I respect the fact that many denominations have different points of view with respect to gay marriage and they can hold that in the sanctity in the place of their religion and not bless them or solemnize them.
Don't bother people for help without first trying to solve the problem yourself.
Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.
Indeed, we're strongest when the face of America isn't only a soldier carrying a gun but also a diplomat negotiating peace, a Peace Corps volunteer bringing clean water to a village, or a relief worker stepping off a cargo plane as floodwaters rise.
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
In 2008, I spoke out against calling the president a Muslim as if that was a curse. And then in 2012, once again, I was very disturbed about some of the intolerance I was seeing in the party, so I made a statement saying there's a level of intolerance in some parts of the Republican Party. And there was, and I think there still is.
Economy's got to get moving, we've got to get the unemployment rate down. That may be the defining issue of the campaign.
Children need to get a high-quality education, avoid violence and the criminal-justice system, and gain jobs. But they deserve more. We want them to learn not only reading and math but fairness, caring, self-respect, family commitment, and civic duty.
Organization charts and fancy titles count for next to nothing.
There are lots of countries that are having these kinds of internal civil wars in other parts of the world and nobody is talking about intervening.
Have fun in your command. Don't always run at a breakneck pace. Take leave when you've earned it, spend time with your families.
The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.
Look at the world. There is no pure competitor to the United States of America.
My own experience is use the tools that are out there. Use the digital world. But never lose sight of the need to reach out and talk to other people who don't share your view. Listen to them and see if you can find a way to compromise.
In other words, don't expect to always be great. Disappointments, failures and setbacks are a normal part of the lifecycle of a unit or a company and what the leader has to do is constantly be up and say 'we have a problem, let's go and get it'.
No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.
The United States is not stingy. We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world.
If a leader doesn't convey passion and intensity then there will be no passion and intensity within the organization and they'll start to fall down and get depressed.
The purposes of the United States should not be doubted. The Security Council resolutions will be enforced - the just demands of peace and security will be met - or action will be unavoidable. And a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power.
Experts often possess more data than judgment.
