Colin Powell Quotes

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.

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.

Trump just looks stupid trying to appeal to blacks and Latinos.

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

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

Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.

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.

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

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

Engineering didn’t take to me. And what saved me and kept me in college was I ran into ROTC cadets who were in a fraternity called The Pershing Rifles. And I found my place. I found discipline. I found structure. I found people that were like me and I liked.

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

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.

Standing in support of children is something we should all be able to get behind, regardless of party affiliation.

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.

Drones are just another weapon, and they turn out to be a very effective weapon that puts no American troops at risk, and I don’t see why we shouldn’t use them against identified enemy targets.

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

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