Colin Powell Quotations

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.

Get mad, then get over it.

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.'

Some of the generals are saying, 'We're making progress. We are clearing an area.' But you really don't defeat the Taliban by clearing an area. They move.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

Giving back involves a certain amount of giving up.

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.

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'.

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.

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

I try to be the same person I was yesterday.

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 always like to take my time and examine the two candidates, see not only the two candidates but the policies they will bring in, the people they will bring in, who they might appoint to the Supreme Court, and look at the whole range of issues before making a decision.

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

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.

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

You can't just have slogans, you can't just have catchy phrases. You have to have an agenda. And I think what the Republican Party has to do, if it's going to incorporate the tea party efforts in it, is to come up with an agenda that the American people can see, touch, and actually believe in, and something they believe in.

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.

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.

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.

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

Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.

So like any football or basketball coach, you always always believe you're going to win.

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

The only bipartisanship you ever see is when they finally sign a bill and everybody says, 'Gee, isn't that wonderful?'

Economy's got to get moving, we've got to get the unemployment rate down. That may be the defining issue of the campaign.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?'

Look at the world. There is no pure competitor to the United States of America.

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

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.

Mr. Arafat has not been playing a helpful role, ... And if he wanted to play a helpful role, he would be supporting Prime Minister Abbas, not frustrating his efforts.

has the interest of the Haitian people at heart.

China has a role to play and I hope China will play that role,

Laurence Foley had devoted his own life to U.S. government service and to improving the lives of others through his work with the Agency for International Development, ... He will be deeply missed.

It is not up to Iraq to dictate the conditions to the United Nations, but for the United Nations to dictate the conditions to Iraq, ... If the United Nations does not act, then the United States, joined by other willing nations, must act.

I think we have stabilized things right now to the point where we can continue working the diplomatic and political track and persuade everyone that is the direction we should continue to move.

We are committed to ensuring that as we review our force posture in the Balkans, we do so with full consultation with our NATO allies ... and in the process of doing so, make sure that we have the right mixture and balance of forces at all times.

The American people to this point have taken it in stride, ... And I don't think they are upset yet to a point where it is troubling to the nation.

Whether it should or should not have been in the speech is something we can certainly discuss and debate,

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.

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.

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.

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.

Never receive counsel from unproductive people. Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeed themselves are always first to tell you how. Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person. Don't follow anyone who's not going anywhere.

Pissing people off doesn't mean you're doing the right things, but doing the right things will almost inevitably piss people off.

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.

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.

None of us can change our yesterdays but all of us can change our tomorrows.

You know you're a good leader when people follow you out of curiosity.

Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience.

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.

All children need a laptop. Not a computer, but a human laptop. Moms, Dads, Grannies and Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles - someone to hold them, read to them, teach them. Loved ones who will embrace them and pass on the experience, rituals and knowledge of a hundred previous generations. Loved ones who will pass to the next generation their expectations of them, their hopes, and their dreams.

Give me the right people and I don’t much care what organization you give me. Good things will happen. Give me the wrong people and it doesn’t matter what you do with the organization. Bad things will happen.

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.

A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.

I would caution my Republican friends that [Obama has] three years to go, and in that three years the American people are going to want to see some progress and not just claims that this guy is out of office and we're going to do everything to destroy him or that somehow he is a 'socialist' taking over the country. Have we so lost our faith in this country that we think one person, one man can be can suddenly change our entire system? That's kind of absurd.

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.

What could be more important than equipping the next generation with the character and competence they need to become successful

As a leader you set the tone for your entire team. Communicate your vision.

You can't make someone else's choices. You shouldn't let someone else make yours.

One of the greatest talents of all is the talent to recognize and to develop talent in others.

We can seldom get our children to do what we tell them, but they almost never fail to imitate us.