Quote

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

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
Linguists
Cunning
Master
Masters
Funny
Might
Linguist

More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

Image
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
Image
The worst mistake is to have the best ladder and the wrong wall.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
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
Image
If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
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.
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
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
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
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
Image
Remember where you came from.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
Any country on the face of the Earth with an active intelligence program knows that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
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.
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
We don't seek empires.We're not imperialistic.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
Let your family, staff, and friends know that you're still the same person, despite all the publicity and notoriety that accompanies your position.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
Image
After the German abstention at the UN, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle commented that Germany doesn't always have to stand on the side of its traditional allies. Berlin can look for new partners all over the world.
Donald Rumsfeld