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The warning message we sent the Russians was a calculated ambiguity that would be clearly understood.

Remember that life's big changes rarely give advance warning.

I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I've said.

I didn't even apply. There was no warning.

During a large disaster, like Hurricane Katrina, warnings get hopelessly jumbled. The truth is that, for warnings to work, it's not enough for them to be delivered. They must also overcome that human tendency to pause; they must trigger a series of effective actions, mobilizing the informal networks that we depend on in a crisis.

Caution is the confidential agent of selfishness.

If some band sucks, you're going to have to find out about it for yourself, because I don't have the interest in issuing warnings.

As best I can tell there was no advance warning of the attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, which was the first significant foreign terrorist activity in the U.S. No tip-offs that it was coming.