I wish we could go back to the time when the private lives of our public figures were relevant only if they directly affected their public responsibilities.

Good leadership requires you to surround yourself with people of diverse perspectives who can disagree with you without fear of retaliation.

The past is not simply the past, but a prism through which the subject filters his own changing self-image.

That is what leadership is all about: staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment.

Once a president gets to the White House, the only audience that is left that really matters is history.

As a historian, what I trust is my ability to take a mass of information and tell a story shaped around it.

Go ahead, and fear not. You will have a full library at your service.

Better to have your enemies inside your tent pissing out, then to have them outside your tent pissing in.

I still think about that one Jamiroquai video a lot.

Excitement about things became a habit, a part of my personality, and the expectation that I should enjoy new experiences often engendered the enjoyment itself.

Whatever it is that you do, if you have that passion and desire for it, that's the most important thing.

Every time you try to flirt with her, a puppy dies.

For the first time in his life, a teacher was pointing out things that Ender had not already seen for himself. For the first time, Ender had found a living mind he could admire.

Every great leader has incredible odds to overcome.

Until I went to rehab, I didn't understand what it did.

My life sucks when I’m only half-aware of it. If I quit drinking and saw what it’s really like, I’d probably jump off a bridge.

Jobs will come back when the economy recovers, but they will never be the same.

I like to make people happy, and with fairy tales, I can say anything I want to, but in an agreeable way.

I'd just like to be able to walk without pain or run without a limp.

The sincerity of feeling that is possible between a writer and a reader is one of the finest things I know.