Paul Polman (Paulus Gerardus Josephus Maria Polman) Quotes
What is success? I think the most important thing is to achieve what you set out to achieve. Just being a CEO in itself is not success. I would not relate success to a title or a position. My career has had a level of serendipity all along. I've never planned anything out more than a few years.

Quotes to Explore
-
I'm optimistic about people and about the planet and about nature. I think it's resilient, like people are.
-
I've learned that for Indian people, the opportunity for us to succeed is very slim. So acting was a great tool for that. And in the process of learning about my culture, I've learned how to connect myself again to my ancestors.
-
We have to embrace the good over the bad. That has to be one's personal project.
-
To light a candle is to cast a shadow.
-
Under the all-encompassing aid system, too many places in Africa continue to flounder under inept, corrupt and despotic regimes who spend their time courting and catering to the demands of the army of aid organizations.
-
Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.
-
Toleration is good for all, or it is good for none.
-
It's probably fair to say that the ratio of time our Connector developers spend in the debugger versus the Emacs buffer is higher than with most software.
-
I live in Hollywood, California. It's absolutely nothing like Absaroka County, Wyoming. For me, it's a great escape and I really enjoy it.
-
Country fans and country listeners deserve to have something better... a song that really has something to say, something that makes you feel something.
-
For me, songwriting is something like breathing: I just do it. But that doesn't mean you're fantastic.
-
I honestly don't read that much. Obviously I read chess books - in terms of favorites, Kasparov's 'My Great Predecessors' is pretty good.
-
I used to be fast and loose with the term 'country' because I didn't know what else to call my music. I still don't.
-
You just can't let anything or anyone get in the way of who you are.
-
Why in almost all societies have married women specialized in bearing and rearing children and in certain agricultural activities, whereas married men have done most of the fighting and market work?
-
The opposition is indispensable. A good statesman, like any other sensible human being, always learns more from his opposition than from his fervent supporters.
-
Making loans and fighting poverty are normally two of the least glamorous pursuits around, but put the two together and you have an economic innovation that has become not just popular but downright chic. The innovation - microfinance - involves making small loans to poor entrepreneurs, usually in developing countries.
-
Carved above the lintel were the words SCIENTIA POTESTAS EST. Science points east, I wondered? Science is portentous, yes? Science protests too much. Scientific potatoes rule. Had I stumbled on the lair of dangerous plant geneticists?
-
As a Jew reading about Jesus, I thought, 'He's a pretty good guy.' It's the same conclusion Monty Python drew in 'Life of Brian' - if people actually live what he did, it would be a pretty good world. But Jesus and Christianity have a tenuous relationship at best.
-
If you have removed those people and situations that make your life more drama-like, then you're definitely a success. After all, who doesn't enjoy a quieter home and workplace?
-
The idea that the family is this locus of support but can also hold you back and keep you down makes for good drama.
-
What is success? I think the most important thing is to achieve what you set out to achieve. Just being a CEO in itself is not success. I would not relate success to a title or a position. My career has had a level of serendipity all along. I've never planned anything out more than a few years.