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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

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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
Comes
Fortune
Kids
Meant
Stills
Bird
Power
Fame
Still
Stand
Children
Focus
Good
Sure
Birds
Life
Success
Suddenly

More quotes by Lee Iacocca

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I was good friends with Frank Sinatra, I heard Steve Kaufman painting his portrait, so I asked Steve to paint my portrait.
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Never rest on your oars as a boss. If you do, the whole company starts sinking.
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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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Listening can make the difference between a mediocre organization and a great one.
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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.
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There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Know yourself, know your business, know your men.
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In a corporation, there can only be one guy in the end: the CEO.
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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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The speed of the boss is the speed of the team.
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The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.
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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.
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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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If your product is great, you yourself do not have to be a great seller.
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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.
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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.
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There's no great mystery to satisfying your customers. Build them a quality product and treat them with respect. It's that simple.
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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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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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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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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.
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