Tony Blair Quotes

The politician who never made a mistake never made a decision.

When I became leader, I made very clear I was not going to choose the easy life. I have always taken risks. I don't like comfort-zone politics.

To some people, I am a kind of Merlin who takes lots of crazy chances, but rarely makes mistakes.

In my experience as CEO, I found that the most important decisions tested my courage far more than my intelligence.

I've never worried about payback. People are hungry for leadership that's not afraid of political consequence.

Decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.

In politics, guts is all.

A statesman wants courage and a statesman wants vision; but believe me, after six months' experience, he wants first, second, third and all the time - patience.

I don't want to completely self-sabotage everything that I've got and alienate everyone. But I definitely want to take some chances as I always have.

Leadership requires the courage to make decisions that will benefit the next generation.

Leadership is about making the right decision and the best decision before, sometimes, it becomes entirely popular.

Presidents with strong nerves are decisive. They don't balk at unpopular decisions. They are willing to make people angry. Bush had strong nerves. Clinton, who passed up a chance to eliminate Osama bin Laden, did not. Obama is a people pleaser, a trait not normally associated with nerves of steel.

The true statesman is the one who is willing to take risks.

We need leadership, and we need it now.

The real reform Japan needs is decisive politics when we face issues that need to be decided.

That is what leadership is all about: staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment.

There never is a good time for tough decisions. There will always be an election or something else. You have to pick courage and do it. Governance is about taking tough, even unpopular, decisions.

Yet in all those cases I finally steeled myself to seize the opportunity, and find a way to muddle through and eventually conclude that I had, in fact, chosen the right path, as risky as it seemed at the time.

Pardon me if I add that I think him [President James Madison] a little too much of a book politician, and too timid in his politics, for prudence and caution are opposites of timidity.

Just as our peace-time system is unsuitable for war conditions, so does it tend to breed peace-time statesmen who are not too well fitted for the conduct of war. Facility in debate, ability to state a case, caution in advancing an unpopular view, compromise and procrastination are the natural qualities - I might almost say, virtues - of a political leader in time of peace. They are fatal qualities in war. Vision, daring, swiftness and consistency of decision are the very essence of victory.

We don’t need corporate generals. We need warrior generals…. Many of our military leaders are like car designers who have never driven a car….they go along to get along.

You cannot lead this country by being [politically] safe.

Sometimes you have to make decisions without knowing all that you would like to know That's part of the job.

Winning or losing elections is not important. What is important is that I have taken the plunge.

My father, a Vietnam War pilot, used to tell me that the only really bad decisions are the ones you stick to even when you get facts that support a change in the mission.