When someone with a rural accent says, "I don't know much about politics," zip up your pockets.

If you develop rules, never have more than ten.

Imagine, a September 11 with weapons of mass destruction. It's not 3,000. It's tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children.

Have a deputy and develop a successor. Don't be consumed by the job or you'll risk losing your balance. Keep your mooring lines to the outside world - family, friends, neighbors, people out of government, and people who may not agree with you.

Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers - they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.

There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know.

In politics, every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serious error. Enjoy it.