Foresight Quotes

“It is time for us now as a nation to exercise the same reasonable foresight in dealing with our great natural resources that would be shown by any prudent man in conserving and widely using the property which contains the assurance of well-being for himself and his children.”

“The one characteristic more essential than any other is foresight... It should be the growing nation with a future which takes the long look ahead.”

“Make preparations in advance ... you never have trouble if you are prepared for it.”

“Conservation of our resources is the fundamental question before this nation, and that our first and greatest task is to set our house in order and begin to live within our means.”

“Conservation and rural-life policies are really two sides of the same policy; and down at the bottom this policy rests upon the fundamental law that neither man nor nation can prosper unless, in dealing with the present, thought is steadily given for the future.”

“Data is like garbage. You'd better know what you are going to do with it before you collect it.”

“If you want to know what the future is, be part of its development.”

“Tomorrow always arrives. It is always different. And even the mightiest company is in trouble if it has not worked on the future. Being surprised by what happens is a risk that even the largest and richest company cannot afford, and even the smallest business need not run.”

“Nobody can predict the future; the idea is to have a firm grasp of the present.”

“Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.”

“I told you this would happen. But, no, you had to go for the buffet, didn't you?”

“The Romans never allowed a trouble spot to remain simply to avoid going to war over it, because they knew that wars don't just go away, they are only postponed to someone else's advantage. Therefore, they made war with Philip and Antiochus in Greece, in order not to have to fight them in Italy... They never went by that saying which you constantly hear from the wiseacres of our day, that time heals all things. They trusted rather their own character and prudence- knowing perfectly well that time contains the seeds of all things, good as well as bad.”

“Wise men say, and not without reason, that whosoever wished to foresee the future might consult the past.”

“He who would foresee what is to happen should look to what has happened: for all that is has its counterpart in time past.”

“He who has not first laid his foundations may be able with great ability to lay them afterwards, but they will be laid with trouble to the architect and danger to the building.”

“It is a common failing of man not to take account of tempests during fair weather.”

“In abundance prepare for scarcity.”

“Journalism has become the art of "intelligent anticipation of events."”

“Treat the large as the small and the few as the many.”

“You must become an old man in good time if you wish to be an old man long.”

“Take care of what is difficult while it is still easy, and deal with what will become big while it is yet small.”

“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

“Solve it before it happens. Order it before chaos emerges.”

“Prepare while it's easy.”

“Meet the big while it is small.”