William C. Clark Quotes

It is axiomatic in politics that the earlier one addresses a problem, the more the alternatives and the easier the solutions.

Well, you know, any defense force worth its salt has to be able to deal with uncertainty, has to be able to deal with events that we may not have planned for.

I have more concerns about potential risks and vulnerabilities than most people.

When there are things that don't go according to plan, London will cope.

I think the idea that you would do everything you can to prevent what is coming at you by way of something very disruptive - a 9/11 - it's a no-brainer.

There aren't that many policy changes you can do, so I'd say you ride the wave and hope that maybe some of the external events help you.

Any plan conceived in moderation must fail when the circumstances are set in extremes.

Historically, decisive security action took place only after a disaster had occurred or a specific plot had been discovered.

People look for an edge in an uncertain world.

Are our problems moving faster than our ability to solve them?

You can’t prepare for the best case; you have to prepare for the worst case.

Crises there will continue to be ... Threats of new kinds will always appear.

That’s what this job is all about. Dealing with things you didn’t expect.

All of life is the management of risk, not its elimination.

Our system must remain solvent as we attempt a solution to this great problem of security. Else we have lost the battle from within that we are trying to win from without.

After September 11th, every day seems like September 12th.

The trick to playing Steve Jobs? I don't know.

The challenge in a startup is you hit a lot of turbulence, and you want people who understand that it's just turbulence and not a crisis.

I'm just sort of making it up as I go along.

America has historically met the challenges to its national security with decisive actions that defeated or, at a minimum, contained the threat.

Safety has been my top legislative priority. I'm driven by the idea that safety is really a core function of government.

Government's first duty and highest obligation is public safety.

We probably haven't seen the variety and diversity of threats to Americans' safety and well-being and our national security in a long, long time. Some have said it almost makes you yearn for the Cold War days when you knew who the bad guys were and who the good guys were, and there was a wall dividing us.

I learned one of the very important lessons in life in the 9/11 attacks. It's good to have a plan for your future; it's even better to write your plan in pencil.

I've learned how to function in chaos.