Robert M. Gates

A wild and crazy weekend involves sitting on the front porch, smoking a cigar, reading a book.

Even when I was at CIA, I'd go to visit foreign leaders and I'd say, 'You know, I'm not a diplomat. I'm just an old CIA guy'... I said, 'If I wanted to be diplomatic, I'd have been a diplomat.'

One of my favorite little sayings is, 'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.'

What I find is most people have a civics book understanding for how Congress works and how a bill moves.

You put deadlines on people you really don't want, because that's how you feel about them.

The Constitution of the United States allows us to change; I don't have a problem with that.