Colin Powell Quotes

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

“I have always admired the Linking Pin theory of management specialist Rensis Likert. It says that in every organization there are leaders who link the lower level to the upper level. What makes somebody an effective link as a leader is that he conveys down everything that above wants and he conveys up everything that below needs.”

“No one has done more to prevent conflict - no one has made a greater sacrifice for the cause for Peace - than you, America's proud missile submarine family. You stand tall among our heroes of the Cold War.”

“An organization that is not facing up to people who are not getting the job done, is going to have difficulties.”

“Let it [racism] be a problem to someone else... Let it drag them down. Don't use it as an excuse for your own shortcomings.”

“Another rule I have is: Don't let your ego get tied up in a policy dispute. Otherwise, if things don't go your way, you can end up breaking a relationship with somebody with whom you can't afford to break.”

“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.”

“As I have done in every election since I started voting so many years ago, 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.”

“We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, is determined to make more.”

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

“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.”

“I want to scare the hell out of the rest of the world.”

“In the army we are drilled into execution and then supervision, to make sure everything goes the way you planned it. But there is another thing that we do in the military, that I think perhaps isn't done enough in corporate life: As soon as you have made that decision, you start on the contingency planning. Because there is, as we like to say, a thinking, breathing enemy out there, who is not going to let you do just what you want.”

“The best leaders are those who break that mission down into the organization's constituent parts, so that everybody understands their role and how it all builds into the whole.”

“Don't just show kindness in passing or to be courteous. Show it in depth, show it with passion, and expect nothing in return. Kindness is not just about being nice; it's about recognizing another human being who deserves care and respect.”

“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.”

“I think you can improve on that natural ability with training and exposure to great leaders of the past and to management theories.”

“It was not the United States who invaded Kuwait; it was Iraq. It was not the United States that went to war with Iran; it was Iraq. It was not the United States that fired chemical weapons at Iran; it was Iraq. And it was not the United States that murdered innocent Iraqi citizens with chemical weapons; it was Iraq.”

“War is never a happy solution, but it may be the only solution. We must exhaustively explore other possible solutions before we make the choice for war. Every political and diplomatic effort should be made to avoid war while achieving your objective.”

“Engineering didn't take to me. And what saved me and kept me in college was I ran into ROTC cadets who were in a fraternity called The Pershing Rifles. And I found my place. I found discipline. I found structure. I found people that were like me and I liked.”

“How can we be enemies when there is so much that pulls us together? But in general I found that I had to work with each one of my foreign colleagues in a way that was consistent with their system. Some are democracies, some are not.”

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

“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.”

“Giving back involves a certain amount of giving up.”

“Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.”