Service in this business is tough and often dangerous. It extracts a price for participants, and that price can be high. It is tempting to protect yourself from the personal and professional cost of loss by limiting how much you commit, how much you believe and trust in people, and how deeply you care… If I had it to do over again, I'd do some things in my career differently, but not many. I believed in people and I still believe in them. I trusted and I still trust. I cared and I still care. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Retirement ceremony, Friday, 23 July 2010, as quoted in The New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/us/24mcchrystal...