There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

You should never be so involved with your position/job that when the position is gone your entire self image is gone with it.

Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. I am talking about a gung-ho attitude that says 'we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best. 'Spare me the grim litany of the 'realist;' give me the unrealistic aspirations of the optimist any day.

The United States is not stingy. We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world.

It's not just a matter of whether you support Obama or Romney. It's who they have coming with them. I always keep my powder dry, as they say in the military.

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.

We are rather candid with them about the nature of their political processes and the state of development of their institutions, but they are looking to the West because they know that's where success lies.