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Treat people kindly. When you are kind to somebody and I don’t mean necessarily “buddy-buddy”, just show kindness and consideration. Show that people are worthy and you respect them and you are glad they’re with you.

Colin Powell

Don’t be buffaloed by experts and elites. Experts often possess more data than judgment. Elites can become so inbred that they produce hemophiliacs who bleed to death as soon as they are nicked by the real world.
COLIN POWELL

Blood Death Expert Judgement Reality World
Don’t be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.
COLIN POWELL

Advantage Afraid Challenge
You can be sure that the American spirit will prevail over this tragedy.
COLIN POWELL

Spirit Tragedy Yourself
If everybody trusts one another, then the person who didn’t prevail will faithfully execute the decision as if it was their idea.
COLIN POWELL

Decision Execution Faith Ideas Oneself Person Trust
Have a sense of humor to break the tension in times of great toil.
COLIN POWELL

Break Greatness Hard Time Tension Time
Give me the right people and I don’t much care what organization you give me. Good things will happen. Give me the wrong people and it doesn’t matter what you do with the organization. Bad things will happen.
COLIN POWELL

Care Goodness Organization People Right Yourself
It is good if your enemy underestimates you. The dumber they think you are the more surprised they are when you kill them.
COLIN POWELL

Enemy Kill Thinking Yourself
Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
COLIN POWELL

Decision Fact Goodness Stand Way
The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.
COLIN POWELL

Command Evidence Prove Right Wrong
There is no such thing as an unimportant person in an organization.
COLIN POWELL

Important Organization Person Value Worth
Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
COLIN POWELL

Force Multiply Optimism
Luck tends to come to people who are prepared.
COLIN POWELL

Hard Work People Preparation
My own experience is that you get as much information as you can and then you pay attention to your intuition, to your informed instinct.
COLIN POWELL

Attention Experience Information Intuition Pay Yourself
We can seldom get our children to do what we tell them, but they almost never fail to imitate us.
COLIN POWELL

Children Failure Imitation Ourselves
Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
COLIN POWELL

Advice Counseling Fear Voice Yourself
Always be looking for the opportunities, and always be optimistic about what you can do with that opportunity.
COLIN POWELL

Opportunity Optimistic Yourself
One important element of leadership is taking care of the troops.
COLIN POWELL

Care Element Important Leadership Oneself
Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life’s cycle and it’s from failure that you gain life experience.
COLIN POWELL

Deal Experience Failure Learning Life Yourself
The essence of leadership is building bonds of trust in your organization.
COLIN POWELL

Bond Essence Leadership Organization Trust Yourself
Preferring members of any one group for no reason other than race or ethnic origin is discrimination for its own sake. This the Constitution forbids.
COLIN POWELL

Constitution Discrimination Origin Reason
Always focus on the front windshield and not the review mirror.
COLIN POWELL

Focus Future Mirror Review
One of the greatest talents of all is the talent to recognize and to develop talent in others.
COLIN POWELL

Development Greatness Oneself Recognition Talent
When you wrestle with a pig, he has fun, and you just end up dirty.
COLIN POWELL

Animal Dirty End Fight Yourself
The freedom to do your best means nothing unless you are willing to do your best.
COLIN POWELL

Best Freedom Willing Yourself
Always do your best. Somebody is watching you.
COLIN POWELL

Best Watch Yourself
Don’t let your ego get too close to your position, so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn’t go with it.
COLIN POWELL

Ego Position Yourself
I regret that the presentation I made at the UN turned out to be wrong. It was wrong on the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, but pretty much right on intentions and capabilities.
COLIN POWELL

Capability Intention Myself Presentation Regret Weapon Wrong

Treat people kindly. When you are kind to somebody and I don’t mean necessarily “buddy-buddy”, just show kindness and consideration. Show that people are worthy and you respect them and you are glad they’re with you.

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Treat people kindly. When you are kind to somebody and I don’t mean necessarily “buddy-buddy”, just show kindness and consideration. Show that people are worthy and you respect them and you are glad they’re with you.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Colin Powell Quotes