Warren Christopher Quotes

A president, like a college freshman, can't know in advance which questions he'll have to answer or what topics he'll have to master. He has to be flexible, supple, and responsive. He has to be comfortable with multiple-choice.

As a leader, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.

You can get along very well in this world by simply coming up with a quantity of reasonably valid statements.

The day-to-day making of policy is arguing all the time. You're trying to get the right approach and the right answer, and there are moments that aren't very pleasant. But in the end, you look at the overall product.

There is no single right answer or path forward, but there is one right way to frame the problem.

The rest is a mere matter of detail, to be settled with judgment, discretion, and caution.

It's very important to understand how to act in any situation.

As a chess player I learn to adapt to new situations and always try to make the best move without looking back or asking why and how I ended up in a situation I ended up in.

You're able to see situations over and over again and just become comfortable in different decision-making situations. I think that comes with experience.

The most common source of mistakes in management decisions is the emphasis on finding the right answer rather than the right question.

I decided to go along with it. If he tried to give me the runaround, I would bolt. I didn't have time to waste on vague answers and evasive language. Matt and Rhys were captive, and Rhys couldn't even sit down.

Look for the second right answer.

A lot of military people just take orders, and there is a place for that. But SEALs think for themselves from day one. That way, when something happens - a kid runs out of a room, a woman is held as a human shield - they can make those decisions on the fly. We always say: "Improvise, adapt and overcome."

A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances.

The single and most dangerous word to be spoken in business is no. The second most dangerous word is yes. It is possible to avoid saying either.

Evaluate. Long experience had taught me to evaluate and assess. When the unexpected gets dumped on you, don’t waste time. Don’t figure out how or why it happened. Don’t recriminate. Don’t figure out whose fault it is. Don’t work out how to avoid the same mistake next time. All of that you do later. If you survive.

The main aim of the [political] dialogue should be to resolve the problems of the nation, not to find who is the winner and who is the loser. That's not what it's all about. It's to try and find an answer that is acceptable to all parties concerned, which would of course require some give and take.

Even when I read a book, if the book leaves me the possibility of finding certain solutions or working on my own toward a solution, I prefer that much more than if the book fills me with the answers, gives them to me directly.

Whoever makes it a rule to test action by thought, thought by action, cannot falter, and if he does, will soon find his way back to the right road.

I pretty much know that directing means that you have to answer about a thousand questions every day and you have to answer them quick.

The ability to have our own way, and at the same time convince others they are having their own way, is a rare thing among men. Among women it is as common as eyebrows.

I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies.

Compromise is a skill, and like all skills it atrophies from lack of use.

He that gives a portion of his time and talent to the investigation of mathematical truth, will come to all other questions with a decided advantage over his opponents.

Almost everything I do when I approach an operational problem comes from the time I've been in space. It's a way of organizing your thoughts. We use problem-solving; what we call "what-if-ing." What if this happened? What would we do? We go over plan B, C, D, E, F, and whatever else, depending on the criticality of what we're doing. This kind of thing can be applied almost everywhere, even at home.