“The way to do well is to do well.”

Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers – they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.

Agreement can always be reached by increasing the generality of the conclusion; when this is done, the form is generally preserved but only the illusion of policy is created.

Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to moderate their egos.

Enjoy your time in public service. It may well be one of the most interesting and challenging times of your life.

Presidential leadership needn’t always cost money. Look for low- and no-cost options. They can be surprisingly effective.

Politics is human beings; it’s addition rather than subtraction.

Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.

With the press there is no ‘off the record.’

If in doubt, don’t. If still in doubt, do what’s right.

Learn to say ‘I don’t know.’ If used when appropriate, it will be often.

Prune – prune businesses, products, activities, people. Do it annually.

Everyone’s saying you can’t do anything until you can do everything.

Simply because you do not have evidence that something exists does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn’t exist.

If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.

Whatever your position, reach out to those who know more than you do, and have been around longer than you have. Find those people. Listen carefully. And learn.

There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that’s just a fact.

Losers quit when they fail. Winners fail until they succeed.

Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.

He who struggles is better than he who never attempts.

Go on and try to tear me down I will be rising from the ground

He who does not arrive at the Intuition of these Truths by means of Ecstasy knows only the name of Inspiration.

I try to stick to a vegan diet heavy on fruit and vegetables.

If you’re living your life in fear, then you’re just not living.

Fuel yourself with the fuck ups.