“Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.”

“I will confess to you that, you know, one of the statements that’s been attributed to me that I’m sort of proud of is somebody said, you know, “What do we do about Osama bin Laden?” And they asked me, “Can we forgive him?” And I said, “Forgiveness is up to God. I just hope we hurry up the meeting.” And that’s the way I feel about him, really. [8 February 2003 show of Meet The Press, NBC News]”

“The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.”

“Success is sweet, but the secret is sweat.”

“You can't make a revolutionary omelet without breaking heads.”

“There are structure and strategies in leadership but you can add excellence and perfection to it.”

“But first of all he is a woodsman, and you aren't a woodsman unless you have such a feeling for topography that you can look at the earth and see what it would look like without any woods or covering on it. It's something like the gift all men wish for when they or young-- or old-- of being able to look through a woman's clothes and see her body, possibly even a little of her character.”