Protecting Afghan civilians is the cornerstone of our mission.

You know, great powers don't get angry, great powers don't make decisions hastily in a crisis.

Afghanistan is going to be here a long time, and what's critical is that Afghanistan's relationship with its neighbors are, to the maximum extent they can be, constructive and operationally useful.

There are problems in the world today.

I seek as much as I can to mitigate risk.

The thing that I'm always left with is this overwhelming desire for people to be rooted and the only way that they feel rooted is through another person.

We dont want the Taliban to put down roots, or the al Qaeda to put down roots in Afghanistan that can facilitate Afghanistan becoming - once again - a launching pad for international terrorism.

We need to understand what we're saying matters.

Planning is really the hallmark of any large military formation, and it's typically a weakness in new formations and new armies.

We need to have a commander-in-chief who knows what she is doing.

None of us wants any more war.

Alphabet soup is my magic eight ball. Served hot or cold, words are delicious.

Prejudice comes from insecurity and its spiritually infantile need of belonging.

When anyone gives a promise, then such should be kept, and so under any circumstance.

It's the quiet, humble guy that's not saying anything. That's the really dangerous one.

We are increasing our efforts to attract the right kind of foreign investors through our various agencies.

None of the wives mention the security guards by the door, who will probably tackle us to the ground if we try to leave without our husbands.

The thinking of the world leads us to think shallowly and act too quickly.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.

I know the world that I am painting is not a reality. It is a whim, an entertainment to provoke something in people, whether as escapism or relief. I think that is very valid.

Behind all this, some great happiness is hiding.