Phil McGraw Quotes

Anything you say before a pandemic occurs sounds alarmist; anything you say after it occurs is inadequate.

The actions you plan to take and the actions you actually decide to take [in a crisis] are not always the same.

You can’t prepare for the best case; you have to prepare for the worst case.

Crisis management … is the worst type of policy because you will miss things.

We're hoping for the best, but we need to prepare for the worst.

We know we cannot underestimate the importance of emergency planning in our region, nor can we assume we'll have ample warning time. If an earthquake or terrorist attack hits, we won't necessarily have advance alerts or opportunities to double- and triple-check our plans.

The modern era of continuity planning began under President Ronald Reagan.

So, all during the '90s and, you know, for the first half of this decade, we had opportunities to get evacuation plans in place, better communications in place.

Well, you know, any defense force worth its salt has to be able to deal with uncertainty, has to be able to deal with events that we may not have planned for.

As you prepare for the many things that fall brings, such as school, harvest and winter, it is important to be prepared for the unthinkable. Supplies and a plan will significantly reduce panic and chaos in the event of an emergency.

Nuclear terrorism is possible - it may be probable - but is survivable.

In any aircraft you fly, you always think about what can go wrong, and you plan for it in advance. You always have back-up plans.

Nearly all government advice on terrorism sacrifices practical particulars for an unalarming tone. The usual guidance is to maintain a three-day supply of food and water along with a radio, flashlight, batteries and first-aid kit.

For political and bureaucratic reasons, governments at all levels are telling far less to the public than to insiders about how to prepare for and behave in the initial chaos of a mass-casualty event.

The safety of the people is the first and foremost responsibility of government… We are not as prepared as we should be with our public safety network…. The margin for error is exceedingly and uniquely low.

In a disaster you have to have speed. In order to have speed, you have to have trust. And in order to have trust, you have to have people organized and planning before the disaster.

In the military, we have known for decades, if not centuries, that the time to prepare, whether it's for a hurricane, a typhoon or strategic changes, is before they hit you

Valdez was a devastating experience for our corporation. What emerged from that was a commitment to develop a systematic approach to managing risk in advance.

Safety has been my top legislative priority. I'm driven by the idea that safety is really a core function of government.

Security and safety are very important for us.

NASA trains you to assess emergency situations and react in a way to keep yourself and everyone else safe.

This idea of having back-up plans is ingrained into us to make us believe that that's the smart thing to do.

I'm always prepared for the worst.

A company's ability to respond to an unplanned event, good or bad is a prime indicator of its ability to compete.

If you don't choose to do it in leadership time up front, you do it in crisis management time down the road.