There are problems in the world today.

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

Protecting Afghan civilians is the cornerstone of our mission.

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.

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.

Without Freedom or Liberty, creativity can not exist.

I love the friendly faces of old sorrows

He who becomes his most truthful self, becomes the leader for everyone else.

There are glances of hatred that stab, and raise no cry of murder.

Cowards cut and run, Marines never do.

I'm a huge fan of music in schools and music education because that's how I grew up.

Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe.

I don't really consider myself a writer, but I am writing so I guess I'm a writer.

All the people who knock me down, only inspire me to do better.

Goodbye, my friend, goodbye. My dear, you are in my heart. Predestined separation promises a future meeting.