Our people sacrifice a lot for their country, including their lives. None of them should have to sacrifice their integrity as well.

The best day was when we got bin Laden.

Every Sailor has the potential to lead," said Mullen, "I don't care if it's a seaman recruit or someone higher ranking than myself. Where there's a will, there's a way.

In every war at some point in time, you do sit down and negotiate.

I am convinced that America's great sea of goodwill can be, in fact, a rising tide, a tide that could lift every veteran and every family of our wounded and fallen.

Don't try to run your life through a single straw. Someone, some event, will cut it off.

No matter the organization, the goal, or the mission, you've got to do it through people. It's been that way for me since my first command. I work to understand the people, their views and needs, and how tasks are being carried out.That interaction might cause me to modify my guidance or the way I delegate. It also affords me an opportunity to learn what goals people have and how as their boss I can facilitate their future in ways that not only help them, but also help the ship or the organization.