Colin Powell

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. ”

The Army will take its lessons learned. They're excellent at looking into themselves and reflecting on what did we do right, what did we do wrong. ”

Fit no stereotypes. Don't chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team's mission. ”

In other words, don't expect to always be great. Disappointments, failures and setbacks are a normal part of the lifecycle of a unit or a company and what the leader has to do is constantly be up and say 'we have a problem, let's go and get it'. ”

President Assad, I worked with. I know him reasonably well, met with him a few times, and he's a liar. ”

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. ”

I don't think we handled the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad as well as we might have. But that's now history. ”

Indeed, we're strongest when the face of America isn't only a soldier carrying a gun but also a diplomat negotiating peace, a Peace Corps volunteer bringing clean water to a village, or a relief worker stepping off a cargo plane as floodwaters rise. ”

The chief condition on which, life, health and vigor depend on, is action. It is by action that an organism develops its faculties, increases its energy, and attains the fulfillment of its destiny. ”

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. ”