Quotes

Philosophers

The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake.

Meister Eckhart

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

Philo

Our sins are more easily remembered than our good deeds.

Democritus

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit.

ARISTOTLE, GREEK PHILOSOPHER

You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.

ARISTOTLE, GREEK PHILOSOPHER

Business Leaders

If we win the hearts and minds of our employees, we’re going to have better business success.

Mary Barra, GM CEO

Businesses often forget about the culture, and ultimately, they suffer for it because you can’t deliver good service from unhappy employees.

Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO

When I’m old and dying, I plan to look back on my life and say, “wow, that was an adventure,” not “wow, I sure felt safe.”

Tom Preston-Werner, Github, Co-Founder

Make every detail perfect, and limit the number of details to perfect.

Jack Dorsey, Twitter Co-Founder

Meetings are by definition a concession to a deficient organization. For one either meets or one works. One cannot do both at the same time.

Peter Drucker, Austrian-American Management Consultant

Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things.

Peter Drucker, Austrian-American Management Consultant

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.

Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company

The most successful businessman is the man who holds onto the old just as long as it is good and grabs the new just as soon as it is better.

Robert P. Vanderpoel, Notable Financier and Conservationist

Political Leaders

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life.

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President

Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President

My father used to say, “Don’t raise your voice. Improve your argument.”

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South African Bishop & Theologian

All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.

James Madison, 4th US President

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.

Calvin Coolidge, 30th US President

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed it ourselves.

Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President

No enterprise can exist for itself alone. It ministers to some great need, it performs some great service, not for itself, but for others; or failing therein, it ceases to be profitable and ceases to exist.

Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, Statesman, Soldier & Writer

Sports Leaders

I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.

Satchel Paige, American Baseball Player, Negro League & MLB

You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.

Babe Ruth, American Baseball Player

A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t.

Jack Dempsey, American Professional Boxer

Young people need models; not critics.

John Wooden, UCLA Basketball Coach

I worry that business leaders are more interested in material gain than they are in having the patience to build up a strong organization, and a strong organization starts with caring for their people.

John Wooden, UCLA Basketball Coach

Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you.

John Wooden, UCLA Basketball Coach

Do you know what my favorie part of the game is? The opportunity to play.

Mike Singletary, Chicago Bears Football Player

If you have everything under control, you’re not moving fast enough.

Mario Andretti, Italian-born American Race Car Driver

During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.

Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees Baseball Player

Military Leaders

Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.

General Colin Powell, Former Secretary of State & Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

General Colin Powell, Former Secretary of State & Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The only way to deal with a bully is to stand up to them.

Winston Churchill, Former Prime Minister of UK

The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.

General George Patton, U.S General

Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.

General Douglas MacArthur, American Military Leader

Out of every 100 men, 10 should not even be there; 80 are just targets; 9 are real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the 1 is a warrior who will bring the others back.

HERACHITUS, GREEK PHILOSOPHER

Editor’s Quotes

A profession with more purpose for less money yields more happiness. On the contrary, a profession with less purpose for more money yields less happiness.

Paul Sullivan

One shouldn’t retire until they know why they wish to stop working.

Paul Sullivan

Acknowledging one’s ignorance is the doorway to learning.

Paul Sullivan

Those who work solely for money possess a job. But those who work for moral purpose enjoy a noble profession.

Paul Sullivan

Avoid trivial or vitriolic dialogue. Neither strengthens friendships nor enriches society.

Paul Sullivan