Clearly security without values is like a ship without a rudder. But values without security are like a rudder without a ship.

I think that his [Obama's] task will be to develop an overall strategy for America in this period, when really a New World Order can be created.

The first reactions are often instinctive. So one of the first things we said was that the Chinese had no right to inspect the plane, and that we had a sovereign right to. I don't know what the legal position is, but it was surely psychologically absolutely the unwise thing to do.

Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem.

In the hands of a determined Secretary, the Foreign Service can be a splendid instrument, staffed by knowledgeable, discreet, and energetic individuals. They do require constant vigilance lest the convictions that led them into a penurious career tempt them to preempt decision-making.

The true conservative is not at home in social struggle. He will attempt to avoid unbridgeable schism, because he knows that a stable social structure thrives not on triumphs but on reconciliations.

The capacity to admire others is not my most fully developed trait.