Donald Rumsfeld Quotes

• There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Knows, Known

  Donald Rumsfeld during Department of Defense News Briefing, archive.defense.gov. February 12, 2002.

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• If you can't solve a problem, make it bigger.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Problem, Bigger, Solve

  "What Did You Learn From the Cliff Debate, Dorothy?" by Jared Bernstein, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 02, 2013.

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• You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  War, Army, Iraq

  Remarks at town hall meeting, Kuwait, 8 Dec. 2004

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• The absence of evidence is not necessarily the evidence of absence

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Absence, Evidence

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• To gain support in U.S. Congress and from other nations requires clarity, an acceptable mission and an explicit outcome.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Support, Outcomes, Gains

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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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.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Believe, Thinking, Yesterday

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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.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Hardest, Knows

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• 

  If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Inspirational, Motivational, Leadership

  Quoted in N.Y. Times, 8 Jan. 2001. One of "Rumsfeld's Rules."

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

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Wall, Mistake, Ladders

  Twitter post from Mar 27, 2013

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

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Funny, Might, Masters

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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

  Success, Mistake, Errors

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• If you are working from your inbox, you are working on other people’s priorities.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  People, Priorities, Inbox

  Twitter post from Mar 11, 2013

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• Learn to say 'I don't know.' If used when appropriate, it will be often.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Used, Knows, Appropriate

  Quoted in N.Y. Times, 8 Jan. 2001. One of "Rumsfeld's Rules."

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• It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Easier

  Donald Rumsfeld (2011). “Known and Unknown: A Memoir”, p.45, Penguin

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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

  Country, Taken, People

  Source: www.rushlimbaugh.com

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• 

  Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Leadership, Rough Edges, Vision

  Donald Rumsfeld (2001). “Public Statements of Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, 2001”

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• There's another way to phrase that and that is that the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. It is basically saying the same thing in a different way. Simply because you do not have evidence that something does exist does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Mean, Doe, Different

  Press Conference, www.nato.int. June 6, 2002.

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• The reality is that terrorists can attack any time at any minute, 24 hours a day, using a variety of techniques, in any place at all. And it's not possible to defend in every place, against every technique, against every conceivable approach. It means that you can't stop every terrorist attack. Innocent men, women and children are going to be killed if terrorists are determined to do it.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Children, Mean, Reality

  Source: www.foxnews.com

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• Never assume the other fellow will not do something you wouldn't do.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Assuming, Never Assume, Fellows

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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• Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Judging, Listening, Doe

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• Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Country, Moving, Errors

  Donald Rumsfeld (2001). “Public Statements of Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, 2001”

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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

  Crush, Money, Nice

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• If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Trying, Please, Ifs

  Donald Rumsfeld (2001). “Public Statements of Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, 2001”

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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'.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Humor, Monkeys, Well Said

  Donald Rumsfeld (2001). “Public Statements of Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, 2001”

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• The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. It's to change the behavior of the people that are being terrorized.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  People, Purpose, Terrorism

  Source: www.foxnews.com

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