Donald Rumsfeld Quotes
Top 100 wise famous quotes and sayings by Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld Famous Quotes & Sayings
Discover top inspirational quotes from Donald Rumsfeld on Wise Famous Quotes.
Enjoy your time in public service. It may well be one of the most interesting and challenging times of your life.
One of your tasks is to separate the 'personal' from the 'substantive.' The two can become confused, especially if someone rubs the President wrong.
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.
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.
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
A terrorist can attack any time, any place using any technique and you can't defend everywhere against every technique at every moment.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers - they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.
Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, 'The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind'.
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.
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.
The problem is the people who tend to be the best organized are the most radical and the most vicious.
And there is, I am certain, among the Iraqi people a respect for the care and the precision that went into the bombing campaign.
The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. It's to change the behavior of the people that are being terrorized.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.