And so there has been a lot of diplomatic movement.

We have a model that we're following, and it's the Libya model.

There is a different future that is available to North Korea, if they choose differently.

What we can do is to explain as clearly as possible what the benefits would be of him going down one path, and what the potential consequences would be if he chooses another path.

The format's better because it gives us a much stronger hand to play when going to the North Koreans unified, with our allies and partners in the region, all of us saying the same thing: telling them their current course is unacceptable.

I'm not sure you can do anything quickly or easily with the North.

Sometimes we tend to focus more on the personalities and the conflicts, and it really caricatures the issues.

First of all we have to recognize that despite all the problems - and in some cases failures - that this regime has been much more successful, much more resilient, than people had anticipated.

And it has to do with having no inventory or stockpiles on the shelf, but items arrive as you need to build your product. What that means is that it's much more difficult to actually find stockpiles of already built weapons.

Any agreement that you have isn't going to be based on North Korea's intentions or trust.

And so there has been a lot of diplomatic movement.

First of all, I think the situation today is different. We're in a different place than we were in '93, '94.

You are either going forward or you are not.

The other countries did not share the same concern the United States had in the early '90's - that North Korea actually had an ongoing nuclear weapons program.

It's up to Kim Jong Il to make that decision, and we can't make that for him.

It's time for the IRA to go out of business.

Again, I think we have much greater diplomatic weight by having all of us sit on the same side of the table wanting the same thing, and putting it to the North Koreans.

You have to play the cards you are dealt and if it has made it harder, it doesn't matter, you still have to get the deal done.

We need to do a lot more thinking about how the regime is going to evolve, how the bad guys are going to adapt their tactics, and what measures we're going to need in order to go forward.

So, in a sense, the verification piece is irrelevant to the format issue.

We are hopeful that the North Koreans can show a little bit more realism, a little bit more flexibility.

Now North Korea certainly is located in a different place geographically, but I think it faces the same type of strategic decision. Does it want a different future for its people?

But with lots of good ideas, implementation is the key, and so we need to keep our eye on the ball as we go forward and make sure that people honor their pledges in terms of financial commitments, and that we actually use this money so that it makes a real difference.

The nexus between terrorism and nuclear weapons, or even nuclear material, is obviously a current concern.

Everyone I have spoken with so far recognises the need for the IRA to respond positively and every has said sooner is better than later and I think there is some concern if it does continue to delay much longer that the situation isn't going to remain the same.

So the president set out the policy guidance and said it had to take place in a multilateral fashion so that other countries in the region could be invested in the success of this process.

I've long ago compromised my eight hours a night.

Without my Johnson trademark mop of yellow hair, I think I would be nothing.

We do not yet have the solutions to these questions, but the awareness that we live in an endangered world is present in more and more life situations.

Women, we are so strong! It took me so long to figure that out, but I realized just how strong a woman is.

Each one of us requires the spur of insecurity to force us to do our best.

In today's global economy, however, it is important to raise the bar of excellence even higher. Today's students must be prepared to compete effectively on an international level.

In Brentwood we had a big safe-deposit box to put manuscripts in if we left town during fire season. It was such a big box that we never bothered to clean it out.

We must get beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.

Christmas makes everything twice as sad.

Science always has its origin in the adaptation of thought to some definite field of experience.

Some of the most important determinants of life paths arise through the most trivial of circumstances.

Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of your attention.

The individual has always to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.

I wrote all my songs on my main instruments, and the songs I would record in my bedroom were just acoustic guitar, mandolin, and sometimes bass. I really like the texture the mandolin added to my music, but my fingers were too big to play it... I could only do little riffs and whatever.

Comedy is not commercial; it is risky, because what is funny in one place isn't always funny somewhere else.

Through hard work, perseverance and a faith in God, you can live your dreams.

Friendship, like credit, is highest when it is not used.

That's something I kind of started Week 1, so when it got to where I'm getting a little beat up, I have a routine already for getting my body back together. Just getting in the cold tank, making sure you're getting massages.

Ideas, like large rivers, never have just one source.

Complacency is the enemy of study.

Like everybody, I'm making up my life as I go along.

By and large, the critics and readers gave me an affirmed sense of my identity as a writer. You might know this within yourself, but to have it affirmed by others is of utmost importance. Writing is, after all, a form of communication.

A bear teaches us that if the heart is true, it doesn't matter much if an ear drops off.