You need to understand, if you take out a government, take out a regime, guess who becomes the government and regime and is responsible for the country? You are. So if you break it, you own it.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes personal responsibility in governance and the repercussions of political actions.
Colin Powell's quote highlights that when one disrupts an established government or regime, they inherit the responsibility of rebuilding and managing what replaces it. It serves as a reminder that individuals and groups must be prepared to face the consequences of their actions in politics, as the fallout from dismantling a system ultimately falls on those who instigate change.
In practice
During a political debate to highlight the importance of accountability in government.
Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. I am talking about a gung-ho attitude that says 'we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best. 'Spare me the grim litany of the 'realist;' give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.
One of the fondest expressions around is that we can't be the world's policeman. But guess who gets called when suddenly someone needs a cop.
Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.
If you get the dirty end of the stick, sharpen it and turn it into a useful tool.
High-quality early-childhood programs and health coverage have expanded, and the number of mentoring relationships for at-risk youth has risen dramatically. That progress is encouraging, but it's not evenly distributed.
As I've thought about gay marriage, I don't see any reason not to say that [couples] should be able to get married.
That's all managing is: just coming up with the right questions and getting the right answers.
What else does a manager do but push buttons? He doesn't hit, he doesn't run, he doesn't throw, and he doesn't catch the ball. A manager has twenty-five players, or twenty-five buttons, and he selects which one he'll use, or push, that day. The manager who presses the right buttons most often is the one who wins the most games.
You [future first ladies] will feel that you are no longer clothing yourself, you are dressing a public monument.
Duty is the great business of a sea officer; all private considerations must give way to it, however painful it may be.
The desire to order other people around and make them conform to one own's vision takes many forms.
We periodically note that there are no silver bullets, there are no magic formulas, there's no single action or component of the overall... comprehensive civil-military approach.
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