The real challenge is not fighting the war, but securing the peace afterward.

The world isn’t going to wait for us to figure it out.

We can never be complacent when it comes to our security.

In war, nothing is ever certain.

Victory isn’t measured by how many battles you win, but by the long-term results.

Leadership is about doing what’s right, not what’s easy.

It’s the long-term vision that matters.

War is about survival, not perfection.

The stakes are too high to be anything but determined.

The battle is never over until it’s won.

Success in war comes from hard work and perseverance.

It’s critical that we continue to engage with our allies.

We will never let our enemies have the upper hand.

We must never be afraid to take risks in the pursuit of victory.

The enemy is always trying to catch you off guard.

In the world of war, there’s no such thing as a perfect plan.

There is no magic formula to war. It’s about making the right decisions at the right time.

The United States has a moral obligation to help those who cannot help themselves.

The time for talk is over; now is the time for action.

There are no guarantees in war, but you can make your own luck.

Leadership is about inspiring others to do their best.

The way to win is to outlast the enemy and to be smarter.

You need a clear sense of purpose in everything you do.

We need to stay engaged and keep pressing forward.

When someone with a rural accent says, “I don’t know much about politics,” zip up your pockets.

Our job is not to win the peace, it’s to win the war.

Every war is different, and every war requires a different approach.

I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to four hours?

There’s no such thing as perfect intelligence.

We must always be vigilant and prepared for the worst.

The key to success is being flexible.

At 78 years old, I am not surprised at much anymore. Germany has taken divergent positions before, so has France, so has England, so has the US.

We have to look at every option, and we have to act quickly.

Five days or five months, but it certainly isn’t going to last longer.

What will follow will not be a repeat of any other conflict. It will be of a force and scope and scale that has been beyond what has been seen before.

Our military must be as agile and adaptable as our enemies.

The coalition did not act in Iraq because we had discovered dramatic new evidence of Iraq’s pursuit. We acted because we saw the evidence in a dramatic new light – through the prism of our experience on 9/11.

Watch the growth of middle level management. Don’t automatically fill vacant jobs. Leave some positions unfilled for 6-8 months to see what happens. You will find you won’t need to fill some of them.

Beware when any idea is promoted primarily because it is “bold, exciting, innovative, and new.” There are many ideas that are “bold, exciting, innovative and new,” but also foolish.

If you develop rules, never have more than ten.

The cost of freedom is high, but the cost of not being free is higher.

America will not be intimidated by terrorists.

NATO member states vary dramatically in their capability and in their political steadfastness.

You’re thinking of Eurpoe as Germany and France. I don’t. I think that’s old Europe.

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

Terrorists are determined to kill us, and we have to stop them.

We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad.

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

Sausage making and policy-making shouldn’t be seen close-up.

Don’t say ‘the White House wants.’ Buildings can’t want.

You have to be ready for the unexpected.

To gain support in U.S. Congress and from other nations requires clarity, an acceptable mission and an explicit outcome.

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

When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.

Test ideas in the marketplace. You learn from hearing a range of perspectives. Consultation helps engender the support decisions need to be successfully implemented.

We need to stay ahead of the curve.

Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, ‘The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind’.

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

No. That’s someone else’s business. Quagmire is – I don’t do quagmires.

Congress, the press, and the bureaucracy too often focus on how much money or effort is spent, rather than whether the money or effort actually achieves the announced goal.

Sometimes you have to make tough choices.

Sometimes the best solution is not the one that’s immediately obvious.

The Federal Government should be the last resort, not the first. Ask if a potential program is truly a federal responsibility or whether it can better be handled privately, by voluntary organizations, or by local or state governments.

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

Don’t be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.

We’re going to find weapons of mass destruction. We will find them.

Never assume the other fellow will not do something you wouldn’t do.

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

The success of an organization will depend on the people you surround yourself with.

Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.

It’s a process, not an event.

The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. It’s to change the behavior of the people that are being terrorized.

Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.

Don’t divide the world into them and us.

Our task, your task… is to try to connect the dots before something happens. People say, ‘Well, where’s the smoking gun?’ Well, we don’t want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction.

We are not facing the kind of threats that we faced in the Cold War.

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

Don’t necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.

If you are working from your inbox, you are working on other people’s priorities.

Plan backwards as well as forward. Set objectives and trace back to see how to achieve them. You may find that no path can get you there. Plan forward to see where your steps will take you, which may not be clear or intuitive.

We must be very cautious in how we use military force. We want to use it as a last resort.

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

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.

Remember where you came from.

Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.

Freedom’s untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.

The worst mistake is to have the best ladder and the wrong wall.

Don’t think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.

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

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

We have to be able to defend the United States of America. It is our job.

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

There are things that we know, and there are things that we don’t know. Then there are the things that we don’t even know that we don’t know. Those are the things that are the hardest.

Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.

It isn’t making mistakes that’s critical; it’s correcting them and getting on with the principal task.

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.

If you can’t solve a problem, make it bigger.

Death, View, Encourage.

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

There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.