Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political and economic change.

The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while.

The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.

I saw the way to achieve all my dreams. . . . I would found a religion, I saw myself marching on the way to Asia, mounted on an elephant, a turban on my head, and in my hand a new Koran that I would have composed to suit my needs. In my enterprises I would have combined the experiences of the two worlds, exploiting the realm of all history for my own profit.

I see a lot of patterns in our behavior as a nation that parallel a lot of other historical processes.

Whoever will not be a hammer in history, will be an anvil.