T. S. Eliot Quotes

If you talk about preemption you better know things rather than think things.

In government, you are pressed by the security agencies. They come to you with very good information, and they say, 'You need to do something.' So you do need the breath of scepticism, not cynicism, breathing on them.

I am brave, but I take a view. It is an educated view. I am careful. I am not reckless.

My job is to provide the president with the richest possible consideration, so that he knows what is at stake in whatever decision he makes.

Having grown up as a young Army officer in the Vietnam era, I had an instinctual sort of notion that you have to look very carefully and weigh very carefully what anyone says.

I am reluctant to judge things without being informed.

As an intelligence analyst you have to tell the president what you know, what you think you know and what you don’t know.

Hope is not the basis for policy. Wise policymakers analyze major issues such as immigration carefully and look at facts and probabilities instead of just hoping for the best.

Every good businessman or woman carefully analyzes all the available facts before making a decision.

I can't ever remember being struck by lightning when making a big decision. It's always about taking in more and more data points and making tack adjustments as you figure it out. I call customers, suppliers, industry analysts and try to get as much information as possible.

The wise policymaker doesn't assume that any policy adopted in good faith will have good results. Instead, he or she weighs the likely outcome of any new policy based on facts and experience - not sentiments and dreams.

I only change things where I know about a situation. I'd never change just for change.

I would never advocate anyone doing anything without educating themselves and finding out exactly what they're in for.

Those who are close to me know that I am a person who likes to analyse everything before making a decision.

What has not been examined impartially has not been well examined. Skepticism is therefore the first step towards truth.

Survey and test a prospective action before undertaking it. Before you proceed, step back and look at the big picture, lest you act rashly on raw impulse.

Young players expose themselves to grave risks when they blindly imitate the innovations of masters without themselves first checking all the details and consequences of these innovations.

What is to be once resolved on should be first often well considered.

Whenever I think about an issue, I always argue the opposite side of it. So, when I ultimately decide on a course of action, I've already been through all the conceivable scenarios, and I'm going to go for it.

Get the facts. Let's not even attempt to solve our problems without first collecting all the facts in an impartial manner.

[Entrepreneurship] is by no means hunch or gamble. But it also is not precisely science. Rather, it is judgment.

The only way to make the right decision is to find out which is the wrong decision, to examine that other path without fear, and only then decide.

A thing is not proved because no one has ever questioned it... Skepticism is the first step toward truth.

The advice of friends must be received with a judicious reserve; we must not give ourselves up to it and follow it blindly, whether right or wrong.

Don't invest in what you don't know. Learn first then invest.