110+ Colin Powell Quotes On War, Friendship And Teamwork

Colin Powell was an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005, and the first African American to serve in that position. He also served as National Security Advisor from 1987 to 1989 and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Colin Powell on leadership, war, friendship.

Top 10 Colin Powell Quotes

1. There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
2. A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.
3. If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.
4. Pissing people off doesn't mean you're doing the right things, but doing the right things will almost inevitably piss people off.
5. None of us can change our yesterdays but all of us can change our tomorrows.
6. The most important thing I learned is that soldiers watch what their leaders do. You can give them classes and lecture them forever, but it is your personal example they will follow.
7. Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience.
8. Get mad, then get over it.
9. Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.
10. Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard.

Colin Powell Image Quotes

Get mad, then get over it. — Colin Powell

Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard. — Colin Powell

Don't take counsel of your fears or naysayers. — Colin Powell

Politics is not bean bags. It's serious, tough stuff. — Colin Powell

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Short Quotes

• Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.
• Don't take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
• Politics is not bean bags. It's serious, tough stuff.
• Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.
• I don't want to spend the rest of my life giving speeches.
• Always focus on the front windshield and not the review mirror.
• Every organization should tolerate rebels who tell the emperor he has no clothes
• Leaders honor their core values, but they are flexible in how they execute them.
• Experts often possess more data than judgment.
• Bad news isn't wine. It doesn't improve with age.

Colin Powell Quotes About Leadership

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

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

The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. — Colin Powell

Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible. — Colin Powell

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

It is the job of leaders to eliminate uncertainty. — Colin Powell

So has the strategic decision been made to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction by the leadership in Baghdad? I think our judgment has to be clearly not. — Colin Powell

I have found that leadership is leadership is leadership. It applies whether you are in government or in corporate life or in non-profit life. — Colin Powell

Leadership is solving problems. — Colin Powell

You know you're a good leader when people follow you out of curiosity. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About War

No one has done more to prevent conflict - no one has made a greater sacrifice for the cause for Peace - than you, America's proud missile submarine family. You stand tall among our heroes of the Cold War. — Colin Powell

There is a war on terror that must be fought. Nobody's immune... And so rather than finding fault with what Spain has done by being aggressive in the war on terror, this should redouble everyone's efforts to go after terrorist organizations of any kind... Terror has to be brought to an end. — Colin Powell

With respect to where we are now, we have a voluntary army. And if we ever go back to conscription I hope that at time it will be the kind of conscription that was put in at the end of the Vietnam War. And that is, everybody is equally liable to be called to serve the nation in time of conflict. — Colin Powell

Policies that emanate from ivory towers often have an adverse impact on the people out in the field who are fighting the wars or bringing in the revenues. — Colin Powell

Ladies and gentlemen, these are not assertions. These are facts, corroborated by many sources, some of them sources of the intelligence services of other countries. — Colin Powell

No war on the face of the Earth is more destructive than the AIDS pandemic. — Colin Powell

President Reagan fueled the spirit of America. His smile, his optimism, his total belief in the ultimate triumph of democracy and freedom, and his willingness to act on that belief, helped end the Cold War and usher in a new and brighter phase of history. — Colin Powell

The long bitter years of the Cold War are over. America and her allies have won; totally, decisively, and overwhelmingly....So thank you SAC. Job well done. Enjoy your retirement. — Colin Powell

There is no question about the fact that we had very serious disagreements with my German, French, and Russian colleagues over the Iraq war. But I never stopped talking. — Colin Powell

The United States is not looking for a way to launch war. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About Decision Making

I always like to take my time and examine the two candidates, see not only the two candidates but the policies they will bring in, the people they will bring in, who they might appoint to the Supreme Court, and look at the whole range of issues before making a decision. — Colin Powell

Everybody makes bad decisions. I am sure I have made my share of them over 40 years of service. Or I have made good decisions and have been overruled. The real challenge, when you are overruled, is to remember who the boss is and don't take it personally. — Colin Powell

Always find different ways to accomplish the mission. Then run a counter-analysis and list the advantages and disadvantages. When you have done that, you are ready to make a decision. — Colin Powell

You have to make sure you know why you are going to war and then use decisive force to end it as soon as possible. — Colin Powell

Decision-making is lonely. — Colin Powell

In the military, we are also taught to only use one third of the available decision-making time, so that our subordinates have time to go through their own decision processes when they learn what we want them to do. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About Excellence

Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude — Colin Powell

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. — Colin Powell

You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you anywhere if only out of curiosity. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About Education

America has a terrible educational problem in the sense that we have too many youngsters not finishing school. A third of our kids don't finish high school, 50 percent of minorities don't finish high school. — Colin Powell

We hope that more assistance will be available to the nations of the region, to include Egypt, on the three pillars that I discussed today: civic society development, education and economic development. — Colin Powell

Children need to get a high-quality education, avoid violence and the criminal-justice system, and gain jobs. But they deserve more. We want them to learn not only reading and math but fairness, caring, self-respect, family commitment, and civic duty. — Colin Powell

We need to understand that we as citizens and as a government in any community throughout this country have no more important obligation than to educate those who are going to replace us. — Colin Powell

I think our initiative with respect to education and economic development can work in Saudi Arabia and it is up to the Saudis to decide how they wish to transform their society in order to make it prepared for the challenges of the 21st century. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About Loyalty

When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I'll like it or not. Disagreement, at this state, stimulates me. But once a decision is made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own. — Colin Powell

Look for intelligence and judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done. — Colin Powell

Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About Diplomatic

Foe means enemy. Now, will we have differences of opinion with the Russians? Yes. Will they get mad at us from time to time, and we get mad at them? That's part of the normal diplomatic relations. — Colin Powell

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. — Colin Powell

War is never a happy solution, but it may be the only solution. We must exhaustively explore other possible solutions before we make the choice for war. Every political and diplomatic effort should be made to avoid war while achieving your objective. — Colin Powell

I can think of nothing that Saddam Hussein can do diplomatically (to avoid war). I think that time is now over. He's had his chance, he has had many chances over the last 12 years and he has blown every one of those chances. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About Inspiring

What could be more important than equipping the next generation with the character and competence they need to become successful — Colin Powell

Every human endeavor has leaders and followers, and your job as a leader is to inspire. — Colin Powell

Maybe we don't put our young people in situations often enough where they're allowed to fail. When you fail you gain experience, and with enough experience, you don't fail as often. — Colin Powell

Always be looking for that which you do well and that which you love doing, and when you find those two things together — man, you got it. — Colin Powell

Have a vision. Be demanding. — Colin Powell

Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity. — Colin Powell

The freedom to do your best means nothing unless you are willing to do your best. — Colin Powell

Always do your best. Somebody is watching you. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About People

The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people. — Colin Powell

Organization doesn't really accomplish anything. Plans don't accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds. — Colin Powell

The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort. — Colin Powell

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

The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise. In my experience, the people closest to the problems are often in the best position to see the solutions. The key here is to empower and not be the bottleneck. — Colin Powell

Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. — Colin Powell

Don't bother people for help without first trying to solve the problem yourself. — Colin Powell

When I was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I would still have junior officers brief me. Usually these people knew more about the subject we were discussing than I did. I had to make sure that they felt confident enough to tell me everything they believed. — Colin Powell

No matter how significant or life-changing your greatest hit or miss might be, neither even begins to define who you are. Each of us is a product of all our experiences and all our interactions with other people. To cite calculus, we are the area under the curve. — Colin Powell

Being in charge sometimes means making people mad. Some days you have to overrule even the best advice, because you think it is not right. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About World

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

Strategy equals execution. All the great ideas and visions in the world are worthless if they can't be implemented rapidly and efficiently. Good leaders delegate and empower others liberally, but they pay attention to details, every day. — Colin Powell

Today I can declare my hope and declare it from the bottom of my heart that we will eventually see the time when that number of nuclear weapons is down to zero and the world is a much better place. — Colin Powell

You can be sure that the American spirit will prevail over this tragedy. — Colin Powell

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

The United Nations will spearhead our efforts to manage the new conflicts (that afflict our world)... Yes the principles of the United Nations Charter are worth our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. — Colin Powell

90 percent of my time is spent on 10 percent of the world. — Colin Powell

The United States is still seen as the leader at the world that wants to be free. — Colin Powell

When you help the poorest in the world, you start to move them up an economic and social ladder, and they're not going to be moving toward violence or terrorism of the kind that we worry about. — Colin Powell

Look at the world. There is no pure competitor to the United States of America. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About Work

I don't know that there is much the United States can do except work with the international community. — Colin Powell

We all hoped in 2001 that we could put in place an Afghan government under President Karzai that would be able to control the country, make sure al-Qaeda didn't come back, and make sure the Taliban wasn't resurging. It didn't work out. — Colin Powell

People get work done, not buildings, not staffs in a generic sense, and not plans, but people — Colin Powell

How can we be enemies when there is so much that pulls us together? But in general I found that I had to work with each one of my foreign colleagues in a way that was consistent with their system. Some are democracies, some are not. — Colin Powell

The great leaders that I have worked with are people who have a good sense of empathy with other people. They can walk a factory floor, or walk through a battalion and smell if there's something wrong. — Colin Powell

The United States stands willing to work with a transformed Palestinian Authority with new leaders coming to the front. — Colin Powell

Have a vision; but it's not enough to have a vision, you have to communicate that vision to others. You have to communicate it to people who work with you and for you. You have to communicate it to the world leaders with whom you come in touch. — Colin Powell

We knew that al-Qaida was a threat to our country. We knew that the Clinton administration understood this and was working against al-Qaida We did not ignore al-Qaida. We spent a lot of our time thinking about terrorism, what should we do about it. — Colin Powell

Diplomacy is listening to what the other guy needs. Preserving your own position, but listening to the other guy. You have to develop relationships with other people so when the tough times come, you can work together. — Colin Powell

We have practiced diplomacy since the very beginning of the nation. Sometimes it has not worked, and we've had to go to war. I always believe you should try to find peace and reconciliation before conflict. That has been the approach I've taken. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About States

Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return. — Colin Powell

The purposes of the United States should not be doubted. The Security Council resolutions will be enforced - the just demands of peace and security will be met - or action will be unavoidable. And a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power. — Colin Powell

The United States-Israeli relationship is based on the broadest conception of American national interest in which our two nations are bound forever together by common democratic values and traditions. This will never change. — Colin Powell

I recommended to the president [George Bush] that our focus had to be on al-Qaida, the Taliban and Afghanistan. Those were the ones who attacked the United States of America on 9/11. — Colin Powell

It is not the role of the United States to dictate change, but to enter into discussions with our friends. — Colin Powell

It was President [Bill] Clinton and the United States congress in 1998 which said that the regime has to be changed because the regime would not give up its weapons of mass destruction. We came into office in 2001 and kept that policy because Saddam Hussein had not changed. — Colin Powell

The United States is not stingy. We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world. — Colin Powell

We are rather candid with them about the nature of their political processes and the state of development of their institutions, but they are looking to the West because they know that's where success lies. — Colin Powell

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. — Colin Powell

It is the fault of the United States that these terrible people, these insurgents and terrorists are out there. They are the ones that we ought to be focusing our energy on defeating and not just wring our hands about the fact that it's going to be difficult. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Quotes About United

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

Nobody has ever said in the United States government that we are going to war next month. No decision has been made by the president because, as he said to the United Nations, he wants the United Nations to live up to its responsibilities and he wants Saddam Hussein to cooperate. — Colin Powell

We want to approach this in a multilateral way, talking with our friends, consulting with our security council colleagues in the United Nations, hoping to find a way to solve this peacefully, but at the same time recognising that unless the threat of military force is there, Iraq will not disarm. — Colin Powell

Colin Powell Famous Quotes And Sayings

Every organization needs to be introspective, transparent, and honest with itself. This only works if everyone is unified on the goals and purposes of the organization and there is trust within the team. High-performing, successful organizations build cultures of introspection and trust and never lose sight of their purpose. — Colin Powell

Don't just show kindness in passing or to be courteous. Show it in depth, show it with passion, and expect nothing in return. Kindness is not just about being nice; it's about recognizing another human being who deserves care and respect. — Colin Powell

Whenever you start-give it your best. The opportunities are there to be anything you want to be. But wanting to be someone isn't enough; dreaming about it isn't enough; thinking about it isn't enough. You've got to study for it, work for it, fight for it with all your heart and soul, because nobody is going to hand it to you. — Colin Powell

Get mad, then get over it. — Colin Powell

A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses. — Colin Powell

If it ain't broke, don't fix it' is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It's an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms. — Colin Powell

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

Don't take counsel of your fears or naysayers. — Colin Powell

Politics is not bean bags. It's serious, tough stuff. — Colin Powell

I think whether you're having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude. — Colin Powell

The only bipartisanship you ever see is when they finally sign a bill and everybody says, 'Gee, isn't that wonderful?' — Colin Powell

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. — Colin Powell

We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction, is determined to make more. — Colin Powell

Always show more kindness than seems necessary, because the person receiving it needs it more than you will ever know. — Colin Powell

Each of us must work to become a hardheaded realist, or else we risk wasting our time and energy on pursuing impossible dreams. Yet constant naysayers pursue no less impossible dreams. Their fear and cynicism move nothing forward. They kill progress. How many cynics built empires, great cities, or powerful corporations? — Colin Powell

The best way to create a winning team is to train them, give them everything they need to get the job done and second, make sure they know what the job is and what the job will be. So you connect strategy to resources. — Colin Powell

But just as they did in Philadelphia when they were writing the constitution, sooner or later, you've got to compromise. You've got to start making the compromises that arrive at a consensus and move the country forward. — Colin Powell

Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant. — Colin Powell

Poverty arises and persists where corruption is endemic and enterprise is stifled, where basic fairness provided by the rule of law is absent. In such circumstances, poverty is an assault against human dignity, and in that assault lies the natural seed of human anger — Colin Powell

I was born in Harlem, raised in the South Bronx, went to public school, got out of public college, went into the Army, and then I just stuck with it. — Colin Powell

Some of the generals are saying, 'We're making progress. We are clearing an area.' But you really don't defeat the Taliban by clearing an area. They move. — Colin Powell

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

Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision. — Colin Powell

The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise. — Colin Powell

All values are important, everyone who has ever touched my life in some way was a mentor for good or bad. Life is a blend, and a person is a blend of all the influences that have touched their lives. — Colin Powell

Either move or be moved. — Colin Powell

Lying offshore, ready to act, the presence of ships and Marines sometimes means much more than just having air power or ship's fire, when it comes to deterring a crisis. And the ships and Marines may not have to do anything but lie offshore. It is hard to lie offshore with a C-141 or C-130 full of airborne troops. — Colin Powell

We view Egypt as a good friend of America. We are in constant touch with them. We provide them economic and military assistance as part of our relationship. — Colin Powell

President's personal staff has a unique role. They're his intimate personal advisers, and the tradition and the precedent has been, even when I was national security adviser, that people in that position do not testify before the Congress. They talk to the Congress. They have meetings with the Congress. — Colin Powell

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. — Colin Powell

It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning. — Colin Powell

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

Free speech is intended to protect the controversial and even outrageous word; and not just comforting platitudes too mundane to need protection. — Colin Powell

Trust is the glue that holds an org together & the lubricant that moves it forward. — Colin Powell

Many interviewers when they come to talk to me, think they're being progressive by not mentioning in their stories any longer that I'm black. I tell them, 'Don't stop now. If I shot somebody you'd mention it.' — Colin Powell

Keep looking below surface appearances. Don't shrink from doing so just because you might not like what you find. — Colin Powell

When you decide to get involved in a military operation in a place like Syria, you've got to be prepared, as we learned from Iraq and Afghanistan, to become the government, and I'm not sure any country, either the United States or I don't hear of anyone else, who's willing to take on that responsibility. — Colin Powell

There is only one China. Taiwan is not independent. It does not enjoy sovereignty as a nation. — Colin Powell

The media only report stupid or careless answers, not stupid or unfair questions. — Colin Powell

Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard. Learn from the pros, observe them, seek them out as mentors and partners. But remember that even the pros may have leveled out in terms of their learning and skills. Sometimes even the pros can become complacent and lazy. — Colin Powell

The root cause of poverty is social injustice and the bad government that abets it — Colin Powell

There is no such thing as an unimportant person in an organization. — Colin Powell

It's not just a matter of whether you support Obama or Romney. It's who they have coming with them. I always keep my powder dry, as they say in the military. — Colin Powell

There is no suggestion of regime change; quite the contrary, this is an initiative to help people and to help governments who are inclined toward change. — Colin Powell

Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing. — Colin Powell

I have never seen a good organization where the standards weren't high. — Colin Powell

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand. — Colin Powell

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

In the military we also learn principles of war which also work in a corporate setting: How do you concentrate as much of your force as possible on a critical point and take a risk elsewhere? In business that translates into focusing your investment on marketing, sales, or R&D, whichever will give you the greatest return. — Colin Powell

Have fun in your command. Don't always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you've earned it, spend time with your families. — Colin Powell

I think the Iranians are clearly determined to have a nuclear program. And we have to assume that with a nuclear program they have the capability and the will to create a nuclear weapon. — Colin Powell

With vision only, you get no follow-through. With enforcers only, the vision is realized but leaves a lot of wreckage. — Colin Powell

Giving back involves a certain amount of giving up. — Colin Powell

Too often we act - ask our schools to be truant officers, our teachers to be truant officers, because we're giving them children who have, you know, they're not ready to learn. And if they're not ready to learn by the third grade, they know they're behind. — Colin Powell

We got rid of a terrible dictator. We gave the Iraqi people an opportunity for a new life under a representative form of government. — Colin Powell

It's a disgrace that we have millions of people who are uninsured. — Colin Powell

In terms of the legal matter of creating a contract between two people that's called marriage, and allowing them to live together with the protection of law, it seems to me is the way we should be moving in this country. — Colin Powell

Life Lessons by Colin Powell

1. Colin Powell taught the importance of hard work and dedication, having risen from humble beginnings to become a four-star general and Secretary of State.
2. He also demonstrated the value of taking responsibility for one's actions, having accepted responsibility for his role in the Iraq War.
3. Finally, he showed the importance of having a strong moral compass, having been a vocal advocate for civil rights and human rights throughout his career.