Tony Abbott Quotes

A man may take measures to secure the happy action and to guard against the unhappy action.

A danger foreseen is half-avoided.

The resolution to avoid evil is seldom framed till the evil is so far advanced as to make avoidance impossible.

I really believe my greatest service is in the many unwise steps I prevent.

If you have something at risk, you think differently.

Politicians don't like to face unpleasant realities. In truth, nobody does, but as individuals, we have no choice; if we neglect to plan ahead, we are held accountable. Fail to meet your responsibilities at work, and you get fired. Ignore your car's gas gauge, and you get stranded.

We must be part of the general staff at the inception, rather than the ambulance drivers at the bitter end.

It's easier to stop bad things than to pass good things.

No plan can prevent a stupid person from doing the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time - but a good plan should keep a concentration from forming.

No risk that is preventable is acceptable.

If you spend most of your effort preventing bad things from happening you will also prevent many good things from happening.

When a government faces an evil that might be avoided, the usual pattern is to first debate whether or not the evil is real or imagined; then determine how evil it really is; then is it an appropriate function of government to avoid it? Then what are the alternative ways to avoid it? Then what are the costs to avoid it? And finally, is the benefit of avoiding the evil worth the cost? In those cases where it is, it is by this time too late to avoid the evil and discussions shift to ameliorating the evil.

We must solve problems before they occur, rather than scrambling to deal with crises after they erupt..

There are always consequences to actions that you take. There are consequences to inaction. And thinking through, asking the questions, "Well, then what happens? What comes next?" is critically important.

Only by avoiding the beginning of things can we escape their end.

You either spend your life preparing or you spend your life repairing.

I'm a firm believer in teaching children to manage risk.

When something bad happens, you're bound to be doubly careful.

I will take the lead in turning risks into opportunities.

Who does not talk cannot be judged. Who does not shoot the penalty cannot miss.

When something looks really risky from the outside, what people are doing on the inside - they're not professional risk takers. But they're probably professional risk mitigators.

There's risk in everything that you do. It's up to you to measure those risks and do what you want to do.

When you make a choice, you change the future.

Anyone who has actually had to take responsibility for consequences by running any kind of enterprise whether economic or academic, or even just managing a sports team is likely at some point to be chastened by either the setbacks brought on by his own mistakes or by seeing his successes followed by negative consequences that he never anticipated.

Every action and decision we take – or don’t – ripples into the future. For the first time we have the capability, the technology, and the knowledge to direct these ripples.