Any man who's not willing to take half a loaf in a negotiation, well, that man never went to bed hungry.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of understanding the value of compromises, especially in tough situations like negotiations.
Lyndon B. Johnson's quote reflects the reality that those who have never experienced true hunger or need may not appreciate the necessity of compromise in negotiations. It suggests that individuals who have faced hardship and scarcity are often more willing to accept less than perfect outcomes because they understand the value of what they can get, rather than holding out for an unattainable ideal.
In practice
During a team meeting about salary negotiations, I might use this quote to emphasize the importance of compromise.
You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, "you are free to compete with all the others," and still justly believe that you have been completely fair. We seek not just legal equity but human ability, not just equality as a right and a theory but equality as a fact and equality as a result.
Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time.
We do this in order to slow down aggression. We do this to increase the confidence of the brave people of South Vietnam who have bravely born this brutal battle for so many years with so many casualties. And we do this to convince the leaders of North Vietnam-and all who seek to share their conquest-of a simple fact: We will not be defeated. We will not grow tired. We will not withdraw either openly or under the cloak of a meaningless agreement.
So far are we generally from thinking what we often say of the shortness of life, that at the time when it is necessarily shortest we form projects which we delay to execute, indulge such expectations as nothing but along train of events can gratify, and suffer those passions to gain upon us which are only excusable in the prime of life.
You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered.
If government is to serve any purpose it is to do for others what they are unable to do for themselves.
Taking jobs to build up your resume is the same as saving up sex for old age.
There is something more important than logic: imagination
We never know what God has up His sleeve. You never know what might happen; you only know what you have to do now.
The rare individuals who unselfishly try to serve others have an enormous advantage-they have little competition.
Hot things, sharp things, sweet things, cold things All rot the teeth, and make them look like old things.
Do as little harm to others as you can; make any sacrifice for your true friends; be responsible for yourself and ask nothing of others; and grab all the fun you can. Don't give much thought to yesterday, don't worry about tomorrow, live in the moment, and trust that your existence has meaning even when the world seems to be all blind chance and chaos. When life lands a hammer blow in your face, do your best to respond to the hammer as if it had been a cream pie.
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