Angus King Quotes

I think we have to choose, what are the issues that really matter? We have to trust that.

I would say it would be worth it if, in fact, it would - if you could demonstrate that that would be the case and that the results and ramifications around the world wouldn't lead to more problems and more people dying. It's a very complex issue, and that's why I think we need to decide it.

Sometimes I do have something in my head. But, for me, I think it usually ends up being about considering all of the elements, and trying to understand the distance from where we are to where we want to go.

Study the situation thoroughly, go over in your imagination the various courses of action possible to you and the consequences which can and may follow from each course. Pick out the course which gives the most promise and go ahead.

To have a major breakthrough in policy, you have to be able to stop and think.

The best place to solve a problem is on paper.

Plan. Yes. Good idea. I should come up with a plan.

If you are to be Hercule Poirot, you must think of everything.

By using your intelligence, you can sometimes make your problems twice as complicated.

Poirot said placidly, “One does not, you know, employ merely the muscles. I do not need to bend and measure the footprints and pick up the cigarette ends and examine the bent blades of grass. It is enough for me to sit back in my chair and think. It is this – ” he tapped his egg-shaped head – “this, that functions!

What can I learn from this? What will I do next time I'm in this situation?

About 85 per cent of my "thinking" time was spent getting into a position to think, to make a decision, to learn something I needed to know. Much more time went into finding or obtaining information than into digesting it. Hours went into the plotting of graphs... When the graphs were finished, the relations were obvious at once, but the plotting had to be done in order to make them so.

Once a decision is made, you should stop worrying and start working. It’s not always what we know that makes it a good decision. It is what we do to implement and execute it that makes it a good decision.

Thinking is an experimental dealing with small quantities of energy, just as a general moves miniature figures over a map before setting his troops in action.

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.

Usually, I'm pretty good about sorting through the options and then making decisions that I'm confident are the best decisions in that moment, given the information we have. But there are times where I think I wish I could have imagined a different level of insight.

There are some issues where ministers should come and talk to the prime minister, if the prime minister hasn't already talked to them. Any issue which a minister thinks is going to be profoundly controversial, where we do not have a clear existing position, it is important that there be a conversation between the minister and the prime minister. I think they all understand that and I think it is working very well.

Thinking begins when you ask really difficult questions.

I think what you expect of every candidate and ultimately of a president is to listen to the facts and to deal with things in a way that's smart and direct. I'm confident that's exactly what President [Donald] Trump will do.

Poirot," I said. "I have been thinking." "An admirable exercise my friend. Continue it.

With problems and issues groups face- there is an enormous disconnect between understanding and doing.

Of course, analysis can sometimes give more accurate results than intuition but usually it’s just a lot of work. I normally do what my intuition tells me to do. Most of the time spent thinking is just to double-check.

The quality of our thinking will determine the quality of our future

I have the experience we need to make the changes we want and I think that's a winning case.

I don't have confidence in my instincts, and I feel like I have to go through a very right-brain and left-brain process.