“It’s the sense of duty that keeps you going sometimes when things get very, very rough. Somebody’s got to do it. And if you don’t, who will?”

You learn far more from negative leadership than from positive leadership. Because you learn how not to do it. And, therefore, you learn how to do it.

I hate war. Absolutely, I hate war.

Leadership consists of character and strategy. If you can’t have both, opt for character.

The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.

I am living proof that if you catch prostate cancer early, it can be reduced to a temporary inconvenience, and you can go back to a normal life.

I do hunt, and I do fish, and I don’t apologize to anybody for hunting and fishing.

I was lucky enough to lead a very successful war.

How do you fight someone who doesn’t care if they get killed? You accommodate them.

You can’t help someone get up a hill without getting closer to the top yourself.

Ninety-nine percent of leadership failures are failures of character.

It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.

From the time I was twelve years old until I retired last year at the age of fifty-seven, the Army was my life. I loved commanding soldiers and being around people who had made a serious commitment to serve their country.

As far as Saddam Hussein being a great military strategist, he is neither a strategist, nor is he schooled in the operational arts, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general, nor is he a soldier. Other than that, he’s a great military man, I want you to know that.

True courage is being afraid, and going ahead and doing your job anyhow, that’s what courage is.

To be an effective leader, you have to have a manipulative streak – you have to figure out the people working for you and give each tasks that will take advantage of his strength.

Going to war without France is like going hunting without an accordion.