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.

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

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

Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.

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.

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

The absence of evidence is not necessarily the evidence of absence

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

I don't do quagmires.

Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was - by a taxpayer.

There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that's just a fact.

The Federal Government should be the last resort, not the first. Ask if a potential program is truly a federal responsibility or whether it can better be handled privately, by voluntary organizations, or by local or state governments.

The way to do well is to do well.