Before the Freedom of Information Act, I used to say at meetings "The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer." [...] But since the Freedom of Information Act, I'm afraid to say things like that.

The mistake we make with many people - not just Russia - is that we believe we have the model, and there is a sort of a condescension in our dialogue with other societies, which was especially painful in several administrations to Russia. I think in Russia, the Yeltsin period is not considered a period of great achievement, but a period of corruption and humiliation.

The American foreign policy trauma of the sixties and seventies was caused by applying valid principles to unsuitable conditions.

Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world.

High office teaches decision making, not substance. It consumes intellectual capital; it does not create it. Most high officials leave office with the perceptions and insights with which they entered; they learn how to make decisions but not what decisions to make.

The conventional army loses if it does not win. The guerrilla wins if he does not lose.

Power is the great aphrodisiac.