Michael Hayden Quotes

Re-examining our reasoning is not something that has come naturally to American statesmen.

Good policy analysis recognizes that physical truth may be poorly or incompletely known. Its objective is to evaluate, order, and structure incomplete knowledge so as to allow decisions to be made with as complete an understanding as possible of the current state of knowledge, its limitations, and its implications.

When I became Prime Minister, I looked back on what was done before – what were the policies and actions before – and I thought that I need to be critical if I’m going to do anything at all.

One of the things I learned in the military is sometimes you don't know what mistakes you make for a long time. But as you go through a campaign, there's lots of decision points you make, and you don't know whether those are gonna be the right decision points or not.

I don't read reviews and I don't know what to do with opinions, so I just lose them. They take up space, they become a process of manufacturing a persona, which I want to avoid.

I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future.

Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for yourself.

Regardless of the magnitude of the decision, our brains make it hard for us to keep the perspective we need to make good choices.

I also believe that it is time to begin the fundamental analysis of how we got here, what led us here and what we need to do in order to ensure that we are equipped with the best possible intelligence as we face these issues in the future.

There'll be differences of opinion in just about every intelligence analysis that you make.

I have had many occasions this year where I questioned and second-guessed my decision in a game, but it comes down to learning from mistakes and being accountable for what you did right or did wrong.

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.

And I argued with that intelligence estimate and I think it is a responsibility of policymakers to use their best judgment on the basis of the intelligence they've received.

I encourage active skepticism - when people are being skeptical because they're trying to identify the best course of action. They're trying to identify the next step for themselves or other people.

Policymakers have to make judgments based on the best intelligence they get.

I really try at least to come back and answer the question as to whether that was really the best way to do that and was I really thinking straight and how did my opponents behave and how did the judges behave was needed.

I suddenly realized at the CIA that I had to make life-and-death decisions about people.

Half our mistakes in life arise from feeling where we ought to think, and thinking where we ought to feel.

But what if our intelligence is wrong?

One cannot always be right in our complex world; no dishonor attends an incorrect choice among plausible outcomes drawn from a properly constructed argument.

The trouble with our intelligence is that we have a bunch of social scientists doing the analysis when the world is dominated by fanatics.

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

You want people with different life experiences as a backstop against bad decision.

Set aside a half hour or an hour to rethink the way you make decisions, the habits you have, the biases you may have. And if you think of things, if you come with a little bit of a blank slate and be willing to acknowledge what you don't know, and you'd be willing to think like a child, I think it'll help not only individuals but society at large.

I think that it's a mistake to assume that because you're taking a position from somebody else who you might disagree with - or you know you disagree with on some things - to assume that you disagree with on everything and to not look at each policy on its own merits.