Today's headlines and history's judgment are rarely the same.
Condoleezza RiceRead
We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of preventing catastrophic outcomes before they happen.
Condoleezza Rice's quote warns against the dire consequences of inaction or complacency in the face of potential threats, using the metaphor of a 'smoking gun' and a 'mushroom cloud' to illustrate the difference between a minor warning and a devastating disaster. It suggests that one should address and resolve problems before they escalate to a point of irreversible harm.
Themes
PreventionThreatDisasterActionCaution
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about international relations, this quote serves as a warning about addressing conflicts early.
More from Condoleezza Rice
All quotes βI think my father thought I might be president of the United States. I think he would've been satisfied with secretary of state. I'm a foreign policy person and to have a chance to serve my country as the nation's chief diplomat at a time of peril and consequence, that was enough.
Condoleezza RiceRead
What the United States has done is to be open to people who are fleeing tyranny, who are fleeing danger, but we have done it in a very careful way that has worked for us.
Condoleezza RiceRead
For the United States, supporting international development is more than just an expression of our compassion. It is a vital investment in the free, prosperous, and peaceful international order that fundamentally serves our national interest.
Condoleezza RiceRead
Today's headlines and history's judgment are rarely the same. If you are too attentive to the former, you will most certainly not do the hard work of securing the latter.
Condoleezza RiceRead
Does anybody think these people were just sitting around drinking tea?
Condoleezza RiceRead
Similar quotes
To make real change, you have to be well anchored - not only in the belief that it can be done, but also in some pretty real ways about who you are and what you can do.
Twyla TharpRead
Social reforms are never carried out by the weakness of the strong; but always by the strength of the weak.
Karl MarxRead
Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are.
Bertolt BrechtRead
All beginnings are somewhat strange; but we must have patience, and little by little, we shall find things, which at first were obscure, becoming clearer.
Vincent De PaulRead
The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.
William J. ClintonRead
Life is known only by those who have found a way to be comfortable with change and the unknown. Given the nature of life, there may be no security, but only adventure.
Rachel Naomi RemenRead