Quote

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

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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
Like
Loose
Pilots
Observe
Improve
Flow
Novice
Stay
Novices
Control
Modify
Enough
Pilot

More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

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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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Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
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One of your tasks is to separate the 'personal' from the 'substantive.' The two can become confused, especially if someone rubs the President wrong.
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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.
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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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Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.
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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.
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Don't blame the boss. He has enough problems.
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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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A terrorist can attack any time, any place using any technique and you can't defend everywhere against every technique at every moment.
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Let your family, staff, and friends know that you're still the same person, despite all the publicity and notoriety that accompanies your position.
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It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
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Don't do or say things you would not like to see on the front page of The Washington Post.
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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.
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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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Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, 'The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind'.
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I believe what I said yesterday. I don't know what I said, but I know what I think and I assume it's what I said.
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Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.
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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.
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The natural state of man is to want to be free. To have opportunities. To have choices.
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