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The worst mistake is to have the best ladder and the wrong wall.

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
Mistake
Worst
Wrong
Best
Ladder
Ladders
Wall

More quotes by 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.
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When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.
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When cutting staff at the Pentagon, don't eliminate the thin layer that assures civilian control.
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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.
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Is it likely that an aircraft carrier or a cruise missile is going to find a person?
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Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.
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I tend over the years to have developed a certain hesitancy about believing that headlines tell the whole story.
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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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Make decisions about the President's personal security. He can overrule you, but don't ask him to be the one to counsel caution.
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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.
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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.
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If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.
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I'm glad you asked. It has nothing to do with oil, literally nothing to do with oil.
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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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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
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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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I didn't advocate invasion...I wasn't asked.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.
Donald Rumsfeld
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When business accepts help from the government, it can be like going to bed with a hippopotamus. It's nice and warm for the moment, but then your bedmate rolls over and crushes you.
Donald Rumsfeld