much As It Has Given Us, As We Continue Our American Journey Together.
Leadership
Country
Military
I'm Absolutely Sure That There Are Weapons Of Mass Destruction There And The Evidence Will Be Forthcoming. We're Just Getting It Just Now.
Wmd
Mass Destruction
Iraq
Organization Doesn't Really Accomplish Anything. Plans Don't Accomplish Anything, Either. Theories Of Management Don't Much Matter. Endeavors Succeed Or Fail Because Of The People Involved. Only By Attracting The Best People Will You Accomplish Great Deeds.
Motivational
Organization
People
It Is Not Possible To Rule Out Anything Because We Don't Know What Will Happen.
Happens
Knows
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.
Teacher
Children
School
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'.
Disappointment
Leader
Normal
Another Rule I Have Is: Don't Let Your Ego Get Tied Up In A Policy Dispute. Otherwise, If Things Don't Go Your Way, You Can End Up Breaking A Relationship With Somebody With Whom You Can't Afford To Break.
Ego
Way
Break
Diplomacy Never Stops, And, With Or Without An Election, It Never Stops.
Election
Diplomacy
You Can't Get It All Done Yourself. The Best Leaders Are Not Afraid Of Picking People Who Are Better Than They Are And Who May One Day Replace Them.
People
Leader
One Day
I'm Going To Be Bringing People Into The Public Diplomacy Function Of The Department Who Are Going To Change From Just Selling Us In The Old Usia Way To Really Branding Foreign Policy, Branding The Department, Marketing The Department, Marketing American Values To The World And Not Just Putting Out Pamphlets.
People
Marketing
World
The Best Method Of Overcoming Obstacles Is The Team Method
Team
Overcoming
Obstacles
America Has A Terrible Educational Problem In The Sense That We Have Too Many Youngsters Not Finishing School. A Third Of Our Kids Don't Finish High School, 50 Percent Of Minorities Don't Finish High School.
Educational
Kids
School
Look For Intelligence And Judgment And, Most Critically, A Capacity To Anticipate, To See Around Corners. Also Look For Loyalty, Integrity, A High Energy Drive, A Balanced Ego And The Drive To Get Things Done.
Loyalty
Integrity
Ego
Foe Means Enemy. Now, Will We Have Differences Of Opinion With The Russians? Yes. Will They Get Mad At Us From Time To Time, And We Get Mad At Them? That's Part Of The Normal Diplomatic Relations.
Mean
Differences
Mad
The Information That The Intelligence People Used Was A Combination Of Satellite Information, Signals Intelligence, And Human Intelligence. We Are Not Sure To What Extent Saddam [hussein] Was Trying To Convey An Incorrect Picture To Us.
People
Trying
Hussein
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.
Mutual Interest
Arabia
Looks
Our Model Of Politics Is One That It Is Inclusive Of All Members Of The Society; All Should Be Represented. That Is The Nature Of Our Democracy.
Democracy
Should
Members
It's Nice To Say Let's Be Bipartisan. But We're A Partisan Nation. We Were Raised As A Partisan Nation.
Nice
Raised
Partisans
I Can't Deny That It Will Be A Historic Event For An African-american To Become President. And Should That Happen, All Americans Should Be Proud - Not Just African-americans, But All Americans - That We Have Reached This Point In Our National History Where Such A Thing Could Happen. It Will Also Not Only Electrify Our Country, I Think It'll Electrify The World.
Country
Thinking
African American
Free Speech Is Intended To Protect The Controversial And Even Outrageous Word; And Not Just Comforting Platitudes Too Mundane To Need Protection.
Justice
Comforting
Needs
Preferring Members Of Any One Group For No Reason Other Than Race Or Ethnic Origin Is Discrimination For Its Own Sake. This The Constitution Forbids.
Race
Groups
Sake
How Can We Be Enemies When There Is So Much That Pulls Us Together? But In General I Found That I Had To Work With Each One Of My Foreign Colleagues In A Way That Was Consistent With Their System. Some Are Democracies, Some Are Not.
Enemy
Democracy
Together
Change Of Regime With Respect To Iraq Had Nothing To Do With This; It Had Everything To Do With The Fact That Iraq Had Weapons Of Mass Destruction. And At The Time Change In Regime As A Policy Came Into Effect In 1998, It Was Seen As The Only Way To Compel Iraq To Get Rid Of Its Weapons Of Mass Destruction.
Mass Destruction
Iraq
Weapons
Politics Is Not Bean Bags. It's Serious, Tough Stuff.
Bags
Stuff
Serious
We Need Stable Regimes In This Part Of The World [the Mideast] Who Will Be Partners And Friends Of Ours, Because The Fact Of The Matter Is We Do Rely On Imported Oil To Fuel Our Economy And To Fuel Our Nation.
Oil
Iraq
Needs
We Have Gone Forth From Our Shores Repeatedly Over The Last Hundred Years And We've Done This As Recently As The Last Year In Afghanistan And Put Wonderful Young Men And Women At Risk, Many Of Whom Have Lost Their Lives, And We Have Asked For Nothing Except Enough Ground To Bury Them In, And Otherwise We Have Returned Home To Seek Our Own Lives In Peace.
Military
Home
Men
It Is Not Our Place To Decide Who Should Lead The Iraqi People. If Saddam [hussein] Leaves Or Has To Be Forced Out Of Power And A New Regime Brought In, A New Leadership Brought In, I Am Confident It Will Be Some Combination Of People Inside The Country And Outside The Country.
Country
People
Hussein
Don't Be Buffaloed By Experts And Elites. Experts Often Possess More Data Than Judgment. Elites Can Become So Inbred That They Produce Hemophiliacs Who Bleed To Death As Soon As They Are Nicked By The Real World.
Real
Exercise
Data
Leadership Is Solving Problems.
Problem
Problem Solving
Once The Information Is In The 40 To 70 Range, Go With Your Gut.
Information
Range
Guts
The United States Is Still Seen As The Leader At The World That Wants To Be Free.
Leader
United States
World
No Matter How Significant Or Life-changing Your Greatest Hit Or Miss Might Be, Neither Even Begins To Define Who You Are. Each Of Us Is A Product Of All Our Experiences And All Our Interactions With Other People. To Cite Calculus, We Are The Area Under The Curve.
Life Changing
Curves
Interaction With Others
Terrorism Really Flourishes In Areas Of Poverty, Despair And Hopelessness, Where People See No Future
People
Despair
Poverty
Baghdad Fell On April 9, 2003, Hussein And His Regime Were Brought Down, We Declared "mission Accomplished" And Celebrated Victory . . . And Chaos Erupted. We Did Not Assert Control And Authority Over The Country, Especially Baghdad. We Did Not Bring With Us The Capacity To Impose Our Will. We Did Not Take Charge. And Iraq Did Not In A Few Weeks Magically Transform Itself Into A Stable Nation With Democratic Leaders. Instead A Raging Insurgency Engulfed The Country.
Country
Iraq
Leader
Leadership Is The Art Of Accomplishing More Than The Science Of Management Says Is Possible.
Inspiring
Leadership
Art
I Don't Know Who All Of His Advisers Are, But I've Seen Some Of The Names And Some Of Them Are Quite Far To The Right. And Sometimes They Might Be In A Position To Make Judgments Or Recommendations To The Candidate That Should Get A Second Thought.
Names
Might
Sometimes
It's Not Just A Matter Of Whether You Support Obama Or Romney. It's Who They Have Coming With Them. I Always Keep My Powder Dry, As They Say In The Military.
Military
Support
Dry
There Is No Such Thing As An Unimportant Person In An Organization.
Organization
Persons
Unimportant
We Have To Start Thinking Of America As A Family. We Have To Stop Screeching Screeching At Each Other, Stop Hurting Each Other, And Instead Start Caring For, Sacrificing For And Sharing With Each Other ... We Cannot Move Forward If Cynics And Critics Swoop Down And Pick Apart Anything That Goes Wrong, To A Point Where We Lose Sight Of What Is Right, Decent And Uniquely Good About America.
Hurt
Moving
Sacrifice
I Regret That The Presentation I Made At The Un Turned Out To Be Wrong. It Was Wrong On The Stockpiles Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction, But Pretty Much Right On Intentions And Capabilities.
Regret
Mass Destruction
Weapons
The United States Is Looking At A Way To Launch Peace With A Disarmed Iraq. And So We Are Studying The Declaration That Iraq Submitted. Other Members Of The Security Council Are Studying The Declaration, As Is Unmovic And Iaea, And I Would Not Make A Judgment As To Whether Or Not The Declaration Will Be Found Deficient And Whether Or Not That Might Lead To A Material Breach And Whether Or Not, If It Did, That Would Lead To Action On The Part Of The United Nations.
Iraq
United States
Might
It Isn’t Enough Just To Scream At The Occupy Wall Street Demonstrations. We Need Our Political System To Start Reflecting This Anger Back Into, 'how Do We Fix It? How Do We Get The Economy Going Again?'
Wall
Anger
Political
When You Wrestle With A Pig, He Has Fun, And You Just End Up Dirty.
Fun
Dirty
Pigs
The United States Has Every Intention Of Continuing To Do The Kind Of Reconnaissance And Surveillance Work We Have Done For Decades, Well Known To Everyone, That Is Essential To Protect Our National Security, And Frankly, The Security Of Our Friends In Various Regions Of The World. It Is Part Of Our Collection System.
United States
Essentials
Done
Some People Naturally Have A Sense Of Empathy And An Understanding Of How To Bring Their Followers To Do Things. They Become Great Politicians.
People
Empathy
Understanding
The Court Is Perhaps One Of The Last Citadels Of Jealously Preserved Individualism. For The Most Part, We Function As Nine, Small Independent Law Firms.
Independent
Law
Nine
You Don't Know What You Can Get Away With Until You Try.
Inspirational
Leadership
Trying
Bad News Isn't Wine. It Doesn't Improve With Age.
Wine
Reality
Age
At The Same Time I Think It Is Absolutely Necessary That There Be No Confusion, No Misunderstanding That If The Iraqis.. Do Not Comply, Then There Will Be Consequences And Those Consequences Will Involve The Use Of Military Force To Disarm Them Through Changing The Regime.
Military
Thinking
Confusion
That's Why The Army Sends All Its Future Generals To What We Call "charm School." As Soon As You Are A General, People Think That You Know Everything. You Think Yourself That You Have Become Omniscient And Omnipotent. Be Careful, Because People Want To Do Everything They Can To Please The General, And You Need To Guard Against This.
School
Army
Thinking
We Want To Approach This In A Multilateral Way, Talking With Our Friends, Consulting With Our Security Council Colleagues In The United Nations, Hoping To Find A Way To Solve This Peacefully, But At The Same Time Recognising That Unless The Threat Of Military Force Is There, Iraq Will Not Disarm.
Military
Talking
Iraq
It's A Disgrace That We Have Millions Of People Who Are Uninsured.
People
Disgrace
Millions
I Think The American People Are Sophisticated Enough And Wise Enough To Make Judgments About The Candidates And Wade Through The Charges And Countercharges That Come With The [election 2004] Campaign.
Wise
Thinking
People
I Have Seen Many Organizations Where There Is This Sense Of Purpose In The Headquarters But It Never Gets Cascaded Down To Everybody Within The Organization.
Organization
Purpose
Headquarters
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.
Gay
Views
Different
The Healthiest Competition Occurs When Average People Win By Putting Above Average Effort.
Success
Military
Winning
Thee Are Such Horrible Weapons. And So No Sane Leader Would Ever Want To Cross That Line To Using Nuclear Weapons. And, If You Are Not Going To Cross That Line, Then These Things Are Basically Useless.
Leader
Want
Weapons
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.
War
Talking
Iraq
Surround Yourself With People Who Take Their Work Seriously, But Not Themselves, Those Who Work Hard And Play Hard.
Inspirational
Military
Work
Always Find Different Ways To Accomplish The Mission. Then Run A Counter-analysis And List The Advantages And Disadvantages. When You Have Done That, You Are Ready To Make A Decision.
Running
Decision
Way
90 Percent Of My Time Is Spent On 10 Percent Of The World.
Military
History
World
Is There Something Wrong With Being A Muslim In This Country? The Answer Is "no." That's Not America.
Country
America
Answers
Think Hard About It: I'm Running Out Of Demons. I'm Running Out Of Villians. I'm Down To Castro And Kim Il Sung.
Running
Thinking
Kim Il Sung
The Long Bitter Years Of The Cold War Are Over. America And Her Allies Have Won; Totally, Decisively, And Overwhelmingly....so Thank You Sac. Job Well Done. Enjoy Your Retirement.
Retirement
Jobs
War
You Can't Make Someone Else's Choices. You Shouldn't Let Someone Else Make Yours.
Choices
Strategy Equals Execution. All The Great Ideas And Visions In The World Are Worthless If They Can't Be Implemented Rapidly And Efficiently. Good Leaders Delegate And Empower Others Liberally, But They Pay Attention To Details, Every Day.
Ideas
Empowering
Leader
Experts Often Possess More Data Than Judgment.
Data
Experts
Action
In My 35 Years In The Army I Was In School For 6 Years. I Think Corporations Should Take A Look At Whether They Are Investing Enough In The Development Of Their Human Capital.
School
Army
Thinking
It Takes More Courage To Send Men Into Battle Than To Fight The Battle Yourself.
Fighting
Men
Battle
We Are Not Shrinking From Talking To Saudis Or Anyone Else In The Region, But It Is Up To Each Nation In The Region To Decide On Its Own How It Will Proceed And At What Pace. There Are Other Nations In The Region That Had Similar Policies To Saudi Arabia That Are Starting To Make Changes, Such As Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Morocco. And So It Takes Time But When You See The Need For Such Changes, Then Changes Tend To Follow.
Talking
Qatar
Kuwait
War Is Never A Happy Solution, But It May Be The Only Solution. We Must Exhaustively Explore Other Possible Solutions Before We Make The Choice For War. Every Political And Diplomatic Effort Should Be Made To Avoid War While Achieving Your Objective.
War
Choices
Effort
You Need To Learn What People Have Done, But You Need To Learn Where They Have Failed... Usually When They Fail It Is In The Execution.
Failure
People
Needs
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.
Motivational
Inspiring
Leadership
We Knew That Al-qaida Was A Threat To Our Country. We Knew That The Clinton Administration Understood This And Was Working Against Al-qaida We Did Not Ignore Al-qaida. We Spent A Lot Of Our Time Thinking About Terrorism, What Should We Do About It.
Country
Thinking
Als
I Can Think Of Nothing That Saddam Hussein Can Do Diplomatically (to Avoid War). I Think That Time Is Now Over. He's Had His Chance, He Has Had Many Chances Over The Last 12 Years And He Has Blown Every One Of Those Chances.
Military
War
Thinking
I've Voted For Republicans Who Were Strong On Defense, Who Believed In A Free And Open Economy But Who Also Understood That There's A Place For Government In Our Lives, That Government Has A Responsibility To Those Of Our Citizens Who Are In Need And Those Of Our Citizens Who Are Needy Of Health Care.
Strong
Responsibility
Government
It Was The Congress That Imposed 'don't Ask, Don't Tell,' It Was Certainly My Position, My Recommendation To Get Us Out Of An Even Worse Outcome That Could Have Occurred.
Outcomes
Congress
Recommendations
Let Me Just Be Candid: My Party Is Full Of Racists. And The Real Reason A Considerable Portion Of My Party Wants President Obama Out Of The White House Has Nothing To Do With The Content Of His Character, Nothing To Do With His Competence As Commander-in-chief And President, And Everything To Do With The Color Of His Skin. And That's Despicable.
Real
Party
Character
Every Organization Should Tolerate Rebels Who Tell The Emperor He Has No Clothes
Organization
Clothes
Rebel
Economy's Got To Get Moving, We've Got To Get The Unemployment Rate Down. That May Be The Defining Issue Of The Campaign.
Moving
Issues
Unemployment
Pissing People Off Doesn't Mean You're Doing The Right Things, But Doing The Right Things Will Almost Inevitably Piss People Off.
Wisdom
Mean
People
Time Is Passing, ... We Have To Look At The Reality Of The Situation And ... Redouble Our Efforts And Get On With It.
Reality
Effort
Looks
Excellence Is Not An Exception, It Is A Prevailing Attitude
Attitude
Perfection
Excellence
But You Have To Understand, American Democracy Is Not Like The System You Have. We're Not An Ocean Liner That Sails Across The Ocean From Point A To Point B At 30 Knots. That's Not American Democracy. American Democracy Is Kind Of Like A Life Raft That Bobs Around The Ocean All The Time. Your Feet Are Always Wet. Winds Are Always Blowing. You're Cold. You're Wet. You're Uncomfortable -- But You Never Sink.
Ocean
Wind
Feet
We All Hoped In 2001 That We Could Put In Place An Afghan Government Under President Karzai That Would Be Able To Control The Country, Make Sure Al-qaeda Didn't Come Back, And Make Sure The Taliban Wasn't Resurging. It Didn't Work Out.
Country
Government
Work Out
I Think All Of The Attention Of The World, To Include The Attention Of The Arab World, Should Be On Saddam Hussein And Whether Or Not He Is Prepared To Give Up The Weapons Of Mass Destruction That He Has Used To Terrorise The Region.
Giving Up
Thinking
Mass Destruction
I Think That Military, Corporate, And Non-political Organizations Are Pretty Much Similar.
Military
Thinking
Organization
The Claims Made About Iraq's Wmd Capabilities Before The Invasion Were Inaccurate, Wrong, And In Some Cases, Deliberately Misleading.
Wmd
Iraq
Invasion
Organization Charts And Fancy Titles Count For Next To Nothing.
Organization
Titles
Fancy
You Have Achieved Excellence As A Leader When People Will Follow You Anywhere If Only Out Of Curiosity.
People
Leader
Curiosity
Ambition And Hatred Are Enough To Bring Iraq And Al Qaeda Together.
Ambition
Iraq
Hatred
When You Decide To Get Involved In A Military Operation In A Place Like Syria, You've Got To Be Prepared, As We Learned From Iraq And Afghanistan, To Become The Government, And I'm Not Sure Any Country, Either The United States Or I Don't Hear Of Anyone Else, Who's Willing To Take On That Responsibility.
Country
Military
Responsibility
The Most Important Thing I Learned Is That Soldiers Watch What Their Leaders Do. You Can Give Them Classes And Lecture Them Forever, But It Is Your Personal Example They Will Follow.
Class
Giving
Leader
President Kennedy Didn't Negotiate Out Of The Cuban Missile Crisis Simply Because He And Khrushchev Got Along Well. Khrushchev Didn't Have The Cards.
War
President
Cards
Giving Back Involves A Certain Amount Of Giving Up.
Giving Up
Giving Back
Certain
It Is The Fault Of The United States That These Terrible People, These Insurgents And Terrorists Are Out There. They Are The Ones That We Ought To Be Focusing Our Energy On Defeating And Not Just Wring Our Hands About The Fact That It's Going To Be Difficult.
Hands
People
Energy
I Understand That And I Have Had Very Candid Discussions With Saudi Leaders In The Past. I Respect Their Culture And Their Heritage And Their Traditions, But I Think That They Now, As They Move Forward, Will Have To Start Examining These Traditions And These Practices To See Whether Or Not Change Is Appropriate.
Moving
Past
Thinking
Always Do Your Best. Somebody Is Watching You.
Leaders Have Followers. The Primary Role Of A Leader Is To Convey To Those Followers A Sense Of Purpose, Vision, And Mission.
Leader
Vision
Followers
Have A Sense Of Humor To Break The Tension In Times Of Great Toil.
Toil
Sense Of Humor
Break
What Could Be More Important Than Equipping The Next Generation With The Character And Competence They Need To Become Successful
Christian
Character
Successful
I Have Always Held The View That Decisive Force Should Be Used In Addressing A Military Conflict. The Reason Is Simple: Why Wouldn't You, If You Could?
Military
Simple
Views
Never Neglect Details. When Everyone's Mind Is Dulled Or Distracted The Leader Must Be Doubly Vigilant.
Leadership
Mind
Details
I Don't Think Anyone Would Disagree With The Conclusion That Saddam [hussein] Was A Terrible Dictator. He Had Gassed His Own People And His Neighbors. He Had Killed Thousands Of People, And He Had Started A Couple Of Wars And Destroyed His Country.
Country
Couple
War
Luck Tends To Come To People Who Are Prepared.
People
Luck
Prepared
Remain Calm, Be Kind.
Be Kind
Calm
Kind
Whenever You Start-give It Your Best. The Opportunities Are There To Be Anything You Want To Be. But Wanting To Be Someone Isn't Enough; Dreaming About It Isn't Enough; Thinking About It Isn't Enough. You've Got To Study For It, Work For It, Fight For It With All Your Heart And Soul, Because Nobody Is Going To Hand It To You.
Dream
Heart
Fighting
Leadership Is All About People … And Getting The Most Out Of People.
People
Have A Vision; But It's Not Enough To Have A Vision, You Have To Communicate That Vision To Others. You Have To Communicate It To People Who Work With You And For You. You Have To Communicate It To The World Leaders With Whom You Come In Touch.
People
Leader
Vision
With Respect To Our Friends In The [iraq] Region, Each Has Its Own System, Each Will Have To Make Its Own Judgment As To Whether It Will Change, How Fast It Will Change, And We Hope That We Can Help Influence Them As To How Change Comes About And What Change Might Be Better For Them Than Other Forms Of Change.
Iraq
Might
Helping
When We Have Dealt With Bin Laden And His Network We Will Then Broaden The Campaign To Go After Other Terrorists All Around The World.
Campaigns
World
Terrorism
Always Be Looking For That Which You Do Well And That Which You Love Doing, And When You Find Those Two Things Together — Man, You Got It.
Motivation
Inspiration
Men
Our Failure Was That Our Intelligence Community Thought [saddam Hussein ] Had Stockpiled Weapons Of Mass Destruction. That Was A Mistake. There Is Fallibility In Human Intelligence And In Human Decisions.
Mistake
Mass Destruction
Community
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.
Zero
Military
Heart
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.
United States
Purpose
Demand
Maybe We Don't Put Our Young People In Situations Often Enough Where They're Allowed To Fail. When You Fail You Gain Experience, And With Enough Experience, You Don't Fail As Often.
Inspiring
People
Gains
The President's Personal Staff Has A Unique Role.
Unique
President
Roles
We Are Not Going To Dwell On Those Things That Divide Us. We Are Going To Rejoice In Those Things That Keep Us Together To Make This A Better Country - To Reach Down And Back To Touch Every Young Person In Need!
Country
Volunteer
Community
My Own Experience Is That You Get As Much Information As You Can And Then You Pay Attention To Your Intuition, To Your Informed Instinct.
Intuition
Attention
Pay
One Of The Most Worrisome Things That Emerges From The Thick Intelligence File We Have On Iraq's Biological Weapons Is The Existence Of Mobile Production Facilities Used To Make Biological Agents.
Iraq
Agents
Weapons
I'm Sleeping Like A Baby, Too. Every Two Hours, I Wake Up, Screaming.
Baby
Sleep
Two
We Got Rid Of A Terrible Dictator. We Gave The Iraqi People An Opportunity For A New Life Under A Representative Form Of Government.
Opportunity
Government
People
I Have Never Seen A Good Organization Where The Standards Weren't High.
Organization
Standards
Good Organization
Fear Is A Normal Human Emotion. It Is Not In Itself A Killer. We Can Learn To Be Aware When Fear Grips Us, And Can Train To Operate Through And In Spite Of Our Fear. If, On The Other Hand, We Don't Understand That Fear Is Normal And Has To Be Controlled And Overcome, It Will Paralyze Us And Stop Us In Our Tracks. We Will No Longer Think Clearly Or Analyze Rationally. We Prepare For It And Control It; We Never Let It Control Us. It If Does, We Cannot Lead.
Thinking
Hands
Track
Great Leaders Are Those Who Are Able To Look Reality In The Face, However Painful It May Be, And Deal With It.
Reality
Leader
Looks
Being Kind Doesn't Mean Being Soft Or A Wuss. Kindness Is Not A Sign Of Weakness. It Is A Sign Of Confidence. If You Have Developed A Reputation For Kindness And Consideration, Then Even The Most Unpleasant Decisions Will Go Down Easier Because Everyone Will Understand Why You Are Doing What You Are Doing. They Will Realize That Your Decision Must Be Necessary, And Is Not Arbitrary Or Without Empathy. As The Old Saying Puts It, 'to The World, You May Be One Person, But To One Person You May Be The World.'
Kindness
Mean
Empathy
Actually, There Is No More Important Task For A Leader Than To Pick People. To Make Sure You Have The Very Best People Working For You.
People
Leader
Important
Perpetual Optimism Is A Force Multiplier.
Inspirational
Positive
Inspiring
Each Of Us Must Work To Become A Hardheaded Realist, Or Else We Risk Wasting Our Time And Energy On Pursuing Impossible Dreams. Yet Constant Naysayers Pursue No Less Impossible Dreams. Their Fear And Cynicism Move Nothing Forward. They Kill Progress. How Many Cynics Built Empires, Great Cities, Or Powerful Corporations?
Dream
Powerful
Moving
Failure Is A Part Of Life And You Have To Learn To Deal With It. Failure Is Something That Is Part Of Life's Cycle And It's From Failure That You Gain Life Experience.
Gains
Life Experience
Parts Of Life
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.
Sight
Views
People
There Is A War On Terror That Must Be Fought. Nobody's Immune... And So Rather Than Finding Fault With What Spain Has Done By Being Aggressive In The War On Terror, This Should Redouble Everyone's Efforts To Go After Terrorist Organizations Of Any Kind... Terror Has To Be Brought To An End.
War
Organization
Effort
In The Military We Are Always Looking For Ways To Leverage Up Our Forces. Having Greater Communications And Command And Control Over Your Forces Than Your Enemy Has Over His Is A Force Multiplier. Having Greater Logistics Capability Than The Enemy Is A Force Multiplier. Having Better-trained Commanders Is A Force Multiplier. Perpetual Optimism, Believing In Yourself, Believing In Your Purpose, Believing You Will Prevail, And Demonstrating Passion And Confidence Is A Force Multiplier. If You Believe And Have Prepared Your Followers, The Followers Will Believe.
Military
Believe
Communication
Trending Author
Wendy Cope
Edmund Leach
Ally Sheedy
Gabriela Sabatini
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Ivan Lendl
Category
Information