In a truly great company profits and cash flow become like blood and water to a healthy body: They are absolutely essential for life but they are not the very point of life

The difference between a good leader and a great leader is humility.

Dreams make you click, juice you, turn you on, excite the living daylights out of you. You cannot wait to get out of bed to continue pursuing your dream. The kind of dream I'm talking about gives meaning to your life. it is the ultimate motivator.

It may seem odd to talk about something as soft and fuzzy as "passion" as an integral part of a strategic framework. But throughout the good-to-great companies, passion became a key part of the Hedgehog Concept.

Mediocrity results first and foremost from management failure, not technological failure.

Just because a company falls doesn't invalidate what we can learn by studying that company when it was at its historical best.

Companies that change best over time know first and foremost what should not change.