84 Quotes by George Friedman

Galvanized people can do careless things. It is in the extreme and emotion-laden moments that distance and coolness are most required. I am tempted to howl in rage. It is not my place to do so. My job is to try to dissect the event, place it in context and try to understand what has happened and why. From that, after the rage cools, plans for action can be made. Rage has its place, but actions must be taken with discipline and thought.

Presidents and other politicians manage the appearance of things, largely by manipulating the air and hope.

While you and I are allowed the luxury of our pain, president isn't. A president must take into account how his citizens feel and he must manage them and lead them, but he must not succumb to personal feelings. His job is to maintain a ruthless sense of proportion while keeping the coldness of his calculation to himself.

The kind of president we need has little to do with ideology and more to do with a willingness to wield power to moral ends.

Great powers can tend to be casual because the situation is not existential. This increases the cost of doing what is necessary.

The worst president is closer by nature to the best then either is to anyone who has not gone through what it requires to become president.

The great presidents never forget the principle of the republic and seek to preserve and enhance them – in the long run– without undermining the needs of the moment. Bad presidents simply do what is expedient, heedless of principles. But the worst presidents are those who adhere to the principles regardless of what the fortunes of the moment demand.

There are endless unknowns, and no forecast of a century can be either complete or utterly correct.

Long-term solutions are more attractive and cause much less controversy than short-term solutions, which will affect people who are still alive and voting.