Top 180 Donald Rumsfeld Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

Featured in: Knowledge Quotes, Intelligence Quotes

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

— Donald Rumsfeld

Featured in: Warrior Quotes

3. “Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

4. “Think ahead. Don’t let day-to-day operations drive out planning.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

5. “Remember where you came from.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

6. “If you can’t solve a problem, make it bigger.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

7. “If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

8. “Don’t blame the boss. He has enough problems.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

Featured in: Boss Quotes

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

— Donald Rumsfeld

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

— Donald Rumsfeld

11. “If you are working from your inbox, you are working on other people’s priorities.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

12. “Don’t divide the world into “them” and “us.””

— Donald Rumsfeld

13. “The success of an organization will depend on the people you surround yourself with.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

14. “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.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

15. “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.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

16. “The absence of evidence is not necessarily the evidence of absence.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

17. “I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

18. “If we know anything, it is that weakness is provocative.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

19. “No. That’s someone else’s business. Quagmire is – I don’t do quagmires.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

20. “If in doubt, don’t. If still in doubt, do what’s right.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

21. “Those who think that they know, but are mistaken, and act upon their mistakes, are the most dangerous people to have in charge. – Margaret Thatcher.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

22. “Be yourself. Follow your instincts. Success depends, at least in part, on the ability to ‘carry it off.’”

— Donald Rumsfeld

23. “When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

24. “Don’t necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

25. “The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. It’s to change the behavior of the people that are being terrorized.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

26. “Sausage making and policy-making shouldn’t be seen close-up.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

27. “If I know the answer I’ll tell you the answer, and if I don’t, I’ll just respond, cleverly.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

28. “Strive to make proposed solutions as self-executing as possible. As the degree of discretion increases, so too does bureaucracy, delay, and expense.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

29. “If you try to please everybody, somebody’s not going to like it.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

30. “Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

31. “You’re thinking of Eurpoe as Germany and France. I don’t. I think that’s old Europe.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

32. “Those who made the decisions with imperfect knowledge will be judged in hindsight by those with considerably more information at their disposal and time for reflection.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

33. “Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

34. “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.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

35. “In unanimity there may well be either cowardice or uncritical thinking.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

36. “Beware when any idea is promoted primarily because it is “bold, exciting, innovative, and new.” There are many ideas that are “bold, exciting, innovative and new,” but also foolish.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

37. “Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I’m an old man, it’s early in the morning and I’m gathering my thoughts here.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

38. “What will follow will not be a repeat of any other conflict. It will be of a force and scope and scale that has been beyond what has been seen before.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

39. “Work continuously to trim the White House staff from your first day to your last. All the pressures are to the contrary.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

40. “Never assume the other fellow will not do something you wouldn’t do.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

41. “Prune – prune businesses, products, activities, people. Do it annually.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

42. “When you’re skiing, if you’re not falling you’re not trying.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

43. “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.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

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

— Donald Rumsfeld

45. “Enjoy your time in public service. It may well be one of the most interesting and challenging times of your life.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

46. “Freedom’s untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

47. “First rule of politics: you can’t win unless you’re on the ballot. Second rule: If you run, you may lose. And, if you tie, you do not win.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

48. “Don’t speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn’t walk in their shoes.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

49. “Don’t ‘over-control’ like a novice pilot. Stay loose enough from the flow that you can observe it, modify, and improve it.”

— Donald Rumsfeld

50. “There are a lot of people who lie and get away with it, and that’s just a fact.”

— Donald Rumsfeld