Have confidence in your decisions. Make them expeditiously, and stay with them as long as you believe you are correct no matter what others say. However, when you conclude you were in error, do not hesitate to announce the error publicly and change course.
Interpretation
Trust your decisions and act swiftly, but be ready to admit mistakes and adjust when necessary.
This quote emphasizes the importance of confidence in one's decision-making process. It advocates for making decisions quickly and standing by them as long as they seem correct. However, it also acknowledges the necessity of humility and the courage to admit when one is wrong and to change direction accordingly. This balance is crucial in leadership and personal growth, as it highlights the dual importance of conviction and adaptability.
In practice
In a leadership meeting, you could quote this to encourage team members to take initiative.
No, I am not a homosexual. If I were a homosexual, I would hope I would have the courage to say so. What's cruel is that you are forcing me to say I am not a homosexual. This means you are putting homosexuals down. I don't want to do that.
In a neighborhood, as in life, a clean bandage is much, much better than a raw or festering wound.
The knife of corruption endangered the life of New York City. The scalpel of the law is making us well again.
I was not afraid of the press or the militants. It was uncomfortable, but I was not afraid. With respect to the press, I knew I knew more than they knew about city matters. With respect to the militants, I understood it. I mean, everybody believed in those days that they were being screwed, you know, that somebody was getting ahead of them.
Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.
There are three sorts of pleasures which are advantageous, and three which are injurious. Finding pleasure in the discriminating study of ceremonies and music, finding pleasure in discussing the good points in the conduct of others, and finding pleasure in having many wise friends, these are advantageous. But finding pleasure in profligate enjoyments, finding pleasure in idle gadding about, and finding pleasure in feasting, these are injurious.
The best that can be said of my life so far is that it has been industrious, and the best that can be said of me is that I have not pretended to what I was not.
Maverick is a word which appeals to me more than misfit. Maverick is active, misfit is passive.
Learn from your dreams what you lack.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.
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