David Lampton Quotes

Domestically, a lot of people think Xi Jinping is becoming Mao Zedong. By giving Hong Kong democracy, people would look at them as enlightened leaders.

The biggest novelty of 2013 will be new leadership in China. Very little is known about the views of the new leaders - who will rule the country for ten years. But we do know they're the first generation of Chinese leaders who have spent the majority of their lives in a China 'opening up' to the rest of the world.

China doesn't have a single leader. It has - a first among equals is the president, and his name will probably be Xi Jinping, almost certainly.

We have to make sure that when we make choices as a society, people understand the choices, agree with them, and are behind them. Otherwise, the system is going to fall apart.

'Canadian society' or the 'Canadian nation' cannot decide anything, because no one is in charge.

When those who uphold the law are strong, the state is strong. When they are weak, the state is weak

England is one if the great powers of the world, but this has not been brought about by Queen Victoria’s absolute rule. She had able men of Parliament back of her at all times and of course the discussed everything until the best result was obtained ... In China, I have 400 million people, all dependent on my judgement.

Xi Jinping is a very strong and ambitious leader who is looking to make a lot of changes in China. He is not looking to follow a Western model based on universal suffrage. That is for sure.

The will of the people is the best law.

At least George W. Bush feels like - and I've heard him say it - "You can't judge me now, because look at Abraham Lincoln. When he was in the middle of that war and 600,000 people died, he was vilified for the Gettysburg Address because they felt it was too short and almost insulting, and now you look back and it's considered one of the great speeches of all time and he's considered one of the great presidents of all time."

There is no name for all who participate in group decision-making or the organization which they form. I propose to call this organization the Technostructure.

A man who is influenced by the polls or is afraid to make decisions which make him unpopular is not a man to represent the welfare of the country.

If you don't have a strategy, you're part of someone else's strategy.

France is a republic, and the rules in theory have been made by everyone rather than imposed by a dictatorship or king or whatever. So it's like, we've got to stick to these rules because we made them.

No man who has not sat in the assemblies of men can know the light, odd and uncertain ways in which decisions are often arrived at.

The American people want change, and they see in Donald Trump a leader who embodies the American spirit.

Although only a few may originate a policy, we are all able to judge it.

We cannot decide for the American people.

I know that, you know, leaders have to lead. I don't read polls to decide what I'm going to do. But for the best interest of the people of our state [Ohio], having a big mix of technology, healthcare, IT, financial services, and manufacturing is the ticket.

If small groups are included in the decision-making process, then they should be allowed to make decisions. If an organization sets up teams and then uses them for purely advisory purposes, it loses the true advantage that a team has: namely, collective wisdom.

I ignore polling as a method of government. I think that shows a certain weakness of mind - an inability to chart a course whichever way the wind blows, whichever way the media encourages the people to go, you follow. If you can't force or are unwilling to force your people to follow you, with or without threats, you are not a leader.

A man in public life expects to be sneered at -- it is the fault of his elevated situation, and not of himself.

China is a one party state. Sooner or later China will get to the point when the new social classes, which have emerged thanks to economic success, will have to be integrated into the political system. There is no guarantee that this process will run smoothly.

If the people allow something to happen, it's the right thing.

I don't look at polls, I pay no attention to them. I pay attention to the public, and the sense of where the public is on certain things, but you have to lead.