If things are going well, if the writing's coming along, I jump out of bed happy. And if the previous day has been bad, I get out of bed disgruntled.

Now, for this book I had to learn the world of the Senate, which is really for all that's written about the Senate, an unknowing world and its mores, and the way things work with subcommittees and all. I loved learning about that.

It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So for me, I would always have an excuse, you know, to go - quit early, go to a museum, you know. So I do everything I can to make myself remember this is a job. I keep a schedule.

You know, we're taught that in a democracy power comes from being elected.

The problem for most self-starting leaders who do not have a mentor begins when they measure the results and find themselves fully aware of the data and the analytics, but are completely unaware of what to do.

My Girl Scout leader. She told me if I listened more and talked less, I could grow up to be a good writer. I thought that was interesting advice at age 12.

The democratic idealist is prone to make light of the whole question of standards and leadership because of his unbounded faith in the plain people.

Canadians are known for having a social conscience, and so our political leaders need to do more to uphold that reputation on the international stage.