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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

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Lee Iacocca
Age: 94 †
Born: 1924
Born: October 15
Died: 2019
Died: July 2
Autobiographer
Businessman
Businessperson
Diarist
Allentown
Pennsylvania
Lido Anthony Iacocca
Drop
Save
Advisers
Hell
Truman
Decision
Adviser
Lives
Atomic
Back
Bomb
Make
Harry
Always
Bombs

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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.
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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.
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In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something else.
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There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Know yourself, know your business, know your men.
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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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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.
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Most people are looking for security, a nice, safe, prosperous future. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's called the American Dream.
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Every little kid wants to grow up to be a cowboy, and I did.
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That's the American way. If little kids don't aspire to make money like I did, what the hell good is this country?
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The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being.
Lee Iacocca
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There's a billboard in a little farm town in the Midwest that says: IF YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT FARMERS, DON'T TALK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL.
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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
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Never rest on your oars as a boss. If you do, the whole company starts sinking.
Lee Iacocca
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Why is our free-enterprise system so strong?- Not because it stands still, frozen in the past, but because it has always adapted to changing realities
Lee Iacocca
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If your product is great, you yourself do not have to be a great seller.
Lee Iacocca
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In business, I loved cars. I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning. Only in America can you decide to get a good education and pursue what you like.
Lee Iacocca
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In times of great stress or adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.
Lee Iacocca
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I forgot to shake hands and be friendly. It was an important lesson about leadership.
Lee Iacocca
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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
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The affections are like lightning: you cannot tell where they will strike till they have fallen.
Lee Iacocca