“Many a man has walked up to the opportunity for which he has long been preparing himself, looked it full in the face, and then begun to get cold feet... when it comes to betting on yourself and your power to do the thing you know you must do or write yourself down a failure, you're a chicken-livered coward if you hesitate.” IfsKnowsMenWritingLongFacesOpportunityFeetColdChickensCowardPreparingBettingCold Feet Author:B. C. Forbes
“If the World War [I] demonstrated anything it was that government ownership is fraught with the gravest dangers and usually leads to disaster. Take Britain. The two problems which have caused the greatest trouble since the war ended have been transportation and coal. The government seized both industries when the war broke out. It got them into such a hopeless mess that it does not know how to turn [In] coal; the government now realizes, it took hold of the tail of a wild animal and is afraid to let go.” IfsKnowsWorldDoeHas BeensTwoWarProblemGovernmentTurnsRealizingAnimalKnow HowTroubleDangerIndustryLetting GoDisasterMessBrokeWar Of The WorldsBritainHopelessWorld War IOwnershipTailsCoalTransportationWild Animal Author:B. C. Forbes
“The most famous self-made man in the world today is our own Edison. Talk with Mr. Edison and he will tell you he owes much if not most of his success to omnivorous reading. Forbes is one of his favorite publications. How closely he reads it can be gathered from a letter just received from him in which he asks the editor to forward a long analytical letter to the writer of a series of articles which contained two figures Mr. Edison questions, and he wants to know exactly on what authority or investigation they were based. Both letters were the product of Mr. Edison and were signed by him.” IfsKnowsMenWorldWantLongMadeTwoSelfTodayScienceReadingAsksFiguresProductsAuthorityLettersSeriesEditorsArticlesInvestigationWorld TodayPublicationSelf MadeForbesSelf Made Man Author:B. C. Forbes
“How many men I know who are earning dollars aplenty, but who are really earning little of what counts. They are so overwhelmingly engrossed in business that they get nothing from their dollars. The Juggernaut of dollar-making has crushed out of them every capacity for genuine enjoyment, every grace, every unselfish sentiment and instinct.” KnowsMenLittlesMoneyGraceCapacityDollarsInstinctGenuineEnjoymentSentimentsEarningCrushedUnselfishJuggernaut Author:B. C. Forbes
“It is a great mistake for presidents and other leading executives of organizations having branches throughout the country to chain themselves to their desks at headquarters and send out rigid instructions to those in charge of distant branches and offices. Because a man sits in a palatial office in New York or Chicago or Philadelphia or Detroit and draws a big salary, it does not necessarily follow that he knows better than the man on the spot what ought to be done.... Paul, Caesar, Napoleon did not merely sit at home and issue long-range instructions.” KnowsMenLongDoeCountryDoneHomeBigsPresidentMistakeIssuesNew YorkHe ManOughtOfficeDrawsOrganizationSpotsChainsRangeBranchesExecutivesChicagoInstructionDesksSalaryDetroitPhiladelphiaGreat MistakesHeadquarters Author:B. C. Forbes
“Managing the other fellow's business is a fascinating game. Trade unionists all over the country have pronounced ideas for the reform of Wall Street banks; and Wall Street bankers are not far behind in giving plans for the tremendous improvement of trade union policies. Wholesalers have schemes for improving the retailer; the retailer knows just what is wrong in the conduct of wholesale business-and we might go through a long list.... Yet for some reason the classes that ought to be helped keep on stubbornly clinging to their own method of running their affairs.” KnowsGivingLongIdeasCountryReasonMightRunningGamesBehindsClassPlansStreetsPolicyWallOughtManagementMethodFellowsTradeUnionsAffairListsImprovementReformFascinatingSchemesImprovingBankersClingingWholesaleTrade UnionsRetailers Author:B. C. Forbes
“I don't feel myself that I Know it all, but I have enough conceit to be successful. That observation was made by a businessman in his 30s who was making notable headway, although his path bristled with difficulties. Business places no premiums on shrinking violets. Employers prefer men who have self-assurance, forcefulness, go-aheadness, men who know their jobs and know that they know it.” KnowsMenFeelsMadeSelfEnoughJobsPathSuccessfulPrideDifficultyObservationBeing SuccessfulBusinessmanAssuranceVioletEmployersConceitNotableShrinkingKnow It AllSelf Assurance Author:B. C. Forbes
“Vacations for wage earners have proved both popular with workers and profitable for employers. Unfortunately, the majority of large employers have not yet followed the example set by a number of progressive corporations. I don't know of a single company that has abandoned vacations for wage earners after having tried the experiment. But I do know many that are delighted with the fruits they have gathered. Under some of the plans vacations with pay must be earned by good behavior, punctuality, etc.... The best results have come where the treatment has been regarded as most liberal.” KnowsHas BeensResultsNumbersPayCompanyPlansExampleBehaviorMajorityFruitWorkersExperimentsCorporationsEtcTreatmentProgressiveAbandonedVacationEmployersProfitableDelightedPunctualityGood Behavior Author:B. C. Forbes
“Call the roll in your memory of conspicuously successful [business] giants and, if you know anything about their careers, you will be struck by the fact that almost every one of them encountered inordinate difficulties sufficient to crush all but the gamest of spirits. Edison went hungry many times before he became famous.” IfsKnowsFactsSuccessSpiritMemoriesCareersSuccessfulDifficultyHungrySufficientGiantsCrushOur MemoriesSuccessful Business Author:B. C. Forbes
“When the worms are scarce, what does a hen do? Does she stop scratching? She does not. She scratches all the harder. A lot of businessmen have been showing less sense than a hen since orders became scarce. They have laid off salesmen; they have stopped or reduced their advertising; they have simply resigned themselves to inaction and, of course, to pessimism. If a hen knows enough to scratch all the harder when the worms are scarce, surely businessmen ... ought to have gumption enough to scratch all the harder for business.” IfsKnowsDoeHas BeensEnoughOrderCoursesOughtHarderPerseveranceAdvertisingPessimismBusinessmanWormsScratchesInactionScarceSalesmanResignedHensLaid OffGumption Author:B. C. Forbes
