Quotes by Lee Iacocca - Page 3

One of the things the government can't do is run anything. The only things our government runs are the post office and the railroads, and both of them are bankrupt.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Running
Government
Office
Post Office
Railroads
Bankrupt
Post
Runs
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Life can be difficult for kids born with a gold spoon in their mouth, because they never really get to find out if they're able to work hard and make it on their own.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Kids
Effort
Hard Work
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No matter what you've done for yourself or for humanity, if you can't look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Family
Love
Wise
Accomplished
Accomplishment
Attention
Done
Given
Humanity
Matter
Love Family Humanity
Love Family Done
Back
Love Family Look
Look
Having
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The cement in our whole democracy today is the worker who makes $ 15 an hour. He's the guy who will buy a house and a car and a refrigerator. He's the oil in the engine.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Car
House
Oil
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I guess that's one achievement I'm really proud of. Saving Chrysler was more than jobs, more than shareholder value. Saving Chrysler was a good idea for the whole country.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Jobs
Achievement
Chrysler
Country
Ideas
Good Idea
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Greenmail, in case you're wondering, is when a company pays a raider a premium for his holdings-if he'll go away. What I think it really is is blackmail in a pin-striped suit.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Going Away
Pay
Thinking
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Chrysler invented rebates, I'm sorry to say. I didn't have anything to do with that. A lot of flaky deals were made in order to give the customer enough cash for a down payment.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Cash
Chrysler
Deals
Payment
Sorry
Customer
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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.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Motivational
Accomplish
Being Honest
Honest
Honesty
Sacrifice
Teamwork
Technique
Willing
Best People Trying
Front
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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.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Adversity
Born
Fate
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Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can't be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Inspirational
Motivational
Guy
Inspire
Motivation
Next
Two
Down
Work People Down
Him
His
Instead
Line
Two People
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I'm still not sure what is meant by good fortune and success. I know fame and power are for the birds. But then life suddenly comes into focus for me. And, ah, there stand my kids.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Kids
Children
Focus
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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.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Loyalty
Language
People
Thinking
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I always go back to Harry Truman: Should we drop an atomic bomb to save 100,000 lives? That's a hell of a decision to make. Did he make that decision by himself? No, he had advisers.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Adviser
Atomic Bomb
Bombs
Decision
Harry Truman
Hell
Truman
Atomic
Bomb
Drop
Harry
Save
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I'm sometimes described as a flamboyant leader and a hip-shooter, a fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants operator. But if that were true, I could never have been successful in this business.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Leader
Pants
Successful
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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.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Begin
Exactly
Exactly What
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The kind of people I look for to fill top management spots are the eager beavers, the mavericks. These are the guys who try to do more than they're expected to do - they always reach.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Expected
Guy
Management
People
Spots
Top Management
Always Look People
Beaver
Eager
Look People Always
Fill
Guys
Mavericks
Reach
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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.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Believe
Block
Class
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I have always found that if I move with seventy-five percent or more of the facts that I usually never regret it. It's the guys who wait to have everything perfect that drive you crazy.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Business
Crazy
Facts
Never Regret
Percent
Regret
Drive
Wait
Guys
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My father used to say, 'You can spend a lot of time making money. The tough time comes when you have to give it away properly.' How to give something back, that's the tough part in life.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Life
Money
Father
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If I had to sum up in a word what makes a good manager, I'd say decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers to gather the numbers, but in the end you have to set a timetable and act.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Education
Business
Procrastination
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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.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Government
Night
Years
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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.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Moving On
Late
Long
Procrastination
Satisfied
Starting Over
Too Late
Wait
Screw
Something Else
Uncertainties
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The great issues facing us today are not Republican issues or Democratic issues. The political parties can debate the means, but both parties must embrace the end objective, which is to make America great again.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
America
Mean
Party
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I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. Business people need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Communication
Effective Listening
Real
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What is it that you like doing? If you don't like it, get out of it, because you'll be lousy at it. You don't have to stay with a job for the rest of your life, because if you don't like it you'll never be successful in it.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Jobs
Work
Business
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No matter how I'm doing financially, the Depression has never disappeared from my consciousness. To this day, I hate waste. When neckties went from narrow to wide, I kept all my old ones until the style went back to narrow.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Hate
Matter
Style
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I learned about the strength you can get from a close family life. I learned to keep going, even in bad times. I learned not to despair, even when my world was falling apart. I learned that there are no free lunches. And I learned the value of hard work.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Determination
Fall
Hard Work
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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.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Learning
Money
School
Thinking
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In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Education
Teacher
Math
Responsibility
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Over the years, many executives have said to me with pride: 'Boy, I worked so hard last year that I didn't take any vacation.' I always feel like responding, "You dummy. You mean to tell me you can take responsibility for an eighty-million-dollar project and you can't plan two weeks out of the year to have some fun?
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Vacation
Fun
Mean
Responsibility
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A little righteous anger really brings out the best in the American personality. Our nation was born when 56 patriots got mad enough to sign the Declaration of Independence. We put a man on the moon because Sputnik made us mad at being number two in space. Getting mad in a constructive way is good for the soul- and the country.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Men
Country
Moon
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From what I've seen, you either get grounded in that kind of positive thinking early on in life or you don't. Establishing priorities and using your time well aren't things you can pick up at the Harvard Business School. Formal learning can teach you a great deal, but many of the essential skills in life are the ones you have to develop on your own.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Positive Thinking
School
Skills
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In business, you're trying to make a buck. God was good to me and blessed me. I made some money and started this foundation years ago, and it has grown in size. With the foundation it's a lot different, because the bottom line isn't how you can make more money or get a better return, it's helping the projects that you feel strongly about move forward.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Business
Money
Moving
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I was raised to give back. I was born to immigrant parents and was fortunate to become successful at an early age. I've always felt a strong sense of national service to my country, and I may have been able to provide leadership in the political arena. I don't regret the decision not to enter politics, I just wonder sometimes if I could have changed anything.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Country
Regret
Strong
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It pains me to see my old company, which has meant so much to America, on the ropes. But Chrysler has been in trouble before, and we got through it, and I believe they can do it again... Let's face it, if your car breaks down, you're not going to take it to the White House to get fixed. But, if your company breaks down, you've got to go to the experts on the ground, not the bureaucrats.
Lee Iacocca / Businessman
Believe
Pain
White
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Lee Iacocca Quotes - Page 3

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