Kenneth Lay Quotes

It is so basic as to be mundane, but in disaster relief, all the good will in the world can go to hell in a hand basket if the logistics don't work. In Ethiopia at the best of times, the logistics are difficult. It is a huge country - about the same size as Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma combined. It is also a transportation nightmare.

What we have currently available is what we have available.

That was for instance the case in Mocambique a couple of years ago, during the flooding catastrophe. Instead of co-ordinating assistance properly, to much time and resources was spent on fighting about the same helicopters and local guides.

It’s a huge country. Floods, fires, accidents. You worry, you make phone calls, you sort things out.

I write this letter because I wish you to believe of us (as we certainly believe of you) that we are doing the very best we can. You do not receive arms from us as fast as you need them; but it is because we have not near enough to meet all the pressing demands; and we are obliged to share around what we have, sending the larger share to the points which appear to need them most. As to Kentucky, you do not estimate that state as more important than I do; but I am compelled to watch all points

The object of protection is that of diminishing the distance and the waste between the producer and the consumer

I will take personal responsibility for transporting the 20,000 ventilators anywhere in this country that they want, once we are past our apex. But don't leave them sitting in a stockpile, and say well we're going to wait and see how we allocate them across the country.

[For gunpowder] we are so exceedingly destitute that our artillery will be of little use without a supply which is large and seasonable. What we have must be reserved for the small arms, and that managed with the utmost frugality.

The economic difficulty of the modern world is not shortage of materials but the organization of their exchange and distribution; distress arises, not from scarcity but from dislocation and maladjustment.

The bureaucracy needs to do more than one thing at a time. It’s appropriate to save people with helicopters, but it can’t be done to the exclusion of everything else.

All politicians find it hard to address with conviction more than one emergency at a time.

There is enough water ... but the systems we have in place do not have enough flexibility to move water to the places where it is most needed.

The increase in coal production and the efficiency in coal movement are all administrative things that can add a lot to the economic growth.

Responding to a natural disaster is a complex problem.

Any businessman will tell you that transportation is fundamental to success.

State governments should not have to compete in bidding contests against each other in order to get the necessary supplies to protect and help their citizens.

Immediately after hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, I was extremely concerned about my family, friends and all the people in Puerto Rico. I felt helpless and could not concentrate not knowing if my family and loved ones were safe. I wanted to help my people as fast as I could.

It is not enough just to get your forces from A to B - you have to keep them fed and watered as they go. The art of movement, therefore, is one of the most complex and vital that any commander must master if he is going to win.

Amateurs do tactics, experts do logistics, as we learn in the military.

Every two and a half years, every spectrum crisis has gotten solved, and that's going to keep happening.

In the Army, we address a crisis by identifying critical objectives, planning a response, marshaling resources and communicating the plan clearly.

Pretty soon I may have to go back to Canada and buy that lumberyard I've always wanted. I'll probably sell some lumber, bring in some lumber... look at exploiting that lumber somehow. I'm not very schooled in it, but being an actor I feel that I have a keen sensibility with regard to the world of lumber because those two businesses are so similar.

I've been mayor for five years. I've led a city. And directed a police department. I know how to use resources.

When someone needs copper, or wood or an ag product, and they invest capital somewhere to make that happen, and people get jobs from that, and that good gets introduced to the world stage and it gets traded and moved, the whole world benefits.

In California, they're not making any more land. And with the high cost of land, from a business standpoint, being able to move your goods quickly and cheaply makes Compton an attractive place to be.