American
Businessman
(February 17,
1874 -
June 19,
1956)
"All the problems of the world could be settled if people were only willing to think. The trouble is that people very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work."
"Don't make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up."
"Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the dangers of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of "crackpot">than the stigma of conformity. And on issues that seem important to you, stand up and be counted at any cost."
"The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm."
"If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good."
"If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work."
"Man has made some machines that can answer questions provided the facts are profusely stored in them, but we will never be able to make a machine that will ask questions. The ability to ask the right question is more than half the battle of finding the answer."
"A manager is an assistant to his men."
"Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself."
"Once an organization loses its spirit of pioneering and rests on its early work, its progress stops."
"Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate and generous - not just to some people in some circumstances - but to everyone all the time."
"THINK. Think about your appearance, associations, actions, ambitions, accomplishment."
"The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer."
"The way to succeed is to double your error rate."
"Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use."
"Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all. You can be discouraged by failure - or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember that's where you will find success."
"You don't hear things that are bad about your company unless you ask. It is easy to hear good tidings, but you have to scratch to get the bad news."
"You have to have your heart in the business and the business in your heart."
