Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" We need to defend against weaknesses within and enemies without, using the tools of civil society and hard power. We don't have to pick one over the other. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

Related Quotes:

" Leaders must establish common purpose and build trust within an organization. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" There is no avoiding the realities of the information age. Its effects manifest differently in different sectors, but the drivers of speed and interdependence will impact us all. Organizations that continue to use 20th-century tools in today's complex environment do so at their own peril. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" If we are visiting Afghans, typically the Afghan governor, district or provincial governor, we see he doesn't wear body armor, and yet we're walking through his streets. I'm his guest. I think that that's important that I send a message that I trust him and I don't think I am more valuable than I think he is. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" Throughout history, the organizational evolution of the military has been inextricably linked with that of the business world. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" The challenge that we faced with the arrival of the Obama administration is, they didn't really have time to build trust before they had to make big, difficult decisions. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" We want to make the insurgents come to us. Make them be the aggressors. What I want to do is get on the inside looking out - instead of being on the outside looking in. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" I go back and think of President Kennedy, who had a military service background, but he comes into the presidency, and he's faced with a decision on the Bay of Pigs, with the C.I.A. and the military giving him data, and it turns out very badly. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" There is only one Army in which you serve. When that identity is gone, it is gone forever. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" We should get to the business of providing at least one million opportunities each year for young Americans to spend a service year with peers who are different from them - by race, ethnicity, income, politics and religious belief. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" I can't sculpt. But if I were a sculptor, as you start to get something that actually looks like what you want, then it starts to be fun. That's the way I find writing. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" In June 2010, after more than 38 years in uniform, in the midst of commanding a 46-nation coalition in a complex war in Afghanistan, my world changed suddenly - and profoundly. An article in 'Rolling Stone' magazine depicting me, and people I admired, in a manner that felt as unfamiliar as it was unfair, ignited a firestorm. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" In my life as a soldier and citizen, I have seen time and time again that inaction has dire consequences. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" I think every war certainly wears on national will and national patience, particularly a counterinsurgency. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" Strength is leading when you just don't want to lead. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" I resolved to try to steer clear of politics. That wasn't easy. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" When I was a lieutenant in Special Forces many many years ago, I thought I was getting fat. And I started running, and I started running distance, which I enjoyed. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" How we present ourselves matters a lot, and that's every American, not just at the senior levels. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" The military likes to figure out how to do something, put it in a manual or an operating procedure, and perfect doing it, and have everyone do it the same way. I don't like that. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" I'm not good at eating small meals. Some people can sit down and be very disciplined. When I sit down at a meal, I sort of eat everything I can reach. I know medical people say that's exactly the wrong formula, but I've made it this far. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" In an organization that is unwilling to change, find the opportunity to talk and interact with people - figure out why they don't want to change. It could be habits. It could be people's personal equities and reputations are defined by the role they're in or the process they've mastered. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" If every soldier is authorized to make one mistake, then we lose the war. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" Over my career, I'd watched senior leader visits have unintended negative consequences. Typically, schedules were unrealistically overloaded and were modified during the visit to cancel parts of the plan. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" Political campaigns offer Americans an opportunity to adjust direction, reaffirm values, and recommit to the covenant that binds them together. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" Wars often begin with enthusiastic vigor but typically settle into costly, dirty business characterized for soldiers by fear, frustration, and loneliness. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" My very identity as a soldier came to an abrupt end. I'd been soldiering as long as I'd been shaving. Suddenly I'd been told I could no longer soldier, and it felt as though no one really cared if I ever shaved again. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" Public broadcasting makes our nation smarter, stronger and, yes, safer. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" Tensions and violence in cities across America are reminders of how quickly communities can erupt with an absence of social trust. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" The eight years of war since 9/11 had meant several Christmases away from home for most of these men. For soldiers at war, there's comforting continuity in the traditions and inevitability of Christmas. "

Stanley A. McChrystal

" I knew from history that war comes with frightening regularity, often fought over the same ground and similar causes as previous conflicts. "

Stanley A. McChrystal