“Staffers tend to mimic their bosses, to take their key from them.”

“The author defines professionalism as exemplified by his subjects in their mutual unwillingness to take expected opposition personally. They would not allow grudges to get in the way of more import...”

“He was making the inevitable pivot from critic to manager.”

“He was experienced enough to spot the downside of doing the right thing.”

“The Russian people were just like us. They were victims of their own government. Ronald Reagan”

“Shared history was the coin of the realm.”

“Leaders bring things to conclusion, not necessarily consensus.”

“Jousting with an obvious hoodlum couldn't hurt.”

“Initial uniformity can be deceiving, warns the author, because parties arrive at that state from so many different motives which will be exposed over time.”

“Daja: "He and Rosethorn work together? They hate each other." Lark: "I didn't say they liked it.- Daja and Lark referring to Rosethorn and Crane's cooperation on finding the cures for new diseases”

“The attitude of Tao is of cooperation, not conflict. The attitude of Tao is not to be against nature but to be with it, to allow nature, to let it have its way, to cooperate with it, to go with it....”

“To stop war, teach peace, love, cooperation, and most of allforgiveness.”

“Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true.”

“As time and space are bent by gravity, so too is truth bent by power.”

“What a curious power words have.”