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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

Don’t just count your days, make your days count.
COLIN POWELL

Count Days Yourself
Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved.
COLIN POWELL

Failure People Success
Always do your best. Somebody is watching you.
COLIN POWELL

Best Watch Yourself
Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience.
COLIN POWELL

Born Errors Experience Leadership Learning
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
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.
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Expression Need Policemen World
Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is “no.” That’s not America.
COLIN POWELL

Country Racism Wrong
Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.
COLIN POWELL

Attitude Excellence Prevail
Respect for leaders by followers can’t be mandated; it must be earned. It has to be given to leaders by their followers.
COLIN POWELL

Earn Follow Leadership Mandatory Respect
What could be more important than equipping the next generation with the character and competence they need to become successful
COLIN POWELL

Generation Important Need Success
If you get the dirty end of the stick, sharpen it and turn it into a useful tool.
COLIN POWELL

Dirty End Tools Yourself
One important element of leadership is taking care of the troops.
COLIN POWELL

Care Element Important Leadership Oneself
There is no such thing as an unimportant person in an organization.
COLIN POWELL

Important Organization Person Value Worth
Don’t be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.
COLIN POWELL

Advantage Afraid Challenge
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
COLIN POWELL

Failure Hard Work Inspirational Learning Preparation Result Secret Success
You know you’re a good leader when people follow you out of curiosity.
COLIN POWELL

Curiosity Goodness Leadership People
My responsibility, our responsibility as lucky Americans, is to try to give back to this country as much as it has given us, as we continue our American journey together.
COLIN POWELL

Country Journey Responsibility Togetherness Try
The greatest gifts my parents gave to me were their unconditional love and a set of values.
COLIN POWELL

Gift Greatness Love Myself Parents Value
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
You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.
COLIN POWELL

Choice Control Yourself
Leadership is all about people. It is not about organizations. It is not about plans. It is not about strategies. It is all about people-motivating people to get the job done. You have to be people-centered.
COLIN POWELL

Job Leadership Motivational Organization People Planning Strategy
You don’t know what you can get away with until you try.
COLIN POWELL

Ability Let Go Try Yourself
The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.
COLIN POWELL

Command Evidence Prove Right Wrong
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’.
COLIN POWELL

Disappointment Expectation Failure Greatness Himself Problem Word
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
Luck tends to come to people who are prepared.
COLIN POWELL

Hard Work People Preparation
Always be looking for the opportunities, and always be optimistic about what you can do with that opportunity.
COLIN POWELL

Opportunity Optimistic 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.

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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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Colin Powell Quotes