“Bill Clinton observed that when people are uncertain, they’d rather have leaders who are strong and wrong than right and weak.”

The greatest thrill in my life was to represent the United States of America.

I once experimented with meditation, cleared my mind, and immediately remembered a phone call I had to make; that was that.

The conservatives saw the Fascist leader as someone they could hide behind, manipulate, and, when convenient, replace.

Good guys don’t always win, especially when they are divided and less determined than their adversaries. The desire for liberty may be ingrained in every human breast, but so is the potential for complacency, confusion, and cowardice. And losing has a price.

Well, the thing that I learned as a diplomat is that human relations ultimately make a huge difference.

Repeat a lie often enough and it begins to sound as if it must—or at least might—be so.

How can one be bored in a world where a billion examples of human ingenuity, peculiarity, pigheadedness, and compassion are on regular view?

This was how twentieth-century Fascism began: with a magnetic leader exploiting widespread dissatisfaction by promising all things.

The real question is: who has the responsibility to uphold human rights? The answer to that is: everyone.

The real question is: who has the responsibility to uphold human rights? The answer to that is: everyone.

It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.

Hate, emotionalism, and frustration are not policies.

It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.

This is the first rule of deception: repeated often enough, almost any statement, story, or smear can start to sound plausible. The Internet should be an ally of freedom and a gateway to knowledge; in some cases, it is neither.

Decades ago, George Orwell suggested that the best one-word description of a Fascist was bully.

The more extreme advocates from one side helped to validate the arguments of extremists on the other.

I can remember many times when my boat crew struggled. It was easy to make excuses for our team’s performance and why it wasn’t what it should have been. But I learned that good leaders don’t make excuses. Instead, they figure out a way to get it done and win.

So how can a leader become great if they lack the natural characteristics necessary to lead? The answer is simple: a good leader builds a great team that counterbalances their weaknesses.

Don’t ask your leader what you should do, tell them what you are going to do.

Leaders must always operate with the understanding that they are part of something greater than themselves and their own personal interests.

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.

In order to convince and inspire others to follow and accomplish a mission, a leader must be a true believer in the mission.

Leadership is simple, but not easy.

When placed in command, take charge.