Donald Rumsfeld Quotes on Decision Making (10 Quotes)

It was a decision that was made, ... and, in my view, was absolutely the right decision.

People who are willing to risk their lives need to know the truth, ... They need to understand that they are there based on decisions that were made in good faith, by responsible people, and that this world is going to be a lot better off with Saddam Hussein gone and with that country on a path toward democracy.

If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.

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.

In an interview Thursday on CNN's Larry King Live, ... I submitted my resignation to President Bush twice during that period and told him that ... I felt that he ought to make the decision as to whether or not I stayed on. And he made that decision and said he did want me to stay on.

Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.

This decision is not about any one weapon system, but merely about a strategy of warfare, a strategy that drives the choices that we must make about how best to prepare our total forces for the future,

If it can save American lives, I'm happy to have made the decision I made, ... That seems to me to outweigh the sensitivities -- the proper sensitivities -- that you have raised.

We've made a conscious decision, at the request of the Iraqis, to stand back during this pilgrimage period,

If I said, 'My goodness, that's a big help,' it suggests that we plan to go use them. And that is a decision the president has not made,