Barton Gellman Quotes

A political ideology is a very handy thing to have. It’s a real time saver because it tells you what you think about things you know nothing about.

The BJP decides its own policies.

High office teaches decision making, not substance. It consumes intellectual capital; it does not create it. Most high officials leave office with the perceptions and insights with which they entered; they learn how to make decisions but not what decisions to make.

What I learned is that policymakers have to force consideration of actions that may not have occurred to them at the time.

A country's strategy is always based on a fundamental philosophical outlook.

When you raise issues with the President, try to come away with both that decision and also a precedent. Pose issues so as to evoke broader policy guidance. This can help to answer a range of similar issues likely to arise later.

The day-to-day making of policy is arguing all the time. You're trying to get the right approach and the right answer, and there are moments that aren't very pleasant. But in the end, you look at the overall product.

Washington - having spent a lot of time there, I grew up there and have spent a lot of time there recently - is largely defined by detailed analytical views and policy choices that are not very good. You know, each policy choice has a winner and a loser, right? Somebody's ox is getting gored.

Basically, the start of my thinking process is: 'OK, if you didn't have to worry about re-election, what would you be doing?' That's kind of how I'm starting to think.

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

Slowly, ideas lead to ideology, lead to policies that lead to actions.

The pressure of time, is the overwhelming challenge for policymakers who must act on assessments that cannot be proved at the time and whose mistakes are irretrievable.

The formulation of sound national policy requires finding the right overarching concepts.

A lot of folks look at the political calculation and then determine the policy. I think that's backward.

I believe that the idea of strategic beliefs may be more important than strategic planning when thinking about how you keep the long view.

Clearly [Donald] Trump likes the way business executives and generals think and talk much more than policy professionals.

Incidents should not govern policy; but, policy incidents.

If you're going to maintain true authorities over a subordinate organization, you have to have some control over policy formulation of that organization and also the resources that are applied to it.

What I love to do is the policy. The politics, I'm brand-new at.

I'm not sure people would think of me in this light, but frankly, what I enjoyed most about Bain & Company, the consulting firm, was the analytical process of solving tough problems.

My experience in government is there is a whole host of unintended consequences you have to think through. I can't un-know that, I find it harder now to offer simple solutions.

I think Mr. Trump is a pragmatic man; he is a businessman.

I think that policy matters. I'm a policy guy.

I am strongly committed to evidence-based policymaking across government.

It has long been noted that two of the Conservative Party's great strengths have been the loyalty of its members and its pragmatic approach to policy challenges.