The United States doesn't do what it does in the world for altruistic reasons. Nobody set out to be the world's government.

Inequality of any kind, once considered a normal, natural part of human existence, came to be seen in the course of the twentieth century as increasingly illegitimate.

After all, the past is our only real guide to the future, and historical analogies are instruments for distilling and organizing the past and converting it to a map by which we can navigate.

In the past when a country became as powerful as the United States, other countries would band together to clip its wings. But that isn't happening now and I don't think it's not going to happen, because other countries are not threatened by us, and they secretly appreciate the services that we provide, even if they don't usually say so.

Let me remind you all that the first task of American foreign policy is to reduce threats to the United States.

The American political system is so porous, it's so open, it's so frustrating for those who are trying to make policy.

The windfall of great riches can, if mismanaged, make things worse, not better, for the recipients.