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

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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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Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
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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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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.
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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.
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Most of the 50 or so invitations you receive each week come from people inviting the President's Chief of Staff, not you. If you doubt that, ask your predecessor how many he received last week.
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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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Members of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate are not there by accident. Each managed to get there for some reason. Learn what it was and you will know something important about them, about our country and about the American people.
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If you can't solve a problem, make it bigger.
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I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to four hours?
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The United States isn't going to do anything that it's not capable of doing. And if we do something, we'll be capable of doing it.
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No. That's someone else's business. Quagmire is - I don't do quagmires.
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We do have a saying in America: if you're in a hole, stop digging ..... erm, I'm not sure I should have said that.
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First rule of politics: you can't win unless you're on the ballot. Second rule: If you run, you may lose. And, if you tie, you do not win.
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Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help.
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Inspectors do not have the duty or the ability to uncover terrible weapons hidden in a vast country. The responsibility of inspectors is simply to confirm evidence of voluntary and total disarmament. Saddam Hussein has the responsibility to provide that evidence, as directed, and in full
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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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[on Osama bin Laden] He is either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive.
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It is very difficult to spend federal (the taxpayers') dollars so that the intended result is achieved.
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General Boykin has requested that an inspector general review this matter. And I have indicated that if that's his request, I think it's appropriate.
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