The Quotable Executive: Words of Wisdom from Warren Buffett, Jack Welch, Shelly Lazarus, Bill Gates, Lou Gerstner, and More

Looking to secure that corner office with the double-exposure view? The Quotable Executive...Giving You the Business. An invaluable resource for business professionals, students, speechwriters, and trivia buffs of all kinds, John Woods' wide-ranging collection is a Bartlett's for today's bold new breed of movers and shakers. By turns inspiring and celebratory, thoughtful and challenging, witty and wry, The Quotable Executive delivers over a thousand perspectives on everything from ambition to leadership to success.

If you're looking for perfection, look in the mirror. If you find it there, expect it elsewhere.

­­Malcolm Forbes

Straight from the mouths of history's most successful leaders, entrepreneurs, motivators, and all-around top dogs, The Quotable Executive is a peerlessly authoritative collection of inspiring, instructional (and occasionally impertinent and insubordinate) opinions, observations, and perspectives on the realms of business, commerce, and leadership. Witty and wise, these words from top motivators, titans, visionaries, and groundbreaking insurgents serve to capture as never before the secret of success.

Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right!

­­Henry Ford

Moving from Julius Caesar and Oliver Cromwell to Abraham Lincoln and Dale Carnegie to Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey, this expansive resource spans history to showcase the most telling, thoughtful, and entertaining things people have said about the nature of getting ahead, getting to the top­­and just plain getting yours. Here is Barry Minkow laying down his famous ultimatum ("My way or the highway"); Leo Burnett ruminating on the aims of advertising ("We want people to say, 'that's a hell of a product,' instead of, 'that's a hell of an ad'"); and of course, Coco Chanel's timeless truism: "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different."

I would rather be first in a little Iberian village than second in Rome.

­­Julius Caesar

Organized into dozens of thematic sections such as "Competition," "Ambition," "Advertising," "Discipline," "Entrepeneurs," and "Humility," The Quotable Executive features both polished prose as well as off-the-cuff asides, arming you with an unlimited array of instantly accessible quotations. Whether you seek a fitting introduction for your next presentation, a witty rejoinder to spice up a dinner party, or a variety of fascinating perspectives from such disparate voices as Charles de Gaulle, Stephen Covey, Vince Lombardi, and Thomas Jefferson, you'll find it all in this vast trove of eloquent musings, humorous anecdotes, and occasionally arrogant assertions from the world's greatest head honchos.

Dear, never forget one little point: It's my business. You just work here.

­­Elizabeth Arden

John Woods spans the extremes of industry and entrepreneurship to showcase an astonishing range of opinion, expression, and intellect. The ideal collection for anyone seeking to learn more about the art of the deal or the nature of elite success­­and the perfect companion for writers, aspiring and current CEOs, and business and academic professionals from all walks­­The Quotable Executive promises to be an endlessly compelling addition to any reader's reference shelf.

Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.

­­Teddy Roosevelt