All Robert M. Gates Quotes
- We should never lose sight of the ethos that has made the Marine Corps - where 'every Marine is a rifleman' - one of America's… America
- There will be boots on the ground if there's to be any hope of success in the strategy. Any
- America's civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been chronically undermanned and underfunded for far too long. Aids
- Future U.S. political leaders, those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me, may not consider the return… America
- If there's ever an example that military power alone cannot be successful in Afghanistan, I think it was the Soviet experience. Afghanistan
- Congress is best viewed from a distance—the farther the better—because up close, it is truly ugly. I saw most of Congress as uncivil, incompetent at… Appropriations
- In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle… Advise
- What I know concerns me. What I don't know concerns me even more. What people aren't telling me worries me the most. Concern
- Development is a lot cheaper than sending soldiers. Cheaper
- Congress is best viewed from a distance—the farther the better—because up close, it is truly ugly, Best
- And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades. American
- I consider myself a Republican. Consider
- I don't think any president that I worked with has ever said 'pretty please. Any
- I had no difficulty as Secretary of Defense moving from the Bush administration to the Obama administration. Administration
- I have always voted for who I believed was the best person. Always Voted
- I have tried to maintain civil relationships with everyone I meet - and, even if I violently disagree with them, try to be respectful. Civil
- I read in the press, and therefore it must be true, that no secretary of defense had ever been quoted as arguing for a bigger… Arguing
- I think that Iran with a nuclear weapon is extremely destabilizing. I think it could precipitate a nuclear arms race in the region. Arms
- I will always be an advocate in terms of wars of necessity. I am just much more cautious on wars of choice. Advocate
- I wish I could set deadlines for the Congress, but that's just not the way the Constitution is written. Congress
- I'm a big advocate of drones. Advocate
- Most governments lie to each other. That's the way business gets done. Business
- No president is well-served by groupthink or by everybody singing from the same sheet of music they think he's on. Everybody
- One of my favorite little sayings is, 'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing. Avoid
- The United States has been a global power since late in the 19th century. Been