"People always blame the girl she should have said no. A monosyllable, but conventional wisdom has always been that boys can't manage it."

"The future is built on brains, not prom court, as most people can tell you after attending their high school reunion. But you'd never know it by talking to kids or listening to the messages they get from the culture and even from their schools."

"Women who marry early are often overly enamored of the kind of man who looks great in wedding pictures and passes the maid of honor his telephone number."

"There is little premium in poetry in a world that thinks of Pound and Whitman as a weight and a sampler, not an Ezra, a Walt, a thing of beauty, a joy forever."

"When you experience a failure as a leader, don't hide it - talk about it. Your missed opportunity will encourage others to take risks."

"Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement."

"War remains the decisive human failure."

"But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated."