Quotes About Decision-making

When you decide to get involved in a military operation in a place like Syria, you've got to be prepared, as we learned from Iraq and Afghanistan, to become the government, and I'm not sure any country, either the United States or I don't hear of anyone else, who's willing to take on that responsibility.

Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.

The day you are not solving problems or are not up to your butt in problems is probably a day you are no longer leading. If your desk is clean and no one is bringing you problems, you should be very worried. It means that people don't think you can solve them or don't want to hear about them. Or, far worse, it means they don't think you care.

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers who can cut through the argument debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.

There are times when American lives must be risked and lost. Foreign policy cannot be paralyzed by the prospect of casualties. But lives must not be risked until we can face a parent or a spouse or a child with a clear answer to the question of why a member of that family had to die. To provide a "symbol" or a "presence" is not good enough.

that solving problems is what leaders do. The day you are not solving problems or are not up to your butt in problems is probably a day you are no longer leading.

When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion, whether you think I'll like it or not. Disagreement, at this stage, stimulates me. But once a decision has been made, the debate ends. From that point on, loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own.

when you're negotiating, you should always go for the thing you're least likely to get first. Then you can always back off to some of these other things if that doesn't work.

Chi Wen Tzu always thought three times before taking action. Twice would have been quite enough.

A good general is ready for every option.

A good decisions are never brought in a state of rage.

Let us accept each coming day and make the best possible choices

Most cannot lead—the idea terrifies them. Yet for those like you and me, there is no greater joy than knowing there is no help coming. The decision is ours alone.

Emotions and irrational thoughts tend to cloud our mind. They make our mind foggy so we can't think in the ways we should when situations arise. When our minds become cloudy, we don't always think before we act or speak. Instead, we act irrationally and sometimes quickly, which could easily make the situation worse.

Although self-reported endorsement of sexist attitudes didn't predict hiring bias, self-reported objectivity in decision making did.

I believe firmly that in making ethical decisions, man has the prerogative of true freedom of choice.

It began to seem that the generals had got us into something they had no business doing.

We must discern what God calls us to accomplish rather than mindlessly adding on everything presented to us.

Just because opportunities present themselves doesn't mean you should accept every one of them. It's not realistic, and it's also not wise.

Your choices create the course and contours of your life. Your decisions determine your destiny.

I need to narrow things down, start pruning back. Until then, I'm a whirring zoetrope of half-thoughts and worries.

If you want to predict a person's behavior, identify his or her incentives. Leo

If men liked shopping, they'd call it research.

I spent a long time experimenting, saying, 'Here's a record that's free, or $5 if you want a nice version or $250 if you'd like a really nice coffee-table thing.' Everything felt like the right thing to do at the time and then six months later would feel tired. And I would feel tired. So that's one reason for returning to a major label.