Month: April 2010

The boss drives people; the leader coaches them. The boss depends on authority; the leader on good will. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The boss says ‘I’; the leader says ‘we.’ The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss says ‘go’; the leader says ‘let’s go!'”

-H. Gordon Selfridge, American-British retail magnate

• “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.
• Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
• Success is a journey, not a destination. It requires constant effort, vigilance and re-evaluation.
• The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation.
• It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare
• You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
• The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.
• Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
• Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.
• It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”