Norman Schwarzkopf's Quotes

He is neither a strategist nor is he schooled in the operational arts, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general. Other than that he's a great military man.

When placed in command, take charge.

War is a profane thing.

I get angry at a principle, not a person.

It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.

You can't help but... with 20/20 hindsight, go back and say, 'Look, had we done something different, we probably wouldn't be facing what we are facing today.'

I like to say I'm not a hero.

I prided myself on being unflappable even in the most chaotic of circumstances.

I'd like to think I'm a caring human being.

First of all, Saddam did not win the war, even though he says he did, I mean, you know, that's a joke and everybody in the world knows it.

I hate war. Absolutely, I hate war.

What is postwar Iraq going to look like, with the Kurds and the Sunnis and the Shiites? That's a huge question, to my mind.

An awful lot has been written about my temper.

Good generalship is a realization that... you've got to try and figure out how to accomplish your mission with a minimum loss of human life.

I may have made my reputation as a general in the Army and I'm very proud of that. But I've always felt that I was more than one-dimensional.

I'm not feeling undertaxed. Tax reform is an important issue. You have to have an inherent sense of fairness.

I've always been comfortable with people who run things, whether it was the principal of my high school or the president of the university.

If I get angry, it's obvious. I don't have to say much.

It's wonderful to learn about new cultures and to be able to travel easily to so many countries.

My biggest job really is to figure other people out. I need to understand what makes a person tick.

My father was very bright. My mother had enormous drive. Put that together, and that's my gene pool.

The library helps lower- and middle-income people - immigrants - get their shot at the American dream.

For future geopolitical stability and global prosperity, we need to build a culture of greater trust and understanding between China, America and the rest of the world.

I can't micromanage what anybody pays or doesn't pay. But the concept that half of the public isn't involved with the income-tax system is somewhat odd and I'm not saying how much people should do, but we should all be part of the system.

I don't feel like a wealthy person. Other people think of me as a wealthy person, but I don't. I feel the same as when I was a fifth-year associate trying to make partner at Lehman Brothers. I haven't changed.

I love picking people. I started Blackstone, and we had no people, and now we have with our portfolio companies about 750,000 people all over the world. Everybody who is at a senior level has ultimately been picked by me.

I'm concerned with China growing at double or triple the rate of the West, that there will be tensions. One needs to do something to start addressing misunderstandings and frustration.

I've lived through periods of illiquidity before. Asset prices come down. The economy slows or even goes into recession. Then the cycle re-starts. We buy at lower prices with less leverage.

This country, of course, needs fundamental reform of our financial regulatory system, as I, and many other financial institution executives, have publicly advocated for a considerable period.