Quotes from Erik Prince

In Iraq, State Department civilians and U.S. soldiers have been operating in the same location in an active war zone. While the troops have been facing insurgents, the State Department civilians have been working to rebuild institutions and infrastructure. Blackwater's role in this war evolved from this unprecedented dynamic.

We're trying to do for the national ­security apparatus what FedEx did for the postal ­service.

The Janjaweed is a truly unfettered bully. No one has stood up to them. If they were met by a mobile quick reaction force of African Union soldiers, the Janjaweed would quickly learn their habits were not sustainable.

I'm not sure whether a person can really gauge the quality of his work by the enemies he's made, but if I somehow upset Hamas and the Taliban and Henry Waxman, I must have done something right.

My father was a brilliant inventor and businessman. He taught me to appreciate the opportunities that America offers to innovators.

One of the real core competencies of Blackwater, or companies like Blackwater, is we can operate in difficult places without any outside support.

We protect our banks, hospitals and airports with armed personnel; surely, we can do more to protect schools, which teach our nation's most valuable resource.

In Afghanistan, the viceroy approach would reduce rampant fraud by focusing spending on initiatives that further the central strategy, rather than handing cash to every outstretched hand from a U.S. system bereft of institutional memory.

I identify with Wyoming, I love the state of Wyoming, I love the people. It's a fantastic state - people that live in rugged conditions and who make their living doing things in the outdoors.

I'm a pretty stubborn guy. I don't quit too easily.

The video game industry is constantly evolving. The sheer creativity matched with cutting-edge technologies gives me the comfort that innovation is alive and well in America.

Video games are an exciting medium. The creativity of design, the technology and the interaction represent the best of American innovation.

I've done dumb things.

Entrepreneurship made America great.

I'm no hero. The world knows all too well about my mistakes. But I was never meant to play the villain.

Unfortunately, I kind of split between Virginia and living in an airplane. I travel a lot.

Blackwater's work with the CIA began when we provided specialized instructors and facilities that the Agency lacked. In the years that followed, the company became a virtual extension of the CIA because we were asked time and again to carry out dangerous missions, which the Agency either could not or would not do in-house.

The people we helped in the field, they know what the legacy is. The 40% or so of Americans that really can't stand the name of Blackwater, that's fine, I'll never really win them over anyway. And I really don't care.

Limited government is best.