A biography for Colin Powellhasn’t been written yet.
“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.”
“The only bipartisanship you ever see is when they finally sign a bill and everybody says, 'Gee, isn't that wonderful?'”
“Get mad, then get over it.”
“Drones are just another weapon, and they turn out to be a very effective weapon that puts no American troops at risk, and I don't see why we shouldn't use them against identified enemy targets.”
“I don't know that there is much the United States can do except work with the international community.”
“Trump just looks stupid trying to appeal to blacks and Latinos.”
“I consider myself a moderate Republican. I have very, very moderate social views, and I'm pretty strong on, on defense matters.”
“Diplomacy is listening to what the other guy needs. Preserving your own position, but listening to the other guy. You have to develop relationships with other people so when the tough times come, you can work together.”
“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?'”
“Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.”
“Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.”
“Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.”
“You need to understand, if you take out a government, take out a regime, guess who becomes the government and regime and is responsible for the country? You are. So if you break it, you own it.”
“I try to be the same person I was yesterday.”
“Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.”
“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.”
“Experts often possess more data than judgment.”
“I think whether you're having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude.”
“There's not going to be a World War III, because there is no one to have World War III with.”
“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.”