Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to "carry it off."

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

You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.

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

In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership.

In politics, every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serious error. Enjoy it.

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

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

If a person is determined to fight to the death, then they may very well have that opportunity.

I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today will last five days, five weeks or five months, but it won't last any longer than that.

Success tends to go not to the person who is error-free, because he also tends to be risk-averse. Rather it goes to the person who recognizes that life is pretty much a percentage business. It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task.