While the United States has often taken the wrong path, it has rarely failed to demonstrate - at least in the long run - the courage to reverse its steps.
Antony BlinkenRead
It's true that no policy fully survives first contact. But if you don't spend time anticipating the shots you are likely to take, you wind up flailing about wildly.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Preparation is key to handling unexpected challenges effectively.
This quote emphasizes the importance of anticipating challenges in order to navigate them successfully. It suggests that without foresight and planning, individuals or organizations may find themselves unprepared and struggling to cope with unforeseen circumstances, akin to flailing without direction.
Themes
PreparationChallengesPlanningForesightAnticipation
In practice
Example use cases
During a team meeting about project management, this quote can inspire the team to consider potential risks.
More from Antony Blinken
All quotes →When it comes to climate change, I think that success at home is directly tied to our ability to lead effectively abroad.
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Some friends of Israel believe that the Palestinians will never, in their hearts, accept a Jewish state in Palestine. Yet Germans and French, Chinese and Japanese, Mexicans and Americans have overcome their once insurmountable differences. Palestinians and Jews also have much to gain from peaceful coexistence.
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By virtually every metric, the liberal international order has made the world healthier, wealthier, wiser, more secure and more tolerant than it has ever been.
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I don't think anyone in the 1990s, the late '90s, anticipated that the Putin they knew then would become the Putin we know now.
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My father's father fled a pogrom in Russia in the early 20th century and was welcomed to the United States. So was my stepmother, who escaped as a young girl from Communist Hungary in 1950.
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