Omar N. Bradley Quotes

We must stop setting our sights by the light of each passing ship; instead we must set our course by the stars.

Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship.

Stick to your true north - build greatness for the long term.

Once we agree on the future, the present will be much easier. A captain who does not know where he wants to sail, there is no wind on Earth that will bring him there. We have first to decide where we want to go, where we want to sail.

The American President resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek.

A captain who does not know where he wants to sail, there is no wind on Earth that will bring him there.

The long view counts.

There is only one conflict, and that’s between short-term and long-term thinking.

There is something wrong with the way in which we make our decisions. The Government listen too much to the pollsters and the party managers. The trouble is that they are not even very good at politics, and they are entering too much into policy decisions. As a result, there is too much short-termism, too much reacting to events, and not enough shaping of events. We give the impression of being in office but not in power. Far too many important decisions are made for 36 hours' publicity.

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

If the person at the wheel refuses to ask for directions, it is time for a new driver.

Leadership involves finding a parade and getting in front of it.

Ideals are like the stars: we never reach them, but like the mariners of the sea, we chart our course by them.

It isn't that they can't see the solution. It is that they can't see the problem.

In my view, a political vision is not a grab-bag of discrete problems and solutions. It is the visionary anticipation of a direction.

Leadership is, among other things, the ability to inflict pain and get away with it - short-term pain for long-term gain.

In order to have your short term policies accepted, you have to have your long term policies understood.

That man sees indeed the truth who sees that vision and creation are one.

The statesman wishes to steer, while the politician is satisfied to drift.

In a scheme of policy which is devised for a nation, we should not limit our views to the operation during a single year, or even a short term of years. We should look at its operation for a considerable time.

A nation has to look ahead.

Nothing is harder in politics than to do something now that costs money and will not benefit us until several years from now.

Providing the vision is easy. Getting policy right is hard. The hard thing about the modern world is doing it. The world is changing so fast.

The electorate will forgive you even for decisions that they do not agree with, but they will not forgive you for not deciding.

Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny.