Quotes
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Being A Good Person
I wondered why someone didn’t do something. Then I realized that I am “someone”.
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Lily Tomlin
To be kind is more important than to be right.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald
He who forgives ends the quarrel.
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African proverb
There is never a wrong time to do the right thing.
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Allen Lazar
When you point your finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you.
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Anonymous
There are two types of people--those who come into a room and say, 'Well, here I am!' and those who come in and say, 'Ah, there you are.'
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Archie Frederick Collins (1869-1952)
Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgement.
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Will Rogers (1879-1935)
- Gratitude will unlock all other virtues and is something you can get better at.
- Treating a person to a meal never fails, and is so easy to do. It’s powerful with old friends and a great way to make new friends.
- Don’t be the smartest person in the room. Hangout with, and learn from, people smarter than yourself. Even better, find smart people who will disagree with you.
- Everyone is shy. Other people are waiting for you to introduce yourself to them, they are waiting for you to send them an email, they are waiting for you to ask them on a date. Go ahead.
- Don’t take it personally when someone turns you down. Assume they are like you: busy, occupied, distracted. Try again later. It’s amazing how often a second try works.
- Promptness is a sign of respect.
- To make mistakes is human. To own your mistakes is divine. Nothing elevates a person higher than quickly admitting and taking personal responsibility for the mistakes you make and then fixing them fairly. If you mess up, fess up. It’s astounding how powerful this ownership is.
- If you are not falling down occasionally, you are just coasting.
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Kevin Kelly, from the book Excellent Advice For Living
- People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
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Maya Angelou (1928-1914)
- Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud
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Maya Angelou (1928-1914)
Business
Goodhart's Law: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."
If you're not paying for the product, you are the product.
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Unknown
What gets measured, gets managed.
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Attributed to Peter Drucker but apparently he did not actually say this
Communicating
I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.
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Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
It’s not what you say. It’s what people hear.
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Frank Luntz
Compliance Program Management
I admire the Good Samaritan for picking up people on the side of the road, but I don't want to be the Good Samaritan. I want to fix the road to Jericho, so people don't get beat up there.
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Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
If no one's complaining, no one's listening.
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Aimee Blanchard, Broadcat
No one gets fired for staying silent.
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Amy Edmondson
So many people want to look smart rather than be helpful.
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Amy Edmondson
We don't do compliance to people. We create a culture of compliance that people want to be part of.
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Christina Florkowski
What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so.
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Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
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Gretchen Rubin
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
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George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950), Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists"
Personnel Management
A good example is the best sermon.
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Benjamin Franklin
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
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General George S. Patton (1885-1945)
Of the best rulers,
The people only know that they exist;
The next best they love and praise
The next they fear;
And the next they revile.
When they do not command the people’s faith,
Some will lose faith in them,
And then they resort to oaths!
But of the best when their task is accomplished,
Their work done,
The people all remark, “We have done it ourselves.”
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Lao-Tzu, Chinese philosopher, 6th century BC
The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you from the guys who are undecided.
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Casey Stengel (1890-1975), former New York Yankees Manager
Problem-Solving
Q: How do you eat an elephant?
A: One bite at a time.
It's easy to make things hard, but hard to make them easy.
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Jos de Blok
When two people always agree, one of them is unnecessary.
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Unknown
Q: What is the first rule of holes?
A: When you're in one, stop digging.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
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Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain — he is inspired by it. The persistent winner is not discouraged by a problem, he is challenged by it. Mountains are created to be conquered; adversities are designed to be defeated; problems are sent to be solved. It is better to master one mountain than a thousand foothills."
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William Arthur Ward (1921-1994)
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.
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H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)
The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)
Miscellaneous
If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.
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Lewis Carroll
A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men.
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Roald Dahl (1916-1990), in the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
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Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)
The reward of a thing well done is having done it.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan.
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Count Galeazzo Ciano (1903-1944)
Gaslighting isn't real. You're just crazy.
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Unknown
The flogging will continue until morale improves.
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Unknown
It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.
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Unknown
The best kind of exercise is the kind you do.
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Unknown
Don't believe everything you read on the internet.
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Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)