I wrote a play called Knuckle in 1974, which opened to hostile reviews during the three-day week.

It was like switching out the engines mid-flight. I remember the day we turned on this free service, had we probably gone on for about six more months, I think we might have died as a company. That was a defining moment and that was as late as 2013. I think every great company has at least three near-death experiences.

Failure is the most likely outcome of entrepreneurship. Hence there is absolutely nothing wrong with failure. It is the default outcome. Success on the other hand is rare and unpredictable. Very few find it. However what can help entrepreneurs succeed is when an ecosystem learns from failure.

As hard as it's been to come to this decision, I am at peace with it. I have no regrets. I was not supposed to be here in the first place, remember? Not many people believed in my talent and my abilities, yet I found a way to persevere, to prove them (and sometimes myself!) wrong.

Italians are romantics, and my mother taught me the value of beauty and the appreciation for life.

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

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.

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

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

The greatest fear I always had in the jobs I was in was that some son of a bitch I never knew or met was going to screw up, and I was going to get blamed for it. [laughs]