David Halberstam Quotes

“Why did McNamara have such good figures? Why did McNamara have such good staff work and Ball such poor staff work? The next day Ball would angrily dispatch his staff to come up with the figures, to find out how McNamara had gotten them, and the staff would burrow away and occasionally find that one of the reasons that Ball did not have comparable figures was that they did not always exist. McNamara had invented them, he dissembled even within the bureaucracy, though, of course, always for a good cause. It was part of his sense of service. He believed in what he did, and thus the morality of it was assured, and everything else fell into place. It was all right to lie and dissemble for the right causes. It was part of service, loyalty to the President, not to the nation, not to colleagues, it was a very special bureaucratic-corporate definition of integrity; you could do almost anything you wanted as long as it served your superior.”

“Why did McNamara have such good figures? Why did McNamara have such good staff work and Ball such poor staff work? The next day Ball would angrily dispatch his staff to come up with the figures, to find out how McNamara had gotten them, and the staff would burrow away and occasionally find that one of the reasons that Ball did not have comparable figures was that they did not always exist. McNamara had invented them, he dissembled even within the bureaucracy, though, of course, always for a good cause. It was part of his sense of service. He believed in what he did, and thus the morality of it was assured, and everything else fell into place. It was all right to lie and dissemble for the right causes. It was part of service, loyalty to the President, not to the nation, not to colleagues, it was a very special bureaucratic-corporate definition of integrity; you could do almost anything you wanted as long as it served your superior.”

“Coercion, after all, merely captures man. Freedom captivates him.”

“I've always been a huge proponent for education I graduated high school at 14 years old and graduated college at 17 years old. ”

“It's okay to have fear - we're all human; it happens - but in facing your fears, you can really open yourself up to things you never thought possible.”

“Women are tough, but sometimes women present toughness in different ways.”

“I credit Kansas City with my work ethic and learning from the amazing artists that are in that town.”

“Girl Up gives girls an opportunity and gives them a platform and starting point through which they can take it and run with it and help give girls the opportunity to have the freedom, independence and the ability to get an education.”

“I have nothing against Dylan O'Brien! He's one of my favorite people. I have so much respect for him and his work.”

“A wish becomes a greatest desire at the very moment when a person's belief in the seemingly impossible is stronger than any doubt.-Kevin McNamara”

“All the evidence of history suggests that man is indeed a rational animal, but with a near infinite capacity for folly. . . . He draws blueprints for Utopia, but never quite gets it built. In the end he plugs away obstinately with the only building material really ever at hand--his own part comic, part tragic, part cussed, but part glorious nature.”