Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Robert Green Ingersoll

Quote by Robert Green Ingersoll

Work

Interviews

This book presents a compilation of in-depth conversations with people from different walks of life, exploring their experiences, insights, and perspectives. more

Author

Robert Green Ingersoll
Robert Green Ingersoll

Robert Green Ingersoll was a prominent lawyer, orator, and freethinker. Born on August 11, 1833, and died on July 21, 1899, he was one of the most celebrated orators in 19th-century America. Known for his criticism of religion and government, Ingersoll was a leading advocate for individual freedom. more

You May Also Like

“You basically get what you reward. If you want to achieve the goals and reflect the values in your mission statement, then you need to align the reward system with these goals and values.”

“There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors. I never criticize anyone. I believe in giving a person incentive to work. So I am anxious to praise but loath to find fault. . . . I have yet to find a person, however great or exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than he would ever do under a spirit of criticism.”

“When top executives get huge pay hikes at the same time as middle-level and hourly workers lose their jobs and retirement savings, or have to accept negligible pay raises and cuts in health and pension benefits, company morale plummets. I hear it all the time from employees: This company, they say, is being run only for the benefit of the people at the top. So why should we put in extra effort, commit extra hours, take on extra responsibilities? We'll do the minimum, even cut corners. This is often the death knell of a company.”

“When Theodore Roosevelt was in the White House, he confessed that if he could be right 75 percent of the time, he would reach the highest measure of his expectation. . . . If that was the highest rating that one of the most distinguished men of the twentieth century could hope to obtain, what about you and me?”