David Grinspoon Quotes

We can do things the cheap way, the simple way, for the short-term and without regard for the future. Or, we can make the extra effort, do the hard work, absorb the criticism and make decisions that will cause a better future.

If you don't focus on the future generation, it means you are destroying your country.

Neither man nor nation can prosper unless, in dealing with the present, thought is steadily taken for the future.

We're so used to thinking in the short term, and the minute you speak in more long-term language then you tend to get dismissed as utopian and so on. We have a real problem here in making long-term thinking respectable

What Republicans have to get away from is just worrying about the next election and start thinking about what is good for the country down the road.

The need to incorporate longer term time scales into our societal choices is very real—and right in the lap of our generation.

You don't destroy what you want to acquire in the future.

It is the part of a wise man to keep himself today for tomorrow, and not to venture all his eggs in one basket.

America looks 10 minutes ahead; Japan looks 10 years.

I remember getting advice like, "Oh, do what interests you. Don't worry about tomorrow, live for today," kind of thing. And to a degree, you've got to do that, you've got to follow your passions. You've got to follow your dreams, but you also have to have a plan. You can't just say I'm going to do what interests me today and I'm not going to worry about tomorrow, that doesn't work. And anyone who's tried that I think quickly finds that out. Think about what turns you on, what do you dream about? But along with that, make a plan and work hard to make it happen.

I'm no genius. I'm not at all; I just happen to look five or 10 years ahead and think things through.

Think about the decade after Iraq, not just the day after.

If you think too far ahead, if you even try to think too far ahead, you'll never make it.

Foresight is not about predicting the future, it's about minimizing surprise.

We've got to stop the name-calling and we've got to stop looking at the next election. We've got to be focused on figuring out what we're doing for the next generation.

A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.

We have to always look ahead enough moves to be well prepared, even for victory!

Be mindful of the link between present action and desired future outcome. Ask yourself: if I repeat today’s actions 365 times, will I be where I want to be in a year?

If you think about the long term then you can really make good life decisions that you won’t regret later.

Of what use, educationally speaking, is it to be able to see the end in the beginning?

A longer time perspective is needed because we face a daunting task both in an intellectual and practical sense.

Every plausible policy must be followed by the question 'And then what?'

The opportunist thinks of me and today. The statesman thinks of us and tomorrow.

You want to be an alchemist so badly? Don't wait to react to the immediate problem. Plan ahead. Look at the big picture and you won't ever have to deal with that problem. Better to save yourself from a major catastrophe than drag your feet over a bunch of little inconveniences.

Vision rarely require immediate action. It requires patience.