The ISI is above all a paramilitary organization. It doesn't do all that much collection of intelligence. It's not a very good spy agency, but it's good at running covert action.

Luck is the residue of good planning.

Retrospective analysis is not a useful guide to current problems.

When the big guys in Washington dream of transforming the world, it’s the little guys who come home in body bags.

I think Republicans so mistrust Barack Obama, that if Barack Obama says Putin is terrible, they will be some Republicans who just take the other side.

U.S. has been trying to encourage Iraq to pass a law that would provide money and training and weapons for a Sunni national guard that could be effective in places like Ramadi, like Mosul

Well, I think the U.S. has been careful not to go too far in attacking Iran's allies, in particular in attacking Hezbollah forces in Syria, which have been propping up the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

I believe, that there is at least de facto cooperation between United States and Iran, at least in Iraq.

Misdirection. False signals. Spreading confusion. This is the Tao of deception.

Journalists couldn't do their jobs overseas without taking risks, and the same is true for diplomats and intelligence officers.

Sometimes James Bond movies drive me crazy. They're fun to watch, but they don't have anything to do at all with what intelligence officers really do.

No doubt, the biggest challenge before you is to protect yourself from sadness, because happiness belongs to the theory of uncertainty.

To reimagine IT, IT branding needs to be part of IT transformation effort.

To be stories at all they must be a series of events: but it must be understood that this series - the plot, as we call it - is only really a new whereby to catch something else.

The one who admonishes his brother secretly, he has advised sincerely and has honored him. If he does it outwardly (among others) then he has dishonored and shamed him.

If it weren't for people that stand out, this whole world would be really, really boring.

The protection the government owes you and fails to provide, you are morally bound to provide for yourselves.

An obligation is something which constrains or induces us to act.

Integrity, like humility, is a quality which vanishes the moment we are conscious of it in ourselves. We see it only in others.

If I have seen further than others, it is because I am surrounded by dwarfs.

It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.