50+ Most Powerful Colin Powell Quotes Biography Sayings With Images

Colin Powell Quotes That Will Inspire You

Colin Powell Quotes & Biography –  That Will Inspire You, Colin Luther Powell, in full Colin Powell (born April 5, 1937, New York City, New York, U.S.), American soldier and statesman who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–93) during the Persian Gulf War and secretary of state (2001–05) under Pres. George W. Bush.

Colin Powell has been a soldier, businessman, diplomat, and statesman. Born on April 5, 1937, in Harlem, New York City, he grew up in New York and South Carolina. After graduating from City College of New York with a degree in geology, he became a US Army officer – serving from 1959 until his retirement in 1993. In 1989-90 General Colin Powell served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during President George H.W. Bush’s administration.

Colin Powell’s Life Advice

5 Vital Lessons For Personal Success (The 5-Minute Leadership & Management Strategies)

  • Learn as if you were going to live forever;

  • live as if you were going to die tomorrow. ― Colin Powell

  • It is important that young people have goals, or they will waste their lives. ― Colin Powell

  • You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over… ― Colin Powell

  • People say that motivation doesn’t last.

Here are some most powerful quotes by Colin Powell. Please share with others also.

Colin Powell Quotes

1. “Don’t bother people for help without first trying to solve the problem yourself.”

2. “Always focus on the front windshield and not the rearview mirror.”

3. “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.”

4. “Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.”

5. “It’s a disgrace that we have millions of people who are uninsured.”

6. “Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.”

colin powell ego quotes

7. “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.”

8. “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 success quotes

9. “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.”

10. “War should be the politics of last resort.”

11. “Experts often possess more data than judgment.”

12. “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.’”

13. “f a leader doesn’t convey passion and intensity then there will be no passion and intensity within the organization and they’ll start to fall down and get depressed.”

14. “Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity.”

15. “I try to be the same person I was yesterday.”Colin Powell: Why We Serve

16. “When we go to war, we should have a purpose that our people understand and support.”

17. “Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom you work, and persistence.”

colin powell success quotes

18. “Politics is not bean bags. It’s serious, tough stuff.”

19. “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.”

20. “The ties that bind us are stronger than the occasional stresses that separate us.”

21. “Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves.”

22. “It takes more courage to send men into battle than to fight the battle yourself.”

23. “If you get the dirty end of the stick, sharpen it and turn it into a useful tool.”

24. “I think whether you’re having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude.”

colin powell success quotes

25. “Look at the world. There is no pure competitor to the United States of America.”

26. “Never neglect details.”

27. “When everyone’s mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.”

28. “Keep looking below surface appearances. Don’t shrink from doing so just because you might not like what you find.”

29. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could look forward to a whole world in which no child will be left behind?”

30. “Get mad, then get over it.”

31. “It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.”

colin powell vision quotes

32. “The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort.”

33. “I’m not perfect, but I’ll be the creator of perfection.”

34. “We can seldom get our children to do what we tell them, but they almost never fail to imitate us.”

35. “Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.”

colin powell motivational quotes

36. “The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong unless proved otherwise.”

37. “Giving back involves a certain amount of giving up.”

38. “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 conclude you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”

colin powell leadership quotes

39. “You can’t just have slogans, you can’t just have catchy phrases. You have to have an agenda.”

40. “There are no secrets to success. Don’t waste time looking for them.”

there is no secret to success quotes

41. “Don’t be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.”

42. “It isn’t enough just to scream at the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. We need our political system to start reflecting this anger back into, ‘How do we fix it? How do we get the economy going again?’”

43. “Ninety percent of my time is spent on 10% of the world.”

44. “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.”

45. “Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers who can cut through the argument debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.”

46. “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.”

47. “You don’t know what you can get away with until you try.”

48. “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”

49. “Bad news isn’t wine. It doesn’t improve with age.”

50. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life giving speeches.”

colin powell success quotes

Related: 50 Powerful & Inspiring Leadership Quotes Will Make You Feel UNSTOPPABLE And check out more here.

Hi there! I'm a journalist who has previously worked for @FinancialXpress and @ETNow, and currently contributing to @business_today. As a writer, I enjoy exploring various topics and perspectives, and sharing them with my readers. I hope my articles entertain and enlighten you, and I'm always open to feedback and suggestions.

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