Lee Iacocca Quotes
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The biggest mistake in my life was hiring Eaton as chairman without checking him out first, ... I didn't know him and hired the wrong guy, an error of judgment. When you make a bad people choice it hurts a lot of people for a long time.
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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.
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Even a correct decision is wrong when it was taken too late.
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MBAs know everything but understand nothing.
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It was a marriage made in heaven. The ads created a lot of buzz, and sales rose 24.7 percent in July.
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In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profits.
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We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?
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My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life.
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I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don't sit there. If we screw it up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we've satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.
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Chrysler builds great cars.
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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.
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The only mistake I ever made was not listening to my gut.
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The one word that makes a good manager - decisiveness.
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Be creative. Use unconventional thinking. And have the guts to carry it out.
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I have found that being honest is the best technique I can use. Right up front, tell people what you're trying to accomplish and what you're willing to sacrifice to accomplish it.
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Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there, make it happen.
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You, my friend, alone are equal to a hundred of such friends. Happy Birthday to you.
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Something's got to happen in this town to turn it around, or we're all going down the tubes.