--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sometimes, the decisions have to be taken…" description: "\"Sometimes, the decisions have to be taken in minutes, even seconds, and there would be no time to make the right decision. We understood that this coul..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/mikhail-gorbachev-2500_catastrophe_sometimes-the-decisions-have-to-be-taken_2422050.jpg" --- # Sometimes, the decisions have to be taken in minutes, even… ![“Sometimes, the decisions have to be taken in minutes, even seconds, and there would be no time to make the right decision. We understood that this could have ended in catastrophe.” quote by Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/mikhail-gorbachev-2500_catastrophe_sometimes-the-decisions-have-to-be-taken_2422050.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/mikhail-gorbachev-2500_catastrophe_sometimes-the-decisions-have-to-be-taken_2422050.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07a/mikhail-gorbachev-2500_catastrophe_sometimes-the-decisions-have-to-be-taken_2422050.jpg) > “Sometimes, the decisions have to be taken in minutes, even seconds, and there would be no time to make the right decision. We understood that this could have ended in catastrophe.” [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Decisions sometimes must be made instantly, without time for deliberation, to avoid disaster. **In simple terms:** Quick decisions are sometimes necessary to prevent catastrophe. Key Takeaway Act decisively when time is critical. Themes decision-making urgency crisis management Mood urgent tense Type pragmatic authoritative When to use this quote - Emergency response - military command - stock market crashes - medical triage Key Concepts Rapid response risk assessment leadership Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance speed and accuracy? - What safeguards can prevent rash actions? A Different Perspective Hasty choices can lead to errors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Catastrophe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catastrophe/) [Decision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision/) [Decision making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision-making/) [Make the right decision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-the-right-decision/) [Right decision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-decision/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [If you simply cannot make the right decision, make a decision and then make it right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-dale-adams/if-you-simply-cannot-make-the-right-decision-make-a-decision-and-then/) [Randall Dale Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-dale-adams/) > [Almost all politicians are able to have a great one-on-one meeting. But Im not interested in the candidate who can have a great meeting.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-c-griffin/almost-all-politicians-are-able-to-have-a-great-one-on-one-meeting/) [Kenneth C. Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-c-griffin/) > [My best life lessons and education didn't come from a classroom - they've come from the wild. How you act in the big moments,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bear-grylls/my-best-life-lessons-and-education-didn-t-come-from-a-classroom-they/) [Bear Grylls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bear-grylls/) > [Messi always makes the right decision, whether it's a pass or a finish. He's a little genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-lineker/messi-always-makes-the-right-decision-whether-it-s-a-pass-or-a-finish/) [Gary Lineker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-lineker/) > [You're not always going to make the right decisions, but you have to be guided by what you think is important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/you-re-not-always-going-to-make-the-right-decisions-but-you-have-to/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [My basic principle is that you don't make decisions because they are cheap; you make them because they're right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-hesburgh/my-basic-principle-is-that-you-don-t-make-decisions-because-they-are-2/) [Theodore Hesburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-hesburgh/) > [If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/if-you-obsess-over-whether-you-are-making-the-right-decision-you-are/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I have met thousands and thousands of pro-choice men and women. I have never met anyone who is pro-abortion. Being pro-choice is not being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-have-met-thousands-and-thousands-of-pro-choice-men-and-women-i-have/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [My motivation has to do with what happened to my family. I want to help young people make important decisions at the most important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-chuvalo/my-motivation-has-to-do-with-what-happened-to-my-family-i-want-to/) [George Chuvalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-chuvalo/) > [We have to make the right decisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-have-to-make-the-right-decisions/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Your legacy is being written by yourself. Make the right decisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-vaynerchuk/your-legacy-is-being-written-by-yourself-make-the-right-decisions/) [Gary Vaynerchuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-vaynerchuk/) > [I do know that if you can name certain things and understand them, it allows you to make better choices. Unfortunately, there's so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-santiago-baca/i-do-know-that-if-you-can-name-certain-things-and-understand-them-it/) [Jimmy Santiago Baca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-santiago-baca/) > [I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-ve-learned-that-you-can-tell-a-lot-about-a-person-by-the-way-he-she/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [We need to stop spending so much of our time trying to make the right decisions and instead start spending our time making decisions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-vaden/we-need-to-stop-spending-so-much-of-our-time-trying-to-make-the-right/) [Rory Vaden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-vaden/) > [The best thing you can do is follow your dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-rev/the-best-thing-you-can-do-is-follow-your-dreams/) [The Rev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-rev/) ## More by Mikhail Gorbachev > [Gentlemen, comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about Glasnost and Perestroika and democracy in the coming years. They are primarily for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/gentlemen-comrades-do-not-be-concerned-about-all-you-hear-about/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [We have no right ever to forget that psychological warfare is a struggle for winning people's minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/we-have-no-right-ever-to-forget-that-psychological-warfare-is-a/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [The most puzzling development in politics during the last decade is the apparent determination of Western European leaders to re-create the Soviet Union in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/the-most-puzzling-development-in-politics-during-the-last-decade-is/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [In effect, according to Lenin, socialism and democracy are indivisible. By gaining democratic freedoms the working masses come to power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/in-effect-according-to-lenin-socialism-and-democracy-are-indivisible/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [The shortage of fresh water is the major ecological problem of this moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/the-shortage-of-fresh-water-is-the-major-ecological-problem-of-this/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [If people don't like Marxism, they should blame the British Museum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/if-people-don-t-like-marxism-they-should-blame-the-british-museum/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [The time has come to choose a new direction of global development, to opt for a new civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/the-time-has-come-to-choose-a-new-direction-of-global-development-to/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [In Russia, there are those who make their money in criminal ways, but I earn everything myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/in-russia-there-are-those-who-make-their-money-in-criminal-ways-but-i/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [Without perestroika, the cold war simply would not have ended. But the world could not continue developing as it had, with the stark menace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/without-perestroika-the-cold-war-simply-would-not-have-ended-but-the/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [What happened to the Soviet Union happened mainly for domestic reasons. It was a failure of the model based on a command economy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/what-happened-to-the-soviet-union-happened-mainly-for-domestic/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [Women prevent the threads of life from being broken. The finest minds have always understood the peacemaking role of women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/women-prevent-the-threads-of-life-from-being-broken-the-finest-minds/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [For the first time ever, we have confronted in reality the sinister power of uncontrolled nuclear energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/for-the-first-time-ever-we-have-confronted-in-reality-the-sinister/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [A new world order is taking shape so fast that governments as well as private citizens find it difficult just to absorb the gallop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/a-new-world-order-is-taking-shape-so-fast-that-governments-as-well-as/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [It seems that the most important thing about Reagan was his anti-Communism and his reputation as a hawk who saw the Soviet Union as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/it-seems-that-the-most-important-thing-about-reagan-was-his-anti/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) > [The threat of environmental crisis is the 'international disaster key' to unlock the New World Order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-gorbachev/the-threat-of-environmental-crisis-is-the-international-disaster-key/) [Mikhail Gorbachev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) [Explore all 163 Mikhail Gorbachev quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-gorbachev/) ## More Catastrophe quotes > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“..the sense of a catastrophe perpetually invoked and avoided creates a rapture in whose depths horror and pleasure coincide...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-leiris/the-sense-of-a-catastrophe-perpetually-invoked-and-avoided-creates-a/) [Michel Leiris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-leiris/) > [To you, the people of Flint, I say, as I have before, I am sorry and I will fix it. No citizen of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-snyder/to-you-the-people-of-flint-i-say-as-i-have-before-i-am-sorry-and-i/) [Rick Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-snyder/) > [Dark influences from the American past congregate among us still. If we are a democracy, what are we to make of the palpable elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/dark-influences-from-the-american-past-congregate-among-us-still-if/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [It's the hardest thing on earth to like yourself, and then when you do, it's a catastrophe. I mean, the people I know who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/it-s-the-hardest-thing-on-earth-to-like-yourself-and-then-when-you-do/) [Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/) > [We are upsetting the atmosphere upon which all life depends. In the late 80s when I began to take climate change seriously, we referred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/we-are-upsetting-the-atmosphere-upon-which-all-life-depends-in-the/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [“War is catastrophe. It breaks families in irretrievable pieces. But those who are gone are not necessarily lost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruta-sepetys/war-is-catastrophe-it-breaks-families-in-irretrievable-pieces-but/) [Ruta Sepetys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruta-sepetys/) > [The biggest catastrophes that we've witnessed rarely come from information that is secret or hidden. It comes from information that is freely available and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-heffernan/the-biggest-catastrophes-that-we-ve-witnessed-rarely-come-from/) [Margaret Heffernan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-heffernan/) > [All the parties of capitalist society, all its moralists and all its sycophants will perish beneath the debris of the impending catastrophe. 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When shit happens, it doesn't really matter what asshole is responsible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-lacey/how-someone-wants-to-explain-catastrophe-isn-t-important-that-s-what/) [Catherine Lacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-lacey/) > [The Author of nature has not given laws to the universe, which, like the institutions of men, carry in themselves the elements of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-playfair/the-author-of-nature-has-not-given-laws-to-the-universe-which-like/) [John Playfair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-playfair/) [Browse all 656 Catastrophe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catastrophe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sometimes, the decisions have to be taken in minutes, even seconds, and there would be no time to make the right decision. 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