Rumsfeld Quotes
Collection of top 100 famous quotes about Rumsfeld
Rumsfeld Quotes & Sayings
Happy to read and share the best inspirational Rumsfeld quotes, sayings and quotations on Wise Famous Quotes.
Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
— Donald Rumsfeld
If you develop rules, never have more than ten.
— Donald Rumsfeld
The United States, as all you know, did not come to Iraq for oil, not to occupy. We came here only to help.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Never hire anyone you can't fire. — Donald Rumsfeld
When I served as US Ambassador to NATO in the 1970s, the center of gravity in Europe was France and Germany.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Prune - prune businesses, products, activities, people. Do it annually.
— Donald Rumsfeld
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.
— Donald Rumsfeld
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.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Never assume the other fellow will not do something you wouldn't do.
— Donald Rumsfeld
First rule of politics: you can't win unless you're on the ballot. Second rule: If you run, you may lose. And, if you tie, you do not win.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.
— Donald Rumsfeld
I'm a professor of national security studies, and I know a lot more about fighting than Rumsfeld does.
— Barry McCaffrey
We do know of certain knowledge that he [Osama Bin Laden] is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead.
— Donald Rumsfeld
The worst mistake is to have the best ladder and the wrong wall.
— Donald Rumsfeld
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
— Donald Rumsfeld
I don't know anybody that I can think of who has contended that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons.
— Donald Rumsfeld
A terrorist can attack any time, any place using any technique and you can't defend everywhere against every technique at every moment.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Politics is human beings; it's addition rather than subtraction.
— Donald Rumsfeld
The most underestimated risk for a politician is overexposure.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Don't blame the boss. He has enough problems.
— Donald Rumsfeld
It is the photographs that gives one the vivid realization of what actually took place. (On photographs from Abu Ghraib prison.)
— Donald Rumsfeld
Don't 'over-control' like a novice pilot. Stay loose enough from the flow that you can observe it, modify, and improve it.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Something under $50 billion for the cost. How much of that would be the U.S. burden, and how much would be other countries, is an open question.
— Donald Rumsfeld
NATO member states vary dramatically in their capability and in their political steadfastness.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Napoleon was asked, "Who do you consider to be the greatest generals?" He responded saying, "The victors.
— Donald Rumsfeld
A large number of people to begin crawling through those tunnels and caves looking for the bad folks.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here.
— Donald Rumsfeld
If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.
— Donald Rumsfeld
If in doubt, move decisions up to the President.
— Donald Rumsfeld
The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. It's to change the behavior of the people that are being terrorized.
— Donald Rumsfeld
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.
— Donald Rumsfeld
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.
— Donald Rumsfeld
I doubt there's anything you could say to Donald Rumsfeld that would puncture the armor of his narcissism.
— Phil Klay
Don't speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn't walk in their shoes.
— Donald Rumsfeld
When you're skiing, if you're not falling you're not trying.
— Donald Rumsfeld
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.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Learn to say 'I don't know.' If used when appropriate, it will be often.
— Donald Rumsfeld
A few ... critics are the only people I ever heard use the phrase 'imminent threat.' I didn't, the president didn't.
— Donald Rumsfeld
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.
— Donald Rumsfeld
With the press there is no 'off the record.'
— Donald Rumsfeld
After he saw what happened to Saddam Hussein, he ( Gaddafi ) did not want to be Saddam Hussein. He gave up his nuclear program.
— Donald Rumsfeld
If a person is determined to fight to the death, then they may very well have that opportunity.
— Donald Rumsfeld
There will be good moments, and there will be less good moments.
— Donald Rumsfeld
If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.
— Donald Rumsfeld
I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started.
— Donald Rumsfeld
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.
— Donald Rumsfeld
If you can't solve a problem, make it bigger.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to 'carry it off.'
— Donald Rumsfeld
When asked for your views, by the press or others, remember that what they really want to know is the President's views.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Move decisions out to the Cabinet and agencies. Strengthen them by moving responsibility, authority, and accountability their direction.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Simply because you do not have evidence that something exists does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist.
— Donald Rumsfeld
It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task.
— Donald Rumsfeld
In unanimity there may well be either cowardice or uncritical thinking.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.
— Donald Rumsfeld
I'm glad you asked. It has nothing to do with oil, literally nothing to do with oil.
— Donald Rumsfeld
When someone with a rural accent says, "I don't know much about politics," zip up your pockets.
— Donald Rumsfeld
If you look ahead 10 years, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the people of Russia had become fans of missile defence.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Oh, Lord. I didn't mean to say anything quotable.
— Donald Rumsfeld
To gain support in U.S. Congress and from other nations requires clarity, an acceptable mission and an explicit outcome.
— Donald Rumsfeld
The way to do well is to do well.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Is it likely that an aircraft carrier or a cruise missile is going to find a person?
— Donald Rumsfeld
We don't seek empires.We're not imperialistic.
— Donald Rumsfeld
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.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Pieces of intelligence, scraps of intelligence ... you run down leads and you run down leads, and you hope that sometimes it works.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Certainty without power can be interesting, even amusing. Certainty with power can be dangerous.
— Donald Rumsfeld
It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Do I Have any Regrets? Of Course I Do.
— Donald Rumsfeld
I didn't advocate invasion ... I wasn't asked.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Let your family, staff, and friends know that you're still the same person, despite all the publicity and notoriety that accompanies your position.
— Donald Rumsfeld
There is no question but that when one is engaged militarily that there are going to be unintended loss of life.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Look at me! I'm sweet and lovable!
— Donald Rumsfeld
If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.
— Donald Rumsfeld
I think you can be an enemy of Saddam Hussein even if Donald Rumsfeld is also an enemy of Saddam Hussein.
— Adam Michnik
Bush, Blair and Rumsfeld; they are the funny trio.
— Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahaf
Public servants are paid to serve the American people. Do it well.
— Donald Rumsfeld
If it were a fact, it wouldn't be called intelligence.
— Donald Rumsfeld
You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Within a week, or a month, Saddam could give his WMD to al-Qaeda.
— Donald Rumsfeld
As a former secretary of defense, I think Donald Rumsfeld is the best secretary of defense the United States has ever had.
— Dick Cheney
America is not what's wrong with the world
— Donald Rumsfeld
If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.
— Donald Rumsfeld
I tend over the years to have developed a certain hesitancy about believing that headlines tell the whole story.
— Donald Rumsfeld
The midget, Bush, and that Rumsfeld deserve only to be beaten with shoes by freedom loving people everywhere.
— Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahaf
The dead-enders are still with us, those remnants of the defeated regimes who'll go on fighting long after their cause is lost.
— Donald Rumsfeld
There are people who in large measure have information that we need ... so that we can track down the weapons of mass destruction in that country.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Don't automatically obey Presidential directives if you disagree or if you suspect he hasn't considered key aspects of the issue.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Remember where you came from.
— Donald Rumsfeld
You might be a cunning linguist, but I am a master debater.
— Donald Rumsfeld
Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.
— Donald Rumsfeld
