Nothing ever gets settled in this town (Washington). It's not like running a company or even a university. It's a seething debating society, in which the debate never stops; in which people never give up, including me, and that's the atmosphere in which you administer.

The minute you start talking about what you're going to do if you lose, you have lost.

Before you get mugged by reality, take out an insurance policy. It's the Reagan way.

Oh, you know. I am secretary of state. My trips aren't successful. I just talk to people.

If somebody had made that [deal] to me when I was a businessman, I would have said he proposed to give me the sleeves from his vest.

If they are too big to fail, make them smaller.

He who walks in the middle of the road gets hit from both sides.