Lee Iacocca Quotes

If I had to sum up in one word the qualities that make a good manager, I’d say that it all comes down to decisiveness.

In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.

The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.

In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profits. People come first. Unless you’ve got a good team, you can’t do much with the other two.

It’s a good thing God doesn’t let you look a year or two into the future, or you might be sorely tempted to shoot yourself. But He’s a charitable Lord: He only lets you see one day at a time.

Setbacks are a natural part of life, and you’ve got to be careful how you respond to them.

It’s a good thing God doesn’t let you look a year or two into the future, or you might be sorely tempted to shoot yourself. But He’s a charitable Lord: He only lets you see one day at a time. When times get tough, there’s no choice except to take a deep breath, carry on, and do the best you can.

With a car, you can go anywhere you want.

Democratic administration that put people ahead of ideology. Democrats usually do. They deal with labor, they deal with people, they deal with jobs. Republicans deal with trickle-down theories of investment.

The trouble with you, Phil, is that you went to Harvard, where they taught you not to take any action until you’ve got all the facts. You’ve got ninety-five percent of them, but it’s going to take you another six months to get that last five percent. And by the time you do, your facts will be out of date because the market has moved on you. That’s what life is all about — timing.

When the product is right, you don't have to be a great marketer.

You can go a long way with some integrity.

But engineering no longer interested me. The day I’d arrived, they had me designing a clutch spring. It had taken me an entire day to make a detailed drawing of it, and I said to myself: “What on earth am I doing? Is this how I want to be spending the rest of my life?” I wanted to stay at Ford, but not in engineering. I was eager to be where the real action was — marketing or sales. I liked working with people more than machines.

It looks bad right now, but remember, this too shall pass.

What the last fifty taught us was the difference between right and wrong, that only hard work succeeds, that there are no free lunches, that you’ve got to be productive. Those are the values that made this country great.