Eric Greitens

The more I thought about myself, the weaker I got. The more I recognized that I was serving a purpose larger than myself, the stronger I got. ”

One of the great things about the SEAL teams in particular, and the American military in general, is the tremendous diversity of backgrounds and experience that people bring to their service. ”

The U.S. military may well be the best-integrated large institution on the planet. You have people from every corner of the country, every ethnic background, every walk of life, and we all come together to serve. ”

We need to protect every life and that we need to defend the lives of the unborn. ”

When we make these decisions that we're going to commit ourselves to making a difference in the life of one person every single day, what happens is we actually build a whole generation of citizen leaders. ”

Ask yourself, how can I learn from the people around me. Often, your mentors are already in your life; you just haven't yet found a way to learn from them. ”

I'd finished a dissertation, writing about how international humanitarian organizations worked with kids in war zones and then I made this transition from the academic world to officer candidate school and to the SEAL teams. It was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. ”

I think there are a couple of key lessons that come from Judaism that shaped my life. One of them is the idea we have a duty to repair the world, and all of us should play a role in our lives in trying to repair the world and to make the world better for the next generation. ”

I believe that you have to live a life that involves both courage and compassion. ”

We have a culture of political corruption in Jefferson City. We have corrupt politicians, well-paid lobbyists and special-interest insiders taking the state in the wrong direction. ”