Quotes By Colin Powell

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Experts often possess more data than judgment.

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.

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

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

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

Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

It's a disgrace that we have millions of people who are uninsured.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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?'

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