Formative

"Good morning, Cadets. Today you're in ... I don't know. It doesn't matter. Food truck is outside the main door, practice fields behind it. We're going to work. Doesn't matter where we are."

"Are you going to be legendary?"

"You gotta be broken down before you can be built into what you're supposed to be. The body wasn't made for this- so they make it for you."

"Wake up, and go to work."

"This isn't drum corps. You need to remember whom you're speaking to, and when, and what they're after. You can't address people as you would be- you need to address them as they want to be."

"Those are men out there. Men with jobs, and families, and who have worked here for 30 years. They're proud, and they know their shit, and they're scared. The front line is always scared- and you gotta remember that."

"You're not a manager until you've fired someone. Looked them in the face and said, 'No. Not you. Thank you.' And not for anything they did- for something beyond your power and theirs. I've cried with people. I've found new jobs for people. But you're not a manager until you've told someone they have to go home to their family, and have no job."

"I'm not worried about dying. I can't do anything about that. I just don't want to leave you guys behind. I've got a lot left to do."

"I got enough cream-filled donuts for both of you. Be nice and wake me at 12! Love, Mom."

"You gotta let those guys know that what they're doing is valuable. Maybe not to them ... maybe they're a contractor. What do they care? What they might care about is doing a good job if you walk away and say, 'Those were some good guys who did some good work. I'll call them next time.' That means work to them, money to them, food to them. That's value."

"If it were up to me, I'd take all that cancer out of her body. I'd eat it like candy and die tomorrow, if I knew that that meant she could watch our grandson grow up. I don't know a lot, but I know that."

"See, there were guys at school who would spend 8, 10 hours a day in the practice room. I always beat them, and I only spent 2-3 hours there per day. The trick isn't how many hours you spend doing something ... it's how many hours did you spend effectively doing something?"

"It depends on your definition of achievement. I base mine on many things. There are always kids like you- but would you say I've let you squander your drive, or your time? There's a balance, between all of you. All I hope is I've done enough for them ... and for you."

"Integrity is the key to your success."

"Learning is painful. If you think you're learning and it's not painful, then it must be your passion, or you must not be learning. And I doubt very many of you think of cost-benefit analysis as your passion."

"I wish I could have been home more. I wish I had been home more."

"Is this what you bring to me? A week of time, and you bring reasons why you didn't do what you were supposed to do? I have no time for this, or for you, now. I don't want this. I want people who bring me what I ask for. Even better- I want people who question what I ask for and make it better. But you haven't brought me anything. So what would you have me do?"

"You started out so shy, so quiet ... and you've become a showman. If I didn't know how hard you worked, I would be concerned for the decency of our institution. As it is, I'm only concerned for you."

"You're brilliant. At least I think you are. But you need to grow up."

"I love you."