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.'

I would've done anything to work with Satyajit Ray.

I enjoy how women dressed in the 1920s with the shimmering jewels and rich feathers.

If you look at my CV, just about everything I have done has come through a publicly funded institution; it is a career entirely built on that sort of support.