A substantial amount (but not all) of the risk of common-stock investment can be eliminated by adopting a program of long-term ownership and sticking to it through thick and thin (the buy-and-hold strategy discussed in earlier chapters).

If you're a cost, they want to reduce your work. If you're bringing in revenues, they want to expand your work.

Fierce conversations are about moral courage, clear requests, and taking action. Fierce is an attitude. A skill set. A mind-set. A way of life. A way of leading. A strategy for getting things done.

Once an individual’s search for a meaning is successful, it not only renders him happy but also gives him the capability to cope with suffering.

I want to be a painter." I said this with conviction. "Wha-a-t?" I can never forget the indescribably crafty shadow that passed over Flatfish’s face as he laughed at me, his neck drawn in.

Any confusion of responsibility and ownership in our lives is a problem of boundaries.

The bonding (through skin and eye contact) between mother and baby after birth stimulates in both of them the feeling that they belong together, a feeling of oneness that ideally has been growing from the time of conception.

Great managers orchestrate rather than do. Like the conductor of an orchestra, they do not play an instrument, but direct their people so that they play beautifully together.

The believer will be justified, the justified will be sanctified and the sanctified will be saved in the day of judgement.

There are no real shortcuts in business, and when you look for them, you usually get in trouble. It took me a long time to realize that. People like me want instant gratification. One of the hardest lessons I had to learn is that you can’t expect good things—like more customers and better sales—to happen overnight.