Quotes by Colin Powell

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Giving back involves a certain amount of giving up."

"Experts often possess more data than judgment."

"We got rid of a terrible dictator. We gave the Iraqi people an opportunity for a new life under a representative form of government."

"Just hit my 75th birthday, I'm feeling great!"

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

"Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard."

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

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

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

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

"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."

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

"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."

"The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort."

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."

"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."

"Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it."

"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."

"Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand."

"The chief condition on which, life, health and vigor depend on, is action. It is by action that an organism develops its faculties, increases its energy, and attains the fulfillment of its destiny."

"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."

"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."

"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."

"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."

"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."

"It isn't enough just to scream at the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. We need our political system to start reflect this anger back into, 'How do we fix it? How do we get the economy going again?'"

"Get mad, then get over it."

"Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it."

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

"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."

"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."

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

"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'."

"Bad news isn't wine. It doesn't improve with age."

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

"I don't know that there is much the United States can do except work with the international community."

"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."

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

"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."