Intelligence is not all that important in the exercise of power, and is often, in point of fact, useless.
Interpretation
Power does not always require intelligence and can sometimes thrive without it.
This quote suggests that intelligence may not be a crucial factor in effectively wielding power. In many political and leadership contexts, the ability to influence, manipulate, or control may overshadow intelligence as a necessary tool for success. Kissinger implies that those in power often operate based on practical considerations rather than intellectual capability, pointing out the complexities and perhaps flaws in leadership dynamics.
In practice
In a speech about political strategy, one might say, 'As Kissinger noted, intelligence is not all that important in the exercise of power.'
Every civilization that has ever existed has ultimately collapsed. History is a tale of efforts that failed, or aspirations that weren’t realized. So, as a historian, one has to live with a sense of the inevitability of tragedy.
Blessed are the people whose leaders can look destiny in the eye without flinching but also without attempting to play God.
It was a Greek tragedy. Nixon was fulfilling his own nature. Once it started it could not end otherwise.
The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.
If peace is equated simply with the absence of war, it can become abject pacifism that turns the world over to the most ruthless.
What political leaders decide, intelligence services tend to seek to justify.
To get people to do needed things is the perennial hard task of government, not to mention of religion and philosophy.
The leader’s Attitude is like a thermostat for the place she works. If her attitude is good, the atmosphere is pleasant, and the environment is easy to work in. But if her attitude is bad, the temperature is insufferable.
I will only hire someone to work directly for me if I would work for that person. It's a pretty good test.
I met all these important people and did all these stories, but I always had such excellent producers and assistants. I could show up to interview a world leader or a criminal and they would have things so well prepared anyone could have done it. It wasn't about 'me,' it was about 'us.'
I don't have to come up with the best idea. It is my job to make sure that it is always the best idea that wins.
In government, our chief executives have been lawyers. The great majority of our cabinets and congresses are and have been men trained in the law. They have provided the leadership and the statecraft and the store of strength when it was needed.
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