A Management Secret
I think the secret about management is really to make sure that the people that you work with are not afraid to deliver bad news [to you].
—Fred Smith, founder and CEO of FedEx
in an interview with MSNBC on 15 February 2012.
On Legalism and Hyper-Religiosity
The problem with legalists is that not enough people have confronted them and told them to get lost. Those are strong words, but I don’t mess with legalism anymore. … Seriously, I used to kowtow to legalists, but they’re dangerous. They are grace-killers. They’ll drive off every new Christian you bring to church. They are enemies of the faith. … if I am trying to force my personal list of no-no’s on you and make you feel guilty if you don’t join me, then I’m out of line and I need to be told that.
— Chuck Swindoll
On Peer Pressure and Social Change
If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.
— John Stuart Mill
On Work
There are two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.
— Indira Gandhi
On Living the Christian Life
… as you look to [Jesus], hoist your sails and buffet manfully the seas of life. Do not remain in the haven of distrust … of suffering your frames and feelings to pitch and toss on one another like vessels idly moored in a harbor. The religious life is not a brooding over emotions, grazing the keel of faith in the shallows, or dragging the anchor of hope through the oozy tide mud as if afraid of encountering the healthy breeze. Away! With your canvas spread to the gale, trusting in Him who rules the raging of the waters. … If we remain groveling on the low ground of feeling and emotion, we shall find ourselves entangled in a thousand meshes of doubt and despondency, temptation, and unbelief.
— J. R. MacDuff, as quoted in Mrs. Charles E. Cowman’s Streams in the Desert
On Achieving Success
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.
— Henry Ford
On Worry
Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.
— George Washington
Blame
One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems on.
And, when you do find somebody, it’s remarkable how often his picture turns up on your driver’s license.
— P.J. O’Rourke
On Recognizing Opportunity
Most people miss opportunity because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
— Thomas A. Edison