The Quotation IndexThe trusted reference for quotations and the sources behind them
Tag Tag Execution
Focused, hard work is the real key to success. Keep your eyes on the goal, and just keep taking the next step towards completing it. If you aren’t sure which way to do something, do it both ways and see which works better.
John Carmack Re: Definitions of terms · 2002

Quotes

“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week.”

George S. Patton · War As I Knew It, 1947 · Primary source

“Preparation, I have often said, is rightly two-thirds of any venture.”

Amelia Earhart · Last Flight, 1937 · Primary source

“The type of person who comes up with the brilliant idea isn’t often the best person to turn it into a business.”

Bill Gates · Source Code, 2025 · Primary source

“Commanders must remember that the issuance of an order, or the devising of a plan, is only about five per cent of the responsibility of command. The other ninety-five per cent is to insure, by personal observation, or through the interposing of staff officers, that the order is carried out.”

George S. Patton · War As I Knew It, 1947 · Primary source

“Strategic change doesn’t just start at the top. It starts with your calendar.”

Andrew S. Grove · Only the Paranoid Survive, 1996 · Primary source

“If a man has failed, you will find he has dreamed instead of working. There is no way to success in our art, but to take off your coat, grind paint, and work like a digger on the railroad, all day and every day.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Power, 1860 · Primary source

“Take a simple idea and take it seriously.”

Charlie Munger · Poor Charlie’s Almanack, 2005 · Primary source

“You’re much more likely to do well if you start out to do something feasible instead of something that isn’t feasible. Isn’t that perfectly obvious?”

Charlie Munger · Poor Charlie’s Almanack, 2005 · Primary source

“Plans must be simple and flexible. Actually they only form a datum plane from which you build as necessity directs or opportunity offers. They should be made by the people who are going to execute them.”

George S. Patton · War As I Knew It, 1947 · Primary source

“The most effective way to do it is to do it.”

Amelia Earhart · No reliable source

“In carrying out a mission, the promulgation of the order represents not over ten per cent of your responsibility. The remaining ninety per cent consists in assuring by means of personal supervision on the ground, by yourself and your staff, proper and vigorous execution.”

George S. Patton · War As I Knew It, 1947 · Primary source

“A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution ten minutes later.”

George S. Patton · War As I Knew It, 1947 · Primary source

Related Tags

Simplicity 35 Decision-making 35 Action 23 Initiative 21 Discipline 19 Persistence 19 Accountability 18 Opportunity 15 Preparation 13 Focus 10 Experimentation 9 Adaptability 9 Risk management 7 Hard work 6 Practical judgement 6 Organisational change 5 Conviction 5 Decisive action 5 Planning 4 Readiness 4 Entrepreneurship 4 Speed 4 Follow-through 4 Clear thinking 3 Command 3 Supervision 3 Decisiveness 2 Iteration 2 Commercialisation 2 Team building 2 Craftsmanship 2 Imperfect information 2 Command responsibility 2 Practical effort 1 Time allocation 1 Strategic priorities 1 Calendar management 1 Goal focus 1 Division of skills 1 Feasibility 1 Goal selection 1 Audacity 1 Staff oversight 1 Flexible planning 1 Decentralised planning 1 Timeliness 1