Top John W. Gardner Quotes

John W. Gardner Biography

John William Gardner (October 8, 1912 – February 16, 2002) was Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) under President Lyndon Johnson.

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John W. Gardner Quotes

Mastery is not something that strikes in an instant, like a thunderbolt, but a gathering power that moves steadily through time, like weather.

Education, Like, Moves, Moving, Thunderbolt, Time

Our problem is not to find better values but to be faithful to those we profess.

Being Faithful, Faithful, Problem, Profess

The first and last task of aleader is to keep hope alive.

Aleader, Alive, Hope, Keep, Leadership, Tasks

The man who once cursed his fate, now curses himself - and pays his psychoanalyst.

Cursed, Fate, Men, Pay, Psychoanalyst

We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. It is a powerful obstacle to growth. It assures the progressive narrowing of the personality and prevents exploration and experimentation. There is no learning without some difficulty and fumbling. If you want to keep on learning, you must keep on risking failure-all your life.

Courage, Failure, Fear, Growth, Powerful, Prevents

Excellence implies striving for the highest standards in every phase of life.

Excellence, Mediocrity, Phases, Striving, Implies

We have to face the fact that most men and women out there are more stale than they know, more bored than they care to admit.

Bored, Care, Face, Men, Stale, Women

The [nonprofit] sector is the natural home of nonmajoritarian impulses, movements and values. It comfortably harbors innovators, maverick movements, groups which feel they must fight for their place in the sun, and critics of both liberal conservative persuasion.

Fighting, Harbors, Home, Movements, Persuasion, Sun

Creativity requires the freedom to consider 'unthinkable' alternatives, to doubt the worth of cherished practices. Every organization, every society is under the spell of assumptions so familiar that they are never questioned, least of all by those most intimately involved.

Art, Assumptions, Creativity, Intimately, Practice, Worth

When hiring key employees, there are only two qualities to look for: judgement and taste. Almost everything else can be bought by the yard.

Hiring, Judgement, Keys, Qualities, Two

One generalization that is supported both by research and experience is that effective two-way communication is essential to proper functioning of the leader-follower relationship.

Communication, Essential, Leader, Relationship, Research, Two

The ablest and most effective leaders do not hold to a single style; they may be highly supportive in personal relations when that is needed, yet capable of a quick, authoritative decision when the situation requires it.

Decision, Leader, Style, Single, Relations

All that we know about the interaction between leaders and constituents or followers tells us that communication and influence flow in both directions; and in that two-way communication, nonrational, nonverbal, and unconscious elements play their part.

Communication, Directions, Know, Nonverbal, Play, Two

Leaders come in many forms, with many styles and diverse qualities. There are quiet leaders and leaders one can hear in the next county. Some find strength in eloquence, some in judgment, some in courage.

Leadership, Style, Quality, Forms, County, Quiet

Americans have always believed that-within the law-all kinds of people should be allowed to take the initiative in all kinds of activities. And out of that pluralism has come virtually all of our creativity. Freedom is real only to the extent that there are diverse alternatives.

Creativity, Kinds, Real, Science, Take

History never looks like history when you are living through it.

History, Inspirational, Like, Living, Looks

We get richer and richer in filthier and filthier communities until we reach a final state of affluent misery - crocus on a garbage heap.

Community, Final, Finals, Garbage, Misery, State

Creativity requires the freedom to consider unthinkable alternatives, to doubt the worth of cherished practices.

Creativity, Doubt, Freedom, Practice, Practices

The play of conflicting interests in a framework of shared purposes is the drama of a free society. It is a robust exercise, and often a noisy one. It is not for the faint-hearted, or the tidy-minded.

Drama, Exercise, Play, Interests, Conflicting

Some people seem to believe that for each problem there is a solution readily available - a solution that can be promptly achieved by passing a law and voting some money. I think of this as the vending machine concept of social change. Put a coin in the machine and out comes a piece of candy. If there is a social problem, pass a law and out comes a solution.

Believe, Law, Money, Promptly, Solution, Thinking

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John W. Gardner Biography

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