Quotes from Colin Powell

You're not just voting for an individual, in my judgment, you're voting for an agenda. You're voting for a platform. You're voting for a political philosophy.

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?'

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.

Russia isn't going to start a war. They can't afford it. I think Mr. Putin can be dealt with if we stop screaming at him. You can work with the guy. You just have to know who he is.

Throughout my career, I learned plenty about war on the battlefield, but I learned even more about the importance of finding peace. And that is what the State Department and U.S.A.I.D. do: prevent the wars that we can avoid so that we fight only the ones we must.

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.

Standing in support of children is something we should all be able to get behind, regardless of party affiliation.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

I have never seen a good organization where the standards weren't high.

The root cause of poverty is social injustice and the bad government that abets it

Leaders honor their core values, but they are flexible in how they execute them.

Hope is not a strategy

Have a sense of humor to break the tension in times of great toil.

Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity.

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

No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.

We view Egypt as a good friend of America. We are in constant touch with them. We provide them economic and military assistance as part of our relationship.

Ladies and gentlemen, these are not assertions. These are facts, corroborated by many sources, some of them sources of the intelligence services of other countries.

Always show more kindness than seems necessary, because the person receiving it needs it more than you will ever know.