Donald rumsfeld quotes

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

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

From where you sit, the White House may look as untidy as the inside of a stomach. As is said of the legislative process, sausage-making and policy-making shouldn't be seen close-up. Don't let that panic you. Things may be going better than they look from the inside.

It's a difficult thing today to be informed about our government even without all the secrecy.

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

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

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

[on Osama bin Laden] He is either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive.

Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.

Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.

You can have a broad popular democracy movement and have it end being taken over by the most vicious people and the result is you don't end up with free political systems or free economic systems, you end up with a handful of radicals controlling the country.

The most underestimated risk for a politician is overexposure.

The United States isn't going to do anything that it's not capable of doing. And if we do something, we'll be capable of doing it.

When you're skiing, if you're not falling you're not trying.

If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right.

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

There's another way to phrase that and that is that the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. It is basically saying the same thing in a different way. Simply because you do not have evidence that something does exist does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist.

When business accepts help from the government, it can be like going to bed with a hippopotamus. It's nice and warm for the moment, but then your bedmate rolls over and crushes you.

Remember where you came from.

Don't say 'the White House wants.' Buildings can't want.

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.

We are in the process of trying to liberate that country. And at the moment where the war ends and the coalition forces occupy the areas where those capabilities - chemical and biological weapons - are likely to be, to the extent they haven't been moved out of the country, it obviously is important to find them.

Have a deputy and develop a successor. Don't be consumed by the job or you'll risk losing your balance. Keep your mooring lines to the outside world - family, friends, neighbors, people out of government, and people who may not agree with you.

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

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

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

You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe. If you look at the entire NATO Europe today, the center of gravity is shifting to the east. And there are a lot of new members. And if you just take the list of all the members of NATO and all of those who have been invited in recently -- what is it? Twenty-six, something like that? -- you're right. Germany has been a problem, and France has been a problem.

With the press there is no "off the record.

What is the value of having millions of people in Iraq not having a repressive regime? What is the value of having the Iraqi regime not shooting at UK and US aircraft almost every day? What is the value of the Iraqis having a free press? What is the value of the foreign minister of Iraq going to Paris, calling for an end of the Gadhafi regime and citing Iraq as a model, as an example, that in fact a freer political system can exist in that part of the world?

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

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.

Don't divide the world into "them" and "us."

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

The success of an organization will depend on the people you surround yourself with.

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

In unanimity there may well be either cowardice or uncritical thinking.

There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that's just a fact.

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

Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin's still learning.

There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know.

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

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

Plan backwards as well as forward. Set objectives and trace back to see how to achieve them. You may find that no path can get you there. Plan forward to see where your steps will take you, which may not be clear or intuitive.

No terror state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.

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

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.

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

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

Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals.

As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time. Since the Iraq conflict began, the Army has been pressing ahead to produce the armor necessary at a rate that they believe - it's a greatly expanded rate from what existed previously, but a rate that they believe is the rate that is all that can be accomplished at this moment.

You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe.

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

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.

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

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

We'll have to deal with the networks. One of the ways to do that is to drain the swamp they live in. And that means dealing not only with the terrorists, but those who harbor terrorists. This will take a long, sustained effort. It will require the support of the American people as well as our friends and allies around the world.

I think all of us have a sense if we imagine the kind of world we would face if the people who bombed the mess hall in Mosul, or the people who did the bombing in Spain, or the people who attacked the United States in New York, shot down the plane over Pennsylvania and attacked the Pentagon, the people who cut off peoples' heads on television to intimidate, to frighten indeed the word 'terrorized' is just that. Its purpose is to terrorize, to alter behavior, to make people be something other than that which they want to be.

The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.

If in doubt, move decisions up to the President.

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

Those who made the decisions with imperfect knowledge will be judged in hindsight by those with considerably more information at their disposal and time for reflection.

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

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

Napoleon was asked, "Who do you consider to be the greatest generals?" He responded saying, "The victors.

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.

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.

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

It is very difficult to spend "federal (the taxpayers') dollars" so that the intended result is achieved.

Control your time. If you're working off your in-box, you're working off the priorities of others. Be sure the staff is working on what you move to them from the President, or the President will be reacting, not leading.

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

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

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

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

If you develop rules, never have more than ten.

The coalition did not act in Iraq because we had discovered dramatic new evidence of Iraq's pursuit. We acted because we saw the evidence in a dramatic new light - through the prism of our experience on 9/11.

Beware when any idea is promoted primarily because it is "bold, exciting, innovative, and new." There are many ideas that are "bold, exciting, innovative and new," but also foolish.

The United States, as all you know, did not come to Iraq for oil, not to occupy. We came here only to help.

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

Watch the growth of middle level management. Don't automatically fill vacant jobs. Leave some positions unfilled for 6-8 months to see what happens. You will find you won't need to fill some of them.

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

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.

Strive to make proposed solutions as self-executing as possible. As the degree of discretion increases, so too does bureaucracy, delay, and expense.

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.

In 2003, at the time I made my "Old Europe" comment, the center of gravity in NATO and Europe had long since shifted to the East. With the former Warsaw Pact countries joining NATO, the alliance has a different mix today. Some people were sensitive about my comment because they thought it was a pejorative way of highlighting demographic realities. Apparently they felt it pointed a white light at a weakness in Europe - an aging population. Europe has come some distance since World War II in becoming Europe.

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

Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.

Don't speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn't walk in their shoes.

Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.

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

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.

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

There are things that we know, and there are things that we don't know. Then there are the things that we don't even know that we don't know. Those are the things that are the hardest.

After he saw what happened to Saddam Hussein, he (Gadhafi) did not want to be Saddam Hussein. He gave up his nuclear program.

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.

Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.

Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.

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

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.

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.

If you are working from your inbox, you are working on other people’s priorities.

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

Public servants are paid to serve the American people. Do it well.

America is not what's wrong with the world.

The way to do well is to do well.

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.

Then there are three or four countries that have said they won't do anything. I believe Libya, Cuba and Germany are ones that have indicated they won't help in any respect.

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

You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.

It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task.

Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to moderate their egos.

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

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

The absence of evidence is not necessarily the evidence of absence

We don't seek empires.We're not imperialistic.

Work continuously to trim the White House staff from your first day to your last. All the pressures are to the contrary.

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

Never hire anyone you can’t fire.

If I look at the really important questions in [Middle East] region, I see Iran, where there is a strong desire for a freer society and where people are repressed by a small group of ayatollahs. I see Syria, where we can see a similar desire of the people to be free. These two countries fund Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations and are hurting our efforts in Afghanistan and have been extremely harmful in Iraq. Then I also see large, important countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

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

You might be a cunning linguist, but I am a master debater.

In politics, every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serious error. Enjoy it.

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

I don't do quagmires.

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