A country's competitiveness starts not on the factory floor or in the engineering lab. It starts in the classroom.

Formal learning can teach you a great deal, but many of the essential skills in life are the ones you have to develop on your own.

If I had to sum up in a word what makes a good manager, I'd say decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers to gather the numbers, but in the end you have to set a timetable and act.

I've got to get stop getting fired like this. People will start to think I'm a drifter.

Over the years, many executives have said to me with pride: 'Boy, I worked so hard last year that I didn't take any vacation.' I always feel like responding, "You dummy. You mean to tell me you can take responsibility for an eighty-million-dollar project and you can't plan two weeks out of the year to have some fun?

MBAs know everything but understand nothing.

I learned about the strength you can get from a close family life. I learned to keep going, even in bad times. I learned not to despair, even when my world was falling apart. I learned that there are no free lunches. And I learned the value of hard work.