Always prepare secondary ways of dealing with problems.

Bureaucracy destroys initiative. There is little that bureaucrats hate more than innovation, especially innovation that produces better results than the old routines. Improvements always make those at the top of the heap look inept. Who enjoys appearing inept?

Face your fears or they will climb over your back.

Politics: the art of appearing candid and completely open while concealing as much as possible.

Blood is thicker than water, but politics are thicker than blood.

If enough of us believe, a new thing can be made to exist. Belief structure creates a filter through which chaos is sifted into order.

Knowing where the trap is-- that's the first step in evading it.