Dwight Eisenhower was candid in private, but he was circumspect in public.

Kids are more nimble than wise.

If Heaven is willing to sing to us, it is little to ask that we be ready to listen.

A runner's stride is not perfectly efficient.

Maybe as times get worse we get better. Our pain makes us feel other people's too; our fear lets us practice valor; we are tense, and tender as well. And among the things we can no longer afford are things we never really wanted anyway.

If the Presidents Club had a seal, around the ring would be three words: cooperation, competition, and consolation. On the one hand, the presidents have powerful motives—personal and patriotic—to help one another succeed and comfort one another when they fail. But at the same time they all compete for history’s blessing.

The challenge was that it was harder to be subtle than strident.