Always be looking for the opportunities, and always be optimistic about what you can do with that opportunity.

You have to create circumstances where your first-tier leader knows what you are trying to accomplish, because he is the one who's going to get it done.

It's nice to say let's be bipartisan. But we're a partisan nation. We were raised as a partisan nation.

Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired. Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut.

Lying offshore, ready to act, the presence of ships and Marines sometimes means much more than just having air power or ship's fire, when it comes to deterring a crisis. And the ships and Marines may not have to do anything but lie offshore. It is hard to lie offshore with a C-141 or C-130 full of airborne troops.

You can't get it all done yourself. The best leaders are not afraid of picking people who are better than they are and who may one day replace them.

Bad news isn't wine. It doesn't improve with age.