One of your tasks is to separate the 'personal' from the 'substantive.' The two can become confused, especially if someone rubs the President wrong.

Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to 'carry it off.'

If you can't solve a problem, make it bigger.

I recognize the need to provide the press - and, through you, the American people - with information to the fullest extent possible. In our democracy, the work of the Pentagon press corps is important, defending our freedom and way of life is what this conflict is about, and that certainly includes freedom of the press.

Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.

We are in the process of trying to liberate that country. And at the moment where the war ends and the coalition forces occupy the areas where those capabilities - chemical and biological weapons - are likely to be, to the extent they haven't been moved out of the country, it obviously is important to find them.

Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.