I thought it completely absurd to mention my name in the same breath as the presidency.

If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.

For every obstacle there is a solution. Persistence is the key. The greatest mistake is giving up!

The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.

Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.

The supreme quality of leadership is integrity.

If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom.

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.

Always try to associate yourself with and learn as much as you can from those who know more than you do, who do better than you, who see more clearly than you.

To be true to one's own freedom is, in essence, to honor and respect the freedom of all others.

An ordinary man gets arrogant with beauty, conceited with knowledge and ruthless with power.

Between two evils I always picked the one I never tried before.

Do not ever say that the desire to 'do good' by force is a good motive. Neither power-lust nor stupidity are good motives.

In reality, it si more fruitful to wound than to kill. While the dead man lies still, counting only one man less, the wounded man is a progressive drain upon his side.

We loved being in Russia and would love to go back again, especially to visit my namesake

Uncles and aunts, and cousins, are all very well, and fathers and mothers are not to be despised; but a grandmother, at holiday time, is worth them all.

Many things complicated by nature are restored by reason.

Everyones childhood plays itself out. No wonder no one knows the other or can completely understand.

If achieving your potential requires favorable judgment by others, you are much less likely to succeed.

I think that evolution has had a hand in selecting people who had a sense of doing something beyond themselves.