Donald Rumsfeld Quotes

Presidential leadership needn't always cost money. Look for low- and no-cost options. They can be surprisingly effective.

The way to do well is to do well.

Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals.

The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.

I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started.

The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You fail him if you don't tell him the truth. Others won't do it.

You're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe.

Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.

If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.

At 78 years old, I am not surprised at much anymore. Germany has taken divergent positions before, so has France, so has England, so has the US.

Any country on the face of the Earth with an active intelligence program knows that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

I am not going to give you a number for it because it's not my business to do intelligent work.

When there happens to be a weapon of mass destruction suspect site in an area that we occupy and if people have time, they'll look at it.

There are people who in large measure have information that we need . . . so that we can track down the weapons of mass destruction in that country.

We never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country.

They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer.

I don't know anybody that I can think of who has contended that the Iraqis had nuclear weapons.

Make decisions about the President's personal security. He can overrule you, but don't ask him to be the one to counsel caution.

One of your tasks is to separate the 'personal' from the 'substantive.' The two can become confused, especially if someone rubs the President wrong.

In politics, every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serious error. Enjoy it.

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.

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.

Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.

Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin's still learning.

See that the President, the Cabinet and staff are informed. If cut out of the information flow, their decisions may be poor, not made, or not confidently or persuasively implemented.

We're not running out of [fixed] targets. Afghanistan is.

The Cold War was a war, and we won it.

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.

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

Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here.

It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task.

When I served as US Ambassador to NATO in the 1970s, the center of gravity in Europe was France and Germany.

Those who made the decisions with imperfect knowledge will be judged in hindsight by those with considerably more information at their disposal and time for reflection.

Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to 'carry it off.'

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

The absence of evidence is not necessarily the evidence of absence

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

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.

The success of an organization will depend on the people you surround yourself with.

When you're skiing, if you're not falling you're not trying.

When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.

And there is, I am certain, among the Iraqi people a respect for the care and the precision that went into the bombing campaign.

If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right.

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.

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

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

[on Osama bin Laden] He is either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive.

In unanimity there may well be either cowardice or uncritical thinking.

Never hire anyone you can’t fire.

The United States, as all you know, did not come to Iraq for oil, not to occupy. We came here only to help.