Francis I Quotes

Fully consider the future and the immediate results of all undertakings, and the good and bad sides of all past actions.

One of the challenges of a good policy is trying to figure out what your priorities are.

It is most difficult to deal with. There are so many plans, so many schemes, and so many reasons why there should be neither plans nor schemes.

No quarrel ought ever be converted into a policy.

If we have as a clear certainty with which to plan, total uncertainty, then that would be helpful.

The risks of inaction are far greater than the risks of action.

There is only so much that you can kick the can down the road.

Who reflects too much will accomplish little.

To delay action until there Is one hundred percent certainty Is always to postpone political action forever.

How easy it is to judge rightly after one sees what evil comes from judging wrongly.

The longer political leaders shy away from the tough decisions, the greater the chance that there will be a lot more of them.

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.

Wa-al, that reminds me of a party of Methodist parsons that was traveling in Illinois when I was a boy thar, and had a branch to cross that was pretty bad—ugly to cross, ye know, because the waters was up. And they got considerin’ and discussin’ how they should git across it, and they talked about it for two hours, and one on ‘em thought they had ought to cross one way when they got there, and another another way, and they got to quarrellin’ about it, till at last an old brother put in, and he says, says he, ‘Brethern, this here talk ain’t no use. I never cross a river until I come to it.

Europe has a lot of problems when there are sudden decisions to take.

I am always wary of decisions made hastily. I am always wary of the first decision, that is, the first thing that comes to my mind .... This is usually the wrong thing. I have to wait and assess, … taking the necessary time.

Relying on luck … does not constitute a policy.

I wish twenty-four hours, a good night's sleep and a day spent in the open air could always elapse before any government officials take action on matters of grave importance.

Sometimes an active policy is best advanced by doing nothing until the right time -- or never.

If you wait until you have all the facts, then it will be too late..

The pressure of time, is the overwhelming challenge for policymakers who must act on assessments that cannot be proved at the time and whose mistakes are irretrievable.

I don't have the same respect for time as most people. I take that extra day to think about it.

Let's sink another drink, cause it will give me time to think.

I've learned one thing in politics. You don't take a decision until you have to.

It is a very funny thing that the sleepier you are, the longer you take about getting to bed.

If we wait until we've satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.