When I lost that 100m final I spiralled. I went quite aggressive. It is an Adam I don't really recognise.

And so I finally felt that I’d given up. ... And towards the morning, I started thinking, “Well, failure is actually what most people experience in boxing.” ... And I found a way to write about the whole sport by way of beginning with failure, with the image of failure.

A period of transition to a new quality in all spheres of society's life is accompanied by painful phenomena. When we were initiating perestroika we failed to properly assess and foresee everything. Our society turned out to be hard to move off the ground, not ready for major changes which affect people's vital interests and make them leave behind everything to which they had become accustomed over many years. In the beginning we imprudently generated great expectations, without taking into account the fact that it takes time for people to realize that all have to live and work differently, to stop expecting that new life would be given from above.

Yeah. It’s a grandiose reaction. You are claiming you could really control this, but you failed.

one of the things that I learned — and I also pass this on to our students — which is that knowledge is power.

there was no way I could have accomplished the bin Laden operation without the help of Special Forces

Love of family is something that is renewed in me every time I see them.

Could I imagine a world without cursing? Hell, no! Every place I've ever gone, people have had to hold their ears.

Now, part of that is the Jesuits at Santa Clara, who taught me about right and wrong. But part of it was just that gut feeling.

I think what we’re trying to do at the Panetta Institute is to try to get all young people to understand that they have a duty to give back to our country in some capacity.