Donald Rumsfeld quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Rumsfeld Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Donald Rumsfeld on Wise Famous Quotes.

If you develop rules, never have more than ten.

Enjoy your time in public service. It may well be one of the most interesting and challenging times of your life.

Think ahead. Don't let day-to-day operations drive out planning.

One of your tasks is to separate the 'personal' from the 'substantive.' The two can become confused, especially if someone rubs the President wrong.

Prune - prune businesses, products, activities, people. Do it annually.

If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't, I'll just respond, cleverly.

At 78 years old, I am not surprised at much anymore. Germany has taken divergent positions before, so has France, so has England, so has the US.

General Boykin has requested that an inspector general review this matter. And I have indicated that if that's his request, I think it's appropriate.

Never assume the other fellow will not do something you wouldn't do.

I don't believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons.

Presidential leadership needn't always cost money. Look for low- and no-cost options. They can be surprisingly effective.

We do know of certain knowledge that he [Osama Bin Laden] is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead.

Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.

I believe what I said yesterday. I don't know what I said, but I know what I think and I assume it's what I said.

The worst mistake is to have the best ladder and the wrong wall.

Those who think that they know, but are mistaken, and act upon their mistakes, are the most dangerous people to have in charge. - Margaret Thatcher

Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.

Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.

I don't know anybody that I can think of who has contended that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons.

A terrorist can attack any time, any place using any technique and you can't defend everywhere against every technique at every moment.

Politics is human beings; it's addition rather than subtraction.

The most underestimated risk for a politician is overexposure.

Don't blame the boss. He has enough problems.

It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.

It is the photographs that gives one the vivid realization of what actually took place. (On photographs from Abu Ghraib prison.)

I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to four hours?

NATO member states vary dramatically in their capability and in their political steadfastness.

We know where they are [Iraq's weapons of mass destruction]. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.

The world is run by those who show up.

I am not going to give you a number for it because it's not my business to do intelligent work.

Find ways to decentralize. Move decision making authority down and out. Encourage a more entrepreneurial approach.

Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here.

It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.

Don't do or say things you would not like to see on the front page of The Washington Post.

Certainty without power can be interesting, even amusing. Certainty with power can be dangerous.

We do have a saying in America: if you're in a hole, stop digging ... erm, I'm not sure I should have said that.

Preserve the President's options. He may need them.

Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers - they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.

No. That's someone else's business. Quagmire is - I don't do quagmires.

When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.

A president has to provide leadership to gain support.

Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, 'The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind'.

We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad.

Make decisions about the President's personal security. He can overrule you, but don't ask him to be the one to counsel caution.

Pieces of intelligence, scraps of intelligence ... you run down leads and you run down leads, and you hope that sometimes it works.

Let your family, staff, and friends know that you're still the same person, despite all the publicity and notoriety that accompanies your position.

Being Vice President is difficult. Don't make it tougher.

The natural state of man is to want to be free. To have opportunities. To have choices.

The worst thing you can do is allow a coalition to determine what your mission is.

Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.

Look at me! I'm sweet and lovable!

Any country on the face of the Earth with an active intelligence program knows that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

Every president when he is elected has to live with the pluses and minuses his predecessor leaves, which includes benefits as well as burdens.

Look for what's missing. Many advisors can tell a President how to improve what's proposed or what's gone amiss. Few are able to see what isn't there.

I think we ought to have a new rule: You can ask two questions, and then we can pick the one we want to answer.

If we know anything, it is that weakness is provocative.

The problem is the people who tend to be the best organized are the most radical and the most vicious.

I didn't advocate invasion ... I wasn't asked.

Do I Have any Regrets? Of Course I Do.

When cutting staff at the Pentagon, don't eliminate the thin layer that assures civilian control.

I don't do quagmires.

And there is, I am certain, among the Iraqi people a respect for the care and the precision that went into the bombing campaign.

America is not what's wrong with the world

When someone with a rural accent says, "I don't know much about politics," zip up your pockets.

The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. It's to change the behavior of the people that are being terrorized.

I'm glad you asked. It has nothing to do with oil, literally nothing to do with oil.

Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.

When there happens to be a weapon of mass destruction suspect site in an area that we occupy and if people have time, they'll look at it.

If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.

Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.

You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.

Within a week, or a month, Saddam could give his WMD to al-Qaeda.

I suppose the implication of that is the president and the vice president and myself and Colin Powell just fell off a turnip truck to take these jobs.

If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.

I tend over the years to have developed a certain hesitancy about believing that headlines tell the whole story.

The dead-enders are still with us, those remnants of the defeated regimes who'll go on fighting long after their cause is lost.

Don't automatically obey Presidential directives if you disagree or if you suspect he hasn't considered key aspects of the issue.

Remember where you came from.

Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.

I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today will last five days, five weeks or five months, but it won't last any longer than that.

In the execution of Presidential decisions work to be true to his views, in fact and tone.

The way to do well is to do well.

With the press there is no 'off the record.'

The press always wants to know how many people will be killed or how much it will cost, but the answers to those questions are not knowable.

If a person is determined to fight to the death, then they may very well have that opportunity.

There will be good moments, and there will be less good moments.

Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was - by a taxpayer.

If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.

Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.

Learn to say 'I don't know.' If used when appropriate, it will be often.

The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You fail him if you don't tell him the truth. Others won't do it.

Move decisions out to the Cabinet and agencies. Strengthen them by moving responsibility, authority, and accountability their direction.

If you can't solve a problem, make it bigger.

Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to 'carry it off.'

To gain support in U.S. Congress and from other nations requires clarity, an acceptable mission and an explicit outcome.

Simply because you do not have evidence that something exists does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist.

I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started.

If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.

Oh, Lord. I didn't mean to say anything quotable.

Well, so be it. Nothing's perfect in life, so you have an election that's not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet.