Sam Altman Quotes

Do not change horses in mid stream unless horse lies to you and the stream is on fire.

I had rapidly become aware there were problems with the Kalifa group.

People under siege turn to us in complete frustration and I get a chance to go in when it's do or die.

In foreign policy, the only thing worse than not doing something is doing something that fails or makes the situation worse.

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

In great crises, a man who has to act or speak stands bare and stripped of choice.

The warnings of the last 4 years have been ignored. As a result, every single alternative before us is accompanied by grave risks.

What did they know, when did they know it, and what did they do about it.

If you make enough decisions in life, you’re bound to make some of them wrong.

We simply have to end this thing. It is out of control.

The Nation trembled on the brink. Events moved with such speed that it was necessary to decide to act on the instant, as each successive crisis arose.

In our government we drive decisions either by leadership of by crises. If the leadership is not there, we rely on crises.

If you don't make a decision then time will make it for you and time will always side against you!

But we need to be very clear: because of our decades of collective denial, no gradual, incremental options are now available to us.

Summits are best at dealing with problems, where the need for action is urgent and the range of possible actions limited. They are less good at dealing with opportunities.

There is some risk involved in action, there always is. But there is far more risk in failure to act.

A friend tweeted me with 'The Big Freeze.' I don't know about that one. I've got to go home, play around with the kids and figure something out. I'll have one.

There are no truer choices than those made in crisis, choices made without judgment.

The right decision is the wrong decision if it's made too late.

Protecting underperformers always backfires.

But here's the ugly truth: nature doesn't care about democracy, or who's right, or what's fair. And because of the slow-change aspect of climate, we can't wait until the worst effects are upon us to make a decision -- by then, it would be far, far too late. The scenario we may be faced with is one where doing something for the wrong reasons, run by the wrong people, may still save more lives than holding out for a more appealing option.

He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.

Sometimes a decision has to be made by a single individual, who has the authority to enforce it. That's why you need a captain. You can't run a ship by a committee-at least not all the time.

Make a decision! Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all.