Peggy Noonan Quotes

It has been my honor to support and work with President Barack Obama, a man who has brought courage and character to the presidency. President Obama's strength of character leads him to do the right thing, even when it isn't the easy thing.

It isn't polls or public opinion at the moment that counts. It is right and wrong and leadership--men with fortitude, honesty, and a belief in the right that makes epochs in the history of the world.

The public wants elected officials who have character. The public wants elected officials who are willing to stand up and say things, even if they don't agree with them.

To say America can have strong leadership without strong character is to say we can get water without the wet.

A flawed candidate with a strong character versus a strong candidate with a flawed character.

One of the highest qualities of all true leadership is a high standard of courage. … There has never been time in the Church when its leaders were not required to be courageous men; not alone courageous in the sense that they were able to meet physical dangers, but also in the sense that they were steadfast and true to a clear and upright conviction.

You've all seen over the last eight years what President Obama means to this country. He is the embodiment of honor, resolve, and character - one of the finest presidents we have ever had.

The leader for today and the future will be focused on how to be - how to develop quality, character, mind-set, values, principles, and courage.

We need moral leadership and courage in our world.

I decide on the basis of conscience. A genuine leader doesn't reflect consensus, he molds consensus.

The leader beyond the millennium will not be the leader who has learned the lessons of how to do it, with ledgers of 'hows' balanced with 'its' that dissolve in the crashing changes ahead. The leader for today and the future will be focused on how to be - how to develop quality, character mind-set, values, principles, and courage.

A great leader has brains, vision, soul, values and a heart.

In the end, leaders are defined by the convictions they hold.

I think, as a president, you have to want respect. You can't look for love from the American people. You have to just do what you think is right. Some people will hate you, but others, in the long run, will respect you for what you've done.

Caesar was a man of great common sense and good taste, meaning thereby a man without originality or moral courage.

There are actually very few US politicians who have integrity and vision.

Good men who exercise power are really the most fascinating of all people.

Leadership is about doing what you know is right - even when a growing din of voices around you is trying to convince you to accept what you know to be wrong.

Leadership is about doing the right thing, even if it going against a vast number of naysayers and mediocre people.

Character in leadership is the most important balance for leadership. Without character, leaders have no safety. Leadership has no protection without character.

In my presidency I've been guided by what's right, not what's popular.

Every time you make the hard, correct decision you become a bit more courageous, and every time you make the easy, wrong decision you become a bit more cowardly. If you are CEO, these choices will lead to a courageous or cowardly company.

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

A man of conviction is often more to be desired than a man of experience.

You need the commitment of people that aren't worried about that next election, who are going to do the right thing and worry about the next generation. It's called political courage. And I can tell you, with me, you don't have to ask whether I have political courage.