Source, in full
King's comment to Commander Whitehill on July 4, 1950, which was transcribed in Whitehill's notes. As quoted in The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth (1995) by Gar Alperovitz, p. 321
More quotes by Ernest King
Initiative means freedom to act, but it does not mean freedom to act in an offhand or casual manner.
Machines are as nothing without men. Men are as nothing without morale.
Anyone who won't take a chance now and then isn't worth a damn.
Attribution
Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ernest King (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.