I think this is the biggest lesson a president or any of us who has responsibility to govern have to learn: There are always consequences to actions that you take. There are consequences to inaction.

History has shown that a country most effectively speaks with one voice. When nationally elected officials work together, build consensus, and provide leadership, the American people will follow.

If America is to succeed in responding to these 21st Century challenges, our political system cannot continue to bog down in the mire of partisan gamesmanship.

Politics or ideology must not get in the way of sound planning.

You can't just drop the 82nd Airborne into Baghdad and it will all be over.

Foreign policy will require a strategic agility that, whenever possible, gets ahead of problems, strengthens U.S. security and alliances, and promotes American interests and credibility.

Engagement is not appeasement. Engagement is not surrender.

Alliances and international organizations should be understood as opportunities for leadership and a means to expand our influence, not as constraints on our power.

I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn't take an oath of office to my party or my president.

And this - this board was - was impanelled in 1951. And it's gone through ups and downs in how the secretaries have used it. But I have put a premium on that advisory board.

Peace comes through dealing with people. Peace doesn't come at the end of a bayonet or the end of a gun.

Real education leads to the liberation of the mind.

When efforts that are wisely executed, the situation and condition don't affect the performance.

Did I miss the denial, anger, and bargaining phases, or did you leap straight to depression?

If books can transform, those have to be conscientious.

Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.

I always have one foot in the street, so I know not everyone wants to dress like the women they see in music videos.

You apply the skills you use to produce your own book to make an anthology. Shaping. Rhythm.

The worst thing you can do to a dictator is laugh at him.

It is not the man who has little, but he who desires more, that is poor.