Stuart Symington Quotes

To rule is easy, to govern difficult.

In politics, as in business, leadership is crucial.

Governance is a way of organizing, amplifying, and constraining power.

I wanted the influence. In the end I wasn't very good at being a president. I looked out of the window and thought that the man cutting the lawn actually seemed to have more control over what he was doing.

I micromanage the selection of the cabinet.

The person who manages the state is me.

It is not how much you spend on defense as much as how you spend it.

When you're the CEO, you take responsibility.

I'm really more of an executive.

One thing that we've invested a lot of in, that we all live by, is the power of the commissioner.

Taking power is fine. But what do you do when you are in power?

It's so much easier to throw rocks than it is to govern.

Power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats, and leadership really involves responsibility.

All leaders share something in common. They feel they are the only ones who can do the job.

Gotta watch out for directors.

To govern is to choose. To appear to be unable to choose is to appear to be unable to govern.

It's my job as governor to set a vision.

One cannot govern with 'buts'.

What I have found is that, in a family business structure, sometimes what is needed is a sense of discipline rather than creativity. You have to take everyone's ideas and make it work. When you are dealing with money, there is a limitation on how creative you can be.

The great irony of management is that the higher up you go, the less actual control you have. When you are but a humble coder, you make the computer do exactly what you want; when you're a manager, you only hope that people understand what you want, and then trust/pray that they do it both correctly and in a timely manner.

The owner always has the final say. You have to decide who is going to be the best fit for the organization.

I think our leadership team is a highly accountable leadership team.

At Athens, wise men propose, and fools dispose.

I think it is important for people who are given leadership roles to assume that role immediately.

Governments need to have both shepherds and butchers.