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

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
Didn
Anything
Mean
Quotable
Lord

More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Napoleon was asked, Who do you consider to be the greatest generals? He responded saying, The victors.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.
Donald Rumsfeld
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I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to four hours?
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Don't do or say things you would not like to see on the front page of The Washington Post.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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
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Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.
Donald Rumsfeld
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If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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If you look ahead 10 years, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the people of Russia had become fans of missile defence.
Donald Rumsfeld
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It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.
Donald Rumsfeld
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If there are people who yearn for the days when Saddam Hussein was in power, then I am not among them.
Donald Rumsfeld
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There are a lot of things that are said by people in the military, or civilian life, or in the Congress, or in the Executive Branch, that are their views. And that's the way we live. We're a free people. And that's the wonderful thing about our country.
Donald Rumsfeld
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If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right.
Donald Rumsfeld