Quote

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.

Donald Rumsfeld

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Done
Priority
Time
Feds
Priorities
Boxes
Control
Probably
Working
Others

More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

Image
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
Image
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
Image
Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
Don't divide the world into them and us.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
A large number of people to begin crawling through those tunnels and caves looking for the bad folks.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of overhead photography. A trained ape can know an awful lot of what is going on in this world, just by punching on his mouse, for a relatively modest cost.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
When you raise issues with the President, try to come away with both that decision and also a precedent. Pose issues so as to evoke broader policy guidance. This can help to answer a range of similar issues likely to arise later.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
Our task, your task... is to try to connect the dots before something happens. People say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
Preserve the President's options. He may need them.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
The worst mistake is to have the best ladder and the wrong wall.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
If there are people who yearn for the days when Saddam Hussein was in power, then I am not among them.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
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
Image
I think it's very useful for you folks (reporters) to try your damndest to be precise. And don't repeat things that are inaccurate if you can possibly avoid it. And when you see things that are inaccurate, knock them down -- because there's a bucket of it floating around.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
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
Image
Work continuously to trim the White House staff from your first day to your last. All the pressures are to the contrary.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to four hours?
Donald Rumsfeld