I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn't take an oath of office to my party or my president.

History has shown that a country most effectively speaks with one voice. When nationally elected officials work together, build consensus, and provide leadership, the American people will follow.

If America is to succeed in responding to these 21st Century challenges, our political system cannot continue to bog down in the mire of partisan gamesmanship.

Politics or ideology must not get in the way of sound planning.

You can't just drop the 82nd Airborne into Baghdad and it will all be over.

Foreign policy will require a strategic agility that, whenever possible, gets ahead of problems, strengthens U.S. security and alliances, and promotes American interests and credibility.

Engagement is not appeasement. Engagement is not surrender.

Alliances and international organizations should be understood as opportunities for leadership and a means to expand our influence, not as constraints on our power.

And this - this board was - was impanelled in 1951. And it's gone through ups and downs in how the secretaries have used it. But I have put a premium on that advisory board.

Peace comes through dealing with people. Peace doesn't come at the end of a bayonet or the end of a gun.

No one person leads alone - can't do it, it's impossible. It doesn't make any sense. You need a team.

Common sense comes not just from knowledge, but also from wisdom.

Dad kept us out of school, but school comes and goes. Family is forever.

I probably owe as much to Jeff Beck as I do to Son House with connections to the blues.

We can keep from a child all knowledge of earlier myths, but we cannot take from him the need for mythology.

Watch the clouds. They will teach you about the world of form.

A successful account enables us to understand human knowledge in general.

I do not consider myself a teddybear. Just to be clear, I don't feel sorry for myself.

Successful model? That's a myth. The year I modeled was the most painful year of my life. Editors would always talk to you in the third person as though you were merely a piece of merchandise.

Fantasizing about the future is one of my favorite pastimes.

Jeffrey Carver imagines wonders and allows us to share his vision.