Zitat des Tages von Colin Powell:
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.
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.
The United States is not stingy. We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world.
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.
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?'
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.
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
90 percent of my time is spent on 10 percent of the world.
The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.
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 got rid of a terrible dictator. We gave the Iraqi people an opportunity for a new life under a representative form of government.
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.
Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
Fit no stereotypes. Don't chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team's mission.
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.'
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.
Experts often possess more data than judgment.
Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
I try to be the same person I was yesterday.
Look at the world. There is no pure competitor to the United States of America.
I don't want to spend the rest of my life giving speeches.
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.
Wouldn't it be great if we could look forward to a whole world in which no child will be left behind?
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.
I think whether you're having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude.
No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.
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.
I consider myself a moderate Republican. I have very, very moderate social views, and I'm pretty strong on, on defense matters.
I don't think we handled the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad as well as we might have. But that's now history.
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.
Bad news isn't wine. It doesn't improve with age.
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.
Get mad, then get over it.
Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.
Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.