Quotes

Outside-the-box statements on
leadership, community, education, success, and policy.

Leadership

"I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives and so live that the place will be proud of him." - attributed to Abraham Lincoln

"There comes a time when a [leader] can no longer rely on briefing books and power points, when the experts and advisors have all weighed in, when the sum total of one's life becomes the foundation from which he or she makes the decisions that determine the course of history." - Sen. John McCain

"In the end, the most important trait a president can have is courage... Unfortunately, courage sometimes means you have to walk the road alone." - Bob Woodward (at the LBJ Presidential Library 2005)

"There is an ethical dimension to leadership. If you do not consider ethics, then your leadership is hollow." - Dr. Thomas Freeman

"Creeping insularity is commonplace for leaders. One of the best ways to fight it is to have all the questions, not all the answers." - Jack Welch

"Do not confuse leadership with money. Do not confuse leadership with popularity; Do not confuse leadership with the number of dates for the prom or the best car... Leadership is more than all of that." - TJ Costello (Hill County Young Leaders Conference 2005)

"Don't take the fence down until you know why it was put up." - attributed to GK Chesterdon

"The imperative is to define what is right and do it." - Barbara Jordan

"...[N]othing builds a stronger case for holding employees to a high standard than a boss who holds himself to even higher ones." - Rudy Giuliani (from his book Leadership)

"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest!" - attributed to Mark Twain

Education

"Effort creates intelligence." - Dr. Pat Forgione, AISD Superintendent

"The cost of higher education is keeping people from taking 'good' jobs." - Robert Doggett

"Today, there are greater, more certain, and more immediate penalties in this country for serving up a single rotten hamburger than for furnishing a thousand schoolchildren with a rotten education." - William J. Bennett

"The real goal of education is not to make men good but to make men love goodness." - Dr. Thomas Freeman

"To repeat what others have said, requires education; to challenge it, requires brains." - Mary Pettibone Poole

Community

"You're here... believe it or not, it is just the beginning." - Buzz Aldrin

"[when I was growing up] All of your neighbors took responsibility for helping raise you." - Marlin Briscoe

"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." - Shirley Chisholm

"The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share. It is not only a mirror of ourselves, but a focusing lens on what we can become." - Lady Bird Johnson

"I just want to celebrate another day of livin'... I just want to celebrate another day of life." - attributed to the musical group Rare Earth

"You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant." - Arlo Guthrie

"When you go out for money, money you will get. When you go out for service, the dividends you receive will be shared many many times over." - Dr. Thomas Freeman

"How do we create a harmonious society out of so many kinds of people? The key is tolerance -- the one value that is indispensable in creating community... One thing is clear to me: We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves." - Barbara Jordan 1994

"The road goes on forever and the party never ends." - Robert Earl Keen

"Who speaks for America?... In order to speak you need a voice." - Dr. Lodis Rhodes

"The President will be working. Anyone who goes to Central Texas in August has to work. They have to work just to stay cool. I know, I grew up around there." - Bob Schieffer, on President Bush's August 2002 trip to Crawford

"One way or the other, this is your final jump." - Attributed to Barbara Bush when discussing George H.W. Bush's desire to go skydiving on his upcoming 85th birthday.

"Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus." Written by Francis P. Church, New York Sun, 1897

Success

"Some people say I set the bar too high... I would rather set the bar too high than too low." - King Abdullah II of Jordan

"There is no substitute for being one of the most well prepared in a meeting... To take pride in knowing more than the others in a room." - Ben Barnes

"Don't Panic - There's always a way to get it done." - T. Boone Pickens

"Yesterday is history... Tomorrow is a mystery... Today is a gift (that is why they call it the present" - attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt originally by Alice Morse Earle

"Pressure is not a factor if you have supreme confidence in your ability" - Rick Barry (on the Dan Patrick Show)

"I expect more out of myself than anyone can imagine." - attributed to Julius Erving

"A good team member must have extraordinary communication skills, not just speaking but listening and seeing." - Jody Conradt (2001)

"There's no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen." - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

"[U]nless each day can be looked back upon by an individual as one in which he has had some fun, some joy, some real satisfaction, that day is a loss." - Dwight D. Eisenhower (Dartmouth College Commencement, 1953)

"Do you listen actively, or do you just wait to talk?" - attributed to Matt Curtis, Director of Communication, Office of the Mayor-Austin, TX

"If you are not early, you are late." - Liz Feeley, Former Basketball Coach - Princeton University/Smith College