WIST Quotations

Powell, Colin -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:24:17 +0000

I’m sleeping like a baby, too — every two hours, I wake up, screaming.

Colin Powell (1937–2021) American military leader, politician, diplomat
(Attributed)

Upon hearing that President Bush was "sleeping like a baby" on the eve of the Iraq war. Quoted by Hendrik Hertzberg, New Yorker (10 Feb 2003).

Powell, Colin -- My American Journey

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

A sense of shame is not a bad moral compass. I remember how easy it was for my mother to snap me back into line with a simple rebuke: ‘I’m ashamed of you. You embarrassed the family.’ I would have preferred a beating to those words.

Colin Powell (1937–2021) American military leader, politician, diplomat
My American Journey

Powell, Colin -- My American Journey (1995)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.

Colin Powell (1937–2021) American military leader, politician, diplomat
My American Journey (1995)

Powell, Colin -- My American Journey, ch. 2 (2003)

Dave — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:09:40 +0000

Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

Colin Powell (1937–2021) American military leader, politician, diplomat
My American Journey, ch. 2 (2003)

Powell, Colin -- The Powell Principles (2003)

Dave — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:35:01 +0000

Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.

Colin Powell (1937–2021) American military leader, politician, diplomat
The Powell Principles (2003)

Powell, Colin -- Interview, New York Times (1990)

Dave — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 13:03:28 +0000

One of the fondest expressions around is that we can’t be the world’s policeman. […] But guess who gets called when suddenly someone needs a cop?

Colin Powell (1937–2021) American military leader, politician, diplomat
Interview, New York Times (1990)

Powell, Colin -- Letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy (18 May 1999)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The First Amendment exists to insure that freedom of speech and expression applies not just to that with which we agree or disagree, but also that which we find outrageous. I would not amend that great shield of democracy to hammer a few miscreants. The flag will be flying proudly long after they have slunk away.

Colin Powell (1937–2021) American military leader, politician, diplomat
Letter to Sen. Patrick Leahy (18 May 1999)

On a proposed flag-burning amendment. Full text.

Powell, Colin -- News conference, Alexandria, VA (8 Nov 1995)

Dave — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 13:46:08 +0000

In one generation we have moved from denying a black man service at a lunch counter to elevating one to the highest military office in the nation, and to being a serious contender for the presidency. This is a magnificent country and I am proud to be one of its sons.

Colin Powell (1937–2021) American military leader, politician, diplomat
News conference, Alexandria, VA (8 Nov 1995)

While announcing his decision not to seek the presidential nomination.