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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

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Donald Rumsfeld
Age: 88 †
Born: 1932
Born: July 9
Died: 2021
Died: June 29
Author
Businessperson
Diplomat
Former U.S. Secretary Of Defense
Military Officer
Politician
Chicago
Illinois
Donald Henry Rumsfeld
World
Cemetery
Infallible
Charles
Indispensable
Full
Men
Think
Gaulle
Thinking
Cemeteries

More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

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... 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.
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Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help.
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Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned it was - by a taxpayer.
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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.
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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.
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Being Vice President is difficult. Don't make it tougher.
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When cutting staff at the Pentagon, don't eliminate the thin layer that assures civilian control.
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And there is, I am certain, among the Iraqi people a respect for the care and the precision that went into the bombing campaign.
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The Cold War was a war, and we won it.
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Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.
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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.
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[on Osama bin Laden] He is either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive.
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You might be a cunning linguist, but I am a master debater.
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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.
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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.
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Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here.
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The reality is that [Barack] Obama has some 15 countries in the current Libya coalition. President Bush put together close to 50 countries for the Afghan coalition, some 40 countries for the Iraqi coalition, more than 90 countries for the Proliferation Security Initiative and over 90 countries in the Global War on Terror.
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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.
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Don't divide the world into them and us.
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Never assume the other fellow will not do something you wouldn't do.
Donald Rumsfeld