Obama and the Democrats were so critical of what Bush did, the interrogations, the secret prisons, Guantanamo and all of that, and even the war on terror. Obama won't use the word. He's made war on the war on terror.

Clashes of values and the struggle for primacy constitute a constant in human history that accounts for that other constant - conflict and war.

Longevity, for a columnist, is a simple proposition: Once you start, you don't stop. You do it until you die or can no longer put a sentence together. It has always been my intention to die at my desk, although my most cherished ambition is to outlive the estate tax.

When a party is in opposition, it opposes. That's its job. But when it comes to power, it must govern. Easy rhetoric is over, the press of reality becomes irresistible. By necessity, it adopts some of the policies it had once denounced. And a new national consensus is born.

Nothing is written in stone. So don't prepare yourself for a long and lucrative career. You might die tomorrow. Your gold holdings might become dust. Just make the music you want to make now and enjoy it.

I love working in Dublin, but when I'm in London, I'm more focused on my career.

Top managers love people and they want to be loved - it turns out being loved is good for your career, especially if you are the boss.

My mom did a good job making sure I worked for everything I got. Really, it just helped me realize the real world and how people who don't have everything have to work for stuff.