George P. Shultz Quotes

I learned in business that you had to be very careful when you told somebody that's working for you to do something, because the chances were very high he'd do it. In government, you don't have to worry about that.

- George P. Shultz

What we want is scientists who don't become part of the policy discussion: All they do is produce science. If someone becomes an advocate, then I won't pay as much attention to their science.

- George P. Shultz

The higher the classification of secrecy, the quicker you will report it.

- George P. Shultz

The source of all the energy is the sun. The big challenge is, how do you use all of that energy? Solar power has to fascinate you. There have been strides to get the costs down, and if this will work, you have to get costs down so it is competitive with fossil fuels.

- George P. Shultz

Oh, you know. I am secretary of state. My trips aren't successful. I just talk to people.

- George P. Shultz

I think the idea that you would do everything you can to prevent what is coming at you by way of something very disruptive - a 9/11 - it's a no-brainer.

- George P. Shultz

Increasingly, the state system has been eroding. Terrorists have exploited this weakness by burrowing into the state system in order to attack it.

- George P. Shultz

My experience is that if the military didn't want to use force and was confronted with a president that did, the military would come back with what I would call the 'bomb Moscow' scenario. They would say it had to be done with conditions that were so extreme, you obviously wouldn't do it.

- George P. Shultz

We have struggled with terrorism for a long time. In the Reagan administration, I was a hawk on the subject. I said terrorism is a big problem, a different problem, and we have to take forceful action against it. Fortunately, Ronald Reagan agreed with me, but not many others did.

- George P. Shultz

Open political and economic systems have been gaining ground and there's a good reason for it. They work better.

- George P. Shultz

Terrorism is not a matter that can be left to law enforcement, with its deliberative process, built-in delays, and safeguards that may let the prisoner go free on procedural grounds.

- George P. Shultz

Obama seems to want to do something to damage rich people.

- George P. Shultz

Nothing ever gets settled in this town. a seething debating society in which the debate never stops, in which people never give up, including me. And so that's the atmosphere in which you administer.

- George P. Shultz

The armed forces are paying a lot more attention to the use of energy. The Air Force has realized that the paint on planes is heavy, so there are going to be a lot more silver planes, or planes painted in a less heavy way, so that you are using less fuel to get from point A to point B.

- George P. Shultz

There is no prospect that the United States will say to Israel, 'You do such and such and we'll not support you in your security.'

- George P. Shultz

Between 1980 and 1990, the number of countries that were classified as 'free' or 'mostly free' increased by about 50%.

- George P. Shultz

You don't get gushers of revenue by raising tax rates. You get it through expansion.

- George P. Shultz

The civilized world has a common stake in defeating the terrorists.

- George P. Shultz

It was an attempt to stick the Congress's finger in King Hussein's eye.

- George P. Shultz

I don't know how you define 'neoconservatism,' but I think it's associated with trying to spread open political systems and democracy.

- George P. Shultz

If you ask me what am I, I might say 'I am a Californian,' and if George Bush were here, he would say 'I am a Texan.'

- George P. Shultz

Strong growth means increased use of energy at a pace that can strain the capacity to supply what is needed at a reasonable price.

- George P. Shultz

The 1986 tax act is sort of the unsung hero of the very good economic times we had for a long time. Of course, politics gums it all up again and preferences get put in.

- George P. Shultz

I want my grandchildren to be proud of me. That's the main thing.

- George P. Shultz