Top 132 Quotes & Sayings by Lee Iacocca - Page 2

A little righteous anger really brings out the best in the American personality. Our nation was born when 56 patriots got mad enough to sign the Declaration of Independence. We put a man on the moon because Sputnik made us mad at being number two in space. Getting mad in a constructive way is good for the soul- and the country.

Be creative. Use unconventional thinking. And have the guts to carry it out.

Your legacy should be that you made it better than it was when you got it.

Talk to people in their own language. If you do it well, they'll say,"God, he said exactly what I was thinking." And when they begin to respect you, they'll follow you to the death.

There's no great mystery to satisfying your customers. Build them a quality product and treat them with respect. It's that simple.

If we screw it up, start over. Try something else.

The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in business--or almost anywhere else for that matter.

You've got to say, "I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it." It's called perseverance.

We load up on oat bran in the morning so we'll live forever. Then we spend the rest of the day living like there's no tomorrow.

Never rest on your oars as a boss. If you do, the whole company starts sinking.

There's a world of difference between a strong ego, which is essential, and a large ego-which can be destructive.

Are we going to be a services power? The double-cheeseburger-hold-the-mayo kings of the world?

Most people are looking for security, a nice, safe, prosperous future. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's called the American Dream.

Formal learning can teach you a great deal, but many of the essential skills in life are the ones you have to develop on your own.

If your product is great, you yourself do not have to be a great seller.

No matter how I'm doing financially, the Depression has never disappeared from my consciousness. To this day, I hate waste. When neckties went from narrow to wide, I kept all my old ones until the style went back to narrow.

My father used to say, 'You can spend a lot of time making money. The tough time comes when you have to give it away properly.' How to give something back, that's the tough part in life.

Business, after all, is nothing more than a bunch of human relationships.

If you make believe that ten guys in pin-striped suits are back in a kindergarten class playing with building blocks, you'll get a rough picture of what life in a corporation is like.

Why is our free-enterprise system so strong?- Not because it stands still, frozen in the past, but because it has always adapted to changing realities

Here's what management is about: Pick good people and set the right priorities.

What is it that you like doing? If you don't like it, get out of it, because you'll be lousy at it. You don't have to stay with a job for the rest of your life, because if you don't like it you'll never be successful in it.

Don’t just stand there; make something happen.

Get all the education you can then go out and do something - do anything.

I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. Business people need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions.

The only mistake I ever made was not listening to my gut.

The primary skill of a manager consists of knowing how to make assignments and picking the right people to carry out those assignments

I learned about the strength you can get from a close family life. I learned to keep going, even in bad times. I learned not to despair, even when my world was falling apart. I learned that there are no free lunches. And I learned the value of hard work.

I'd really love to meet the guy I'm supposed to be. I'd hire him in a second.

Incompetency begets incompetency. The last thing a guy who isn't sure of himself wants is a guy backing him up who is sure of himself.

If you own up to your mistakes, you don't suffer as much. But that's a tough lesson to learn.

From what I've seen, you either get grounded in that kind of positive thinking early on in life or you don't. Establishing priorities and using your time well aren't things you can pick up at the Harvard Business School. Formal learning can teach you a great deal, but many of the essential skills in life are the ones you have to develop on your own.

A good deal is a state of mind.

What is it that you like doing? If you don't like it, get out of it, because you'll be lousy at it.

It's a good thing god doesn't let you look a year or two into the future, or you might be sorely tempted to shoot yourself.

Bad times are indelible. They stay with you forever.

Styling cars sells cars and safety does not.

A major reason capable people fail to advance is that they don't work well with their colleagues.

They're on you day and night. Their oversight is just too extreme [. . .] That's why our 10-year loan, we paid it back in three years. We couldn't stand the government. The bureaucracy kills you.

In the great undertakings, there is glory, even in failure.

If we wait until we've satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.

I'm still not sure what is meant by good fortune and success. I know fame and power are for the birds. But then life suddenly comes into focus for me. And, ah, there stand my kids.

In business, I loved cars. I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning. Only in America can you decide to get a good education and pursue what you like.

It pains me to see my old company, which has meant so much to America, on the ropes. But Chrysler has been in trouble before, and we got through it, and I believe they can do it again... Let's face it, if your car breaks down, you're not going to take it to the White House to get fixed. But, if your company breaks down, you've got to go to the experts on the ground, not the bureaucrats.

If I Had To Sum Up In One Word The Qualities That Make Up A Good Manager, I'd Say Decisiveness.

I was fortunate to get a scholarship when I went to Lehigh University and Princeton. They were both wonderful schools. Somebody was kind enough to spend their money to educate people that they would never get to know. That's what I think philanthropy is about.

MBAs know everything but understand nothing.

There are times in everyone's life when something constructive is born out of adversity... when things seem so bad that you've got to grab your fate by the shoulders and shake it.

Leadership means setting an example. When you find yourself in a position of leadership, people follow your every move.

If I had to sum up in a word what makes a good manager, I'd say decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers to gather the numbers, but in the end you have to set a timetable and act.

The cement in our whole democracy today is the worker who makes $ 15 an hour. He's the guy who will buy a house and a car and a refrigerator. He's the oil in the engine.

When future historians look back on our way of curing inflation...they'll probably compare it to bloodletting in the Middle Ages.

You, my friend, alone are equal to a hundred of such friends. Happy Birthday to you.

Thanks to properly selecting the clients you will not be unnecessarily wasting time.

I learned that monthly payments are the cornerstone of everything in the automobile business.

I was good friends with Frank Sinatra, I heard Steve Kaufman painting his portrait, so I asked Steve to paint my portrait.

As you go through life, there are thousands of little forks in the road, and there are a few really big forks-those moments of reckoning, moments of truth.

In the old days, if a neighbors apples fell into your yard, you worked it out over the back fence or picked them up and made pies. Today, you sue.

There's a billboard in a little farm town in the Midwest that says: IF YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT FARMERS, DON'T TALK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL.

People want economy, and they'll pay any price to get it.