Donald Rumsfeld Quotes

We do not know enough about how the present will lead into the future.

He who lives by the crystal ball will eat shattered glass.

I cannot give any assurances. I'm not in that business. I haven't been, and I don't intend to get into it. People who try to make predictions about things or assurances often find they're wrong.

Pundits forecast not because they know, but because they are asked.

Predictions are preposterous. What usually happens is that people tell you that what they'd like to see happen instead of what they really think will happen. There are so many variations and possibilities that there's no way to ever really know for certain.

The past and the present are within the field of my inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question to answer.

Forecasting will always be somewhat of a coin toss.

My gran'ther's rule was safer 'n 'tis to crow: Don't never prophesy — onless ye know.

Predictions are hard, especially about the future.

Predictions are a mug's game.

The future is inherently uncertain.

I will not discuss future hypothetical situations.

No one can escape the iron rule that once you make a forecast, you know you're going to be wrong; you just don't know when and in which direction!

It's difficult to talk about the future because you never know.

Nobody knows what will happen in the future.

Foreseeing the future is always difficult.

It's always dangerous quoting numbers and expectations.

I don't like to predict the fights. People can do that. They can predict my fights, but I never do that.

You cannot guess what happens in the future.

If we all had crystal balls, we'd all know which horse to back, wouldn't we?

Speculating on the future serves for nothing.

Predicting oil prices is anyone's guess.

Nobody knows the future.

There's no use in asking what if. No one could ever give you the answers. I try, I really do, but it's hard for me to accept this way of thinking. I'm always wondering about the what-ifs, about the road not taken.

I predict, not because I know, but because I'm asked.