Quote

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.

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
Pass
Flak
Beyond
Amidst
Head
Clutter
Possible
Static
Goal
Aside
Jobs
Obstacles
Best
Goals
Work
Towards

More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

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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.
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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.
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Don't divide the world into them and us.
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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.
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Control your own time. Don't let it be done for you. If you are working off the in-box that is fed you, you are probably working on the priority of others.
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The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. It's to change the behavior of the people that are being terrorized.
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Is it likely that an aircraft carrier or a cruise missile is going to find a person?
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It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
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I tend over the years to have developed a certain hesitancy about believing that headlines tell the whole story.
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Imagine, a September 11 with weapons of mass destruction. It's not 3,000. It's tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children.
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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.
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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.
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If a person is determined to fight to the death, then they may very well have that opportunity.
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Never assume the other fellow will not do something you wouldn't do.
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Make decisions about the President's personal security. He can overrule you, but don't ask him to be the one to counsel caution.
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You might be a cunning linguist, but I am a master debater.
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Congress, the press, and the bureaucracy too often focus on how much money or effort is spent, rather than whether the money or effort actually achieves the announced goal.
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There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that's just a fact.
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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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Don't speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn't walk in their shoes.
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