Carl von Clausewitz Quotes

My view is, the most important thing as prime minister is trying to make the right judgments. In order to make good judgments, you need good advice; you need good principles, and you need a clear head, and you need to have a sense of equilibrium.

Never bring the problem solving stage into the decision making stage. Otherwise, you surrender yourself to the problem rather than the solution.

It's actually very surprising how little we think about the quality of our decision-making and how we could improve it. How absent decision-making classes are from educational curricula. How little we think about how it is we think.

The fact that a man is driven back on feelings and instincts to justify an action or course of action which he has thought over and discussed, is good evidence that what he calls his feelings and instincts are at variance with his better judgment … and may therefore be worthless or dangerous guides in any wider matter involving the fate of his country or his fellow-countrymen.

Base thy life on principle, not on rules.

Sometimes we forge our own principles and sometimes we accept others' principles, or holistic packages of principles, such as religion and legal systems. While it isn't necessarily a bad thing to use others' principles - it's difficult to come up with your own, and often much wisdom has gone into those already created - adopting pre-packaged principles without much thought exposes you to the risk of inconsistency with your true values.

I have never lived on principles. When I have had to act, I never first asked myself on what principles I was going to act, but I went at it and did what I thought fit. I have often reproached myself for my want of principle.

Principles are what allow you to live a life consistent with those values. Principles connect your values to your actions.

Look, that's why there's rules, understand? So that you think before you break 'em.

When you need to make a decision, don't let your emotions vote.

It's because even a good man can't always be right, that we need ... rules.

I Use The Square To Begin My Solutions Because The Square Is A Non-choice, Really. In The Course Of Development, I Search For The Forces That Would Disprove The Square.

I don't really have a system or set of principles. It's kind of common sense mixed up with instinct.

What I will say to people is what you require are rules and not prejudices.

Better think while it's still legal.

If you don't have a set of principles that you can explain for what you are doing, then how can anybody know what you're going to do next?

The 1st question the effective decision-maker asks is: 'Is this a generic situation or an exception?'

The voice of reason is more to be regarded than the bent of any present inclination; since inclination will at length come over to reason, though we can never force reason to comply with inclination.

What the head thinks, should be examined critically in the heart and this right decision should be carried out by the hands. This should be the primary product of the educational process.

The tough thing is figuring out what questions to ask, but […] once you do that, the rest is really easy.

The principle of majority does not work when differences on fundamentals are involved.

A complex decision is like a great river, drawing from its many tributaries the innumerable premises of which it is constituted.

Intelligence is just a tool to be used toward a goal, and goals are not always chosen intelligently.

Reaching consensus in a group is often confused with finding the right answer.

Study the situation thoroughly, go over in your imagination the various courses of action possible to you and the consequences which can and may follow from each course. Pick out the course which gives the most promise and go ahead.