Daniel Goleman, US psychologist, author (b. 1946)
Painters must want to paint above all else. If the artist in front of the canvas begins to wonder how much he will sell it for, or what the critics will think of it, he won’t be able to pursue original avenues. Creative achievements depend on single-minded immersion.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Hungarian/ US social scientist (b. 1934)
Journeys
A journey of a thousand miles starts in front of your feet.
Lao Tzu, Chinese founder of Taoism, author (6th Century BC)
If everything seems to be coming your way, you’re probably in the wrong lane.
None travels so high as he who knows not where he is going.
Oliver Cromwell, English soldier, statesman (1599-1658)
It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula K Le Guin, US author (b. 1929)
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Muriel Strode US poet (1875-1964)
If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths rather than travel the worn paths of accepted status.
John D Rockefeller, US industrialist, philanthropist (1839-1937)
While modelling and matching the styles and processes of others is helpful, remember it’s your journey with your own goals, signposts and markers.
Scott Simmerman, US management consultant (b. 1948)
Don’t worry about genius. Don’t worry about being clever. Trust to hard work, perseverance and determination. And the best motto for a long march is: ‘Don’t grumble. Plug on!’
Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister (b. 1925)
I will go anywhere, as long as it be forward.
David Livingstone, British missionary (1813-1873)
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward.
Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (1813-1855)
We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.
C S Lewis, British author, scholar (1898-1963)
There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.
Beverly Sills, US soprano (1929-2007)
Originality is unexplored territory. You get there by carrying a canoe – you can’t take a taxi.
Alan Alda, US actor, author, director (b. 1936)
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads with nothing but their own vision.
Ayn Rand, Russian/US author (1905-1982)
Knowledge
To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.
Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister (1804-1881)
What you don’t know will always hurt you.
We don’t know a millionth of one percent of anything.
Thomas Alva Edison, US inventor (1847-1931)
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
Benjamin Franklin, US statesman, author, scientist (1706-1790)
Throughout history, the craftsman who had learned a trade after five or seven years of apprenticeship had learned, by age eighteen or nineteen, everything he would ever need to use during his lifetime. In the society of organisations, however, it is safe to assume that anyone with any knowledge will have to acquire new knowledge every four or five years or become obsolete.
Peter Drucker, US management author (1909-2005)
No amount of sophistication is going to allay the fact that all your knowledge is about the past and all your decisions are about the future.
Ian E Wilson, Canadian cultural administrator (b. 1943)
We are trying to sell more and more intellect, and less and less materials.
George Hegg, strategic planner, 3M
The factory worker no longer manipulates the sheet of steel; he manipulates the data about the steel.
William Bridges, US engineer, researcher, educator (b. 1934)
The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.
Aristotle Onassis, Greek businessman (1906-1975)
The most important part of turnover is the loss of intellectual capital.
Ted Kastelic, US business executive, Intel
If money is your hope for independence, you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.
Henry Ford, US automobile manufacturer, engineer (1863-1947)
You never have to know all the answers because you won’t be asked all the questions.
Herbert Prochnow, US banker, author (1897-1998)
The more a man knows, the more willing he is to learn. The less a man knows, the more positive he is that he knows everything.
Robert Ingersoll, US lawyer, orator (1833-1899)
To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.
Confucius, Chinese philosopher, teacher (551-479 BC)
An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less.
Nicholas Butler, US educator, Nobel Peace Prize winner (1862-1947)
Leadership
A leader is a dealer in hope.
Napoleon Bonaparte, French soldier, statesman, revolutionary (1769-1821)
Leadership is the transference of vision.
Hal Reed, US business executive (b. 1957)
The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.
Kenneth Blanchard, US management author, presenter (b. 1939)
Management is about now, leadership about the future; one implements goals, the other sets them; one relies on control, the other inspires trust; one deals in rational processes, the other in emotional horizons.
Amin Rajan, British economist, researcher, author (b. 1942)
The job of the leader is to speak to the possibility.
Benjamin Zander, British conductor, management presenter (b. 1939)
Good leaders must first become good servants.
Robert Greenleaf, US management consultant, educationist (1904-1990)
A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go but ought to be.