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Quotations To Motivate Strategic Organizational Success - Page I
Commentary © 2007  Richard J. Chandler & Bonnett Chandler

Peter Drucker

Austrian born Peter Drucker, moved to Germany as a young man and earned a doctorate in international law. He left after the rise of the Nazi party. After 4 years in London, he came the USA as a professor serving at New York University and Claremont Graduate University as well as earning livelihood as a freelance writer and business consultant. In his 39 books he championed innovative ideas based on human nature and the reality of how things actually are. Drucker felt that businesses would benefit from ‘planned abandonment’ of past successes that are no longer relevant in a fast-changing world. He felt executives would do well to acknowledge the superior knowledge base of so many of their employees. Bonnett and I find his quotes on managing, innovation and society to be insightful, refreshing and poignant. 

“Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you've got.”

“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”

“When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course.”

Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.”

“Never mind your happiness; do your duty.”

“People who don’t take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.”

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.

- Peter Drucker  (1909-2005)

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A quote from the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tsu, whose name literally means ‘old master’. Here are two quotes from the ‘Tao Te Ching’.

“The Way of the Sage is to act but not to compete.”

- Lao Tsu  (6th Century B.C.)

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Wise words from Mother Theresa, the Roman Catholic nun who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1979 for her humanitarian work in India.

“Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.”

Mother Theresa  (1910-1997)

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian and Lutheran pastor. He participated in the German resistance against the Nazis. When money to help Jews escape to Switzerland was traced back to him, he was arrested and hung.

“It is the nature, and the advantage, of strong people that they can bring out the crucial questions and form a clear opinion about them. The weak always have to decide between alternatives that are not their own.”

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer   (1906-1945)

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Paul Giamatti, who is a featured actor in the movie ‘Shoot ’Em Up’, began acting in the mid-1990’s.  While he often portrays Jewish characters he is actually of Italian-American heritage.

“I can’t imagine a greater honor than being acknowledged by my peers. Being an actor is a hell of a thing. It's a hell of a thing. It’s up and down. It's great, but I found the best thing about it is hanging around the craft-service table with other actors and crew people, eating doughnuts.”

- Paul Giamatti  (1967-)

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Scott Adams is the creator of the very successful comic strip ‘Dilbert’. He also has a MBA from the University of California Berkeley. He did become prosperous through his pursuits as a writer and artist.

“Most success springs from an obstacle or failure. I became a cartoonist largely because I failed in my goal of becoming a successful executive.”

- Scott Adams  (1959-)

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We know of no person more deserving of success and wealth than Oprah Winfrey, due to her engaging, forthright and motivational leadership, shown through presentation of important topics, elegantly presented to us with candor, heartfelt warmth and compassion.

“Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi.”

- Oprah Gail Winfrey (1954- )

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Peter Drucker was a writer and a management coach and consultant. His most controversial work was on compensation schemes, in which he said that senior management should not be paid more than twenty times the lowest paid employee. Here are two short quotes from Drucker to help motivate us to successfully move forward in our lives.

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”

“My greatest strength as a consultant is to be ignorant and ask a few questions.”

- Peter Drucker  (1909-2005)

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The teachings of the philosopher and sage Confucius were so pragmatic, wise, advanced and successful in their application to bringing harmony into the society; they were the foremost education precepts used in China for more than 2,000 years.

“The superior man makes the difficulty to be overcome his first interest; success only comes later.”

- Confucius, (551-479 B.C.)

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An American lawyer, statesman and politician, William Jennings Bryan was one of America’s most popular public speakers.

“The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you. Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”

- William Jennings Bryan   (1860-1925)

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C. Northcote Parkinson was a naval historian and a scholar in the field of public administration.

"When any organizational entity expands beyond 21 members, the real power will be in some smaller body."

- C. Northcote Parkinson (1909-1993)

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The screenwriter Alan Ball won an Academy Award in 1999 for the movie American Beauty. He also wrote the fascinating HBO series ‘Six Feet Under’. Alan Ball studied theater at Florida State University but did not graduate.

“It’s a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. Makes you wonder what else you can do that you’ve forgotten about.”

- Alan Ball (1956- )

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Often associated with existentialism, Albert Camus was a very successful French author and philosopher who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957.

“All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant’s revolving door.”

- Albert Camus (1912-1960)

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David Brinkley (1920-2003) was a popular television newscaster who enjoyed a prestigious long-term career. President George W. Bush called him the “elder statesman of broadcast journalism” in 1992.

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”

- David Brinkley (1920-2003)

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