“If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.”

If you develop rules, never have more than ten.

Think ahead. Don’t let day-to-day operations drive out planning.

It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.

The way to do well is to do well.

Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was – by a taxpayer.

What you measure improves.” A corollary rule in the military is that “You get what you inspect, not what you expect.

You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.

If it were a fact, it wouldn’t be called intelligence.

If in doubt, move decisions up to the President.

Preserve the President’s options. He may need them.

Let’s stick something in the ground and not pretend that it’s perfect.

Don’t speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn’t walk in their shoes.

Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals.

If we know anything, it is that weakness is provocative.

Don’t blame the boss. He has enough problems.

The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You fail him if you don’t tell him the truth. Others won’t do it.

What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.

If critics have problems with my personal life, it’s their problem. Anybody with half a brain would realize that it’s the charts that count.

No, I don’t think it’s fair to label Islam ‘violent.’ But I will say that to my knowledge, no writer has ever gone into hiding for criticizing the Amish.

Our critical day is not the very day of our death; but the whole course of our life.

If you never get criticized, chances are you aren’t getting anything done.

Criticism is the essence of creation.

Dare to risk public criticism.

I like to not care that much about criticism, but I do care about it.