Donald Rumsfeld Quotes and Sayings - Page 1

“Success tends to go not to the person who is error-free, because he also tends to be risk-averse. Rather it goes to the person who recognizes that life is pretty much a percentage business. It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Success #Mistake #Errors

“What is needed [to combat terrorism], in my view, is resolve, not retreat; courage, not concession. Rather than thinking in terms of an exit strategy, focus on a strategy for success.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Thinking #Views #Focus

“The most underestimated risk for a politician is overexposure.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Risk #Politician #Overexposure

“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

#Technique #Moments #Terrorist

“Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Leadership #Vision

“The reality is that terrorists can attack any time at any minute, 24 hours a day, using a variety of techniques, in any place at all. And it's not possible to defend in every place, against every technique, against every conceivable approach. It means that you can't stop every terrorist attack. Innocent men, women and children are going to be killed if terrorists are determined to do it.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Children #Mean #Reality

“If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Inspirational #Motivational #Leadership

“I cannot give any assurances. I'm not in that business. I haven't been, and I don't intend to get into it. People who try to make predictions about things or assurances often find they're wrong.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#People #Giving #Trying

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

“We [the USA] do have a big nation's problem. We have the problem of a nation that's got two oceans, oceans on either side. People come from all across the globe and want to live here and they want to work here and they want to invest here. And that's a good thing. And they make up this country. But as a people, we [americans] are not highly skilled in languages. We're not highly skilled in knowledge of other cultures. And that's a problem.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Country #Ocean #Other Cultures

“Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Judging #Listening #Doe

“The problem is the people who tend to be the best organized are the most radical and the most vicious.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#People #Problem #Being The Best

“Think ahead. Don't let day-to-day operations drive out planning.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Thinking #Time Management #Planning

“Most US presidents since World War II have led military actions without a declaration of war by Congress, though most, if not all, have properly consulted and sought support from Congress. That is the wise thing to do.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Wise #Military #War

“Don't speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn't walk in their shoes.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Shoes #Boots #Speak

“Never assume the other fellow will not do something you wouldn't do.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Assuming #Never Assume

“The way to do well is to do well.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Way #Wells

“The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. It's to change the behavior of the people that are being terrorized.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#People #Purpose #Terrorism

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

#Humor #Monkeys #Well Said

“It is worth reminding that being president is a tough job for anybody, and particularly so in the information age. There's such a glut of information. Anything a president says or does is picked up on the Internet or the 24/7 news media and criticized almost instantly. Leaders persuade through their words and as such their words need to be measured and well chosen. It is a tough job.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Jobs #Media #Leader

“Test ideas in the marketplace. You learn from hearing a range of perspectives. Consultation helps engender the support decisions need to be successfully implemented.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Ideas #Perspective #Support

“A president has to provide leadership to gain support.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Support #President #Gains

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

#Dollars #Treats #Taxpayers

“Don't divide the world into 'them' and 'us.' Avoid infatuation with or resentment of the press, the Congress, rivals, or opponents. Accept them as facts. They have their jobs and you have yours.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Jobs #World #Rivals

“If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Trying #Please

“The Federal Government should be the last resort, not the first. Ask if a potential program is truly a federal responsibility or whether it can better be handled privately, by voluntary organizations, or by local or state governments.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Responsibility #Government #Organization

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

#Support #Outcomes #Gains

“In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Leadership #Thinking #President

“Every country should be tired of going to war. War is a terrible thing. If I had been in Congress, as much as I would be inclined naturally to be supportive of a president, any president, I would have voted no, had the issue come to a vote.”
-- Donald Rumsfeld

#Country #War #Tired

“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

#Fighting #Iraq #Long