John Edwards Quotes

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

I'd say if you wanted to forestall bad events, the best thing to do is anticipate them and try to correct them before they get close.

Take care of what is difficult while it is still easy, and deal with what will become big while it is yet small.

As part of our renewal - we need to fight problems, not just wait for them to take place.

We must be part of the general staff at the inception, rather than the ambulance drivers at the bitter end.

Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.

The actions you plan to take and the actions you actually decide to take [in a crisis] are not always the same.

The earlier you start to solve a problem, the less draconian the solution needs to be.

Crisis management … is the worst type of policy because you will miss things.

Over the years, I've been involved in many business crises. I qualify this, since my crises have never involved life and death or the survival of the human race. But they are still crises.

Look several months ahead, see where the obstacles lie, and figure out ways to overcome them.

If you don't choose to do it in leadership time up front, you do it in crisis management time down the road.

When you face unexpected events, you have to try to overcome those problems, but at the same time, you have to continue working according to the plan that you defined since the beginning. So that's what we have tried to do - not to avoid the urgent responses but to continue the route that we had defined.

The way you continue to be a successful business is you don't wait for the car to go off the cliff. You have to manage yourself. And make sure you do it in the right way so you are not making decisions in crisis.

Some think that by preparing to deal with crises you make them more likely. I think the wiser judgment is the contrary. In this area at least, if you want peace or stability, it's better to prepare for war or instability.

Think as you work, for in the final analysis, your worth to your company comes not only in solving problems, but also in anticipating them.

The best way to address a problem is at its initial stages.

Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong—these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history.

Why was so much done in remedying the evil instead of avoiding it in the first place?

We need to think the worst in order to avoid it.

A government must always be prepared for the unexpected.

I grew up military but have met very few women that have a mission plan for when things don't work out. I attack everything like that.

It's bad policy to speculate on what you'll do if a plan fails when you're trying to make a plan work.

If I hear something's not quite going right, then I'm there quicker than if I hear something's going wrong.

That's the art of leadership. To make sure that what shouldn't happen, doesn't happen.