“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.”
Government
“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.”
ExperienceAll Quotes by Colin Powell
“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.”
Hope“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.”
Politics“Bad news isn't wine. It doesn't improve with age.”
Age“We got rid of a terrible dictator. We gave the Iraqi people an opportunity for a new life under a representative form of government.”
Government“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.”
Peace“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”
Business“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.”
Business“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.”
Legal“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.”
Power“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.”
Experience“90 percent of my time is spent on 10 percent of the world.”
History“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.”
Failure“Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.”
Failure“I think whether you're having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude.”
Attitude“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”
Business“Fit no stereotypes. Don't chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team's mission.”
Best“Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.”
Work“Just hit my 75th birthday, I'm feeling great!”
Birthday“I don't think we handled the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad as well as we might have. But that's now history.”
History