Palestinians will never realize their independence by denying the right of Israel to exist.

But what I would say to my successor is that it is important not just to shoot but to aim. And it is important, in this seat, to make sure that you're making your best judgments based on data, intelligence, the information that's coming from your commanders and folks on the ground and you're not being swayed by politics.

The notion that we can control the flow of information is obsolete.

I don't think that hedge funds are bad per se. I think they're just one more financial tool. And in that sense, they're useful.

What is certainly true is that the American people, just like the German people, just like the British and people around the world, are seeing extraordinarily rapid change. The world is shrinking, the economies have become much more integrated and demographics are shifting.

We have proved that the true strength of our nation comes not from the scale of our wealth but from the power of our ideals - opportunity, democracy, liberty and hope.

The problem with all these tired excuses for inaction is that it suggests a fundamental lack of faith in American business and American ingenuity.