The Fortune Cookies: 50+ Memorable Sayings and Quotes

By David C Forman, author of Fearless HR and Fearless Talent Choices

For the past several decades I have been collecting memorable phrases about the performance of people and organizations, the opportunities and barriers encountered, and the resilience frequently demonstrated.  I have used these in my books and articles because I think people enjoy different perspectives and memorable turns of a phrase.  I also find myself going back to this list again and again because many of these quotes are positive and hopeful, which can be a great antidote in a time of contention and unrest.

So, I tried a little experiment.  I recently returned to my alma mater, the University of California Santa Barbara, to conduct a welcoming session for certain incoming students.   I wanted to get people working together so I created a simple activity using my list of favorite quotes and sayings.  I cut them up into single strips (just like you would see in a Fortune Cookie) asked the students in each table group to pick one, share it with others at the table, and have the group select one quote that spoke to them about the opportunities in front of them.  They would then share that quote with the full group and say why they picked it.  I didn’t know what to expect from this little experiment, but the room soon erupted in talk and laughter. 

I think one of the valuable aspects of these quotes is that they come from everywhere, not just traditional business thought leaders but artists, scientists, athletes, poets, philosophers, coaches, and soldiers.  Several of my personal favorites are from baseball players generations ago (Yogi Berra and Satchel Paige), and two beloved American humorists (Mark Twain and Will Rogers).

The sayings are also not time constrained.  Many are contemporary but some stretch back centuries if not millennia.  There will be Fortune Cookies from Michelangelo, Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci and Lao Tzu.  There is no time stamp on wisdom.

So here are fifty-four separate Fortune Cookies.  These sayings are nothing more or less than words that have meant something to me over the years.  They are short, perusable, and easily digested.  Hopefully they bring some delight and insight to you as well.

1.     Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over standing still.  Will Rogers.

2.      Communities outperform bureaucracies every day of the week.  Gary Hamel.

3.      I never try to teach my students anything.  I only try to create an environment in which they can learn.  Albert Einstein.

4.      When the wind changes direction, there are those that build walls and those that build windmills.  Ancient Chinese Proverb.

5.      What got you here, won’t get you there.  Marshall Goldsmith.

6.      Small actions over time transform us.  Daniel Coyle.

7.      Building a culture that deeply values people doesn’t preclude holding them to high standards.  Tony Schwartz.

8.      The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, relearn and unlearn.  Alvin Toffler.

9.      If you tell me I will listen.  If you show me I will see.  If you let me experience, I will learn.  Lao Tzu.

10. Never underestimate the power of a small dedicated group of people to change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.  Margaret Mead.

11. The biggest problem for most of us is not that we set our aim too high and miss, but we set it too low and achieve it.  Michelangelo.

12. The empires of the future will be empires of the mind.  Winston Churchill.

13. Just because something can be counted doesn’t mean that it counts.  Albert Einstein.

14. Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you are right.  Henry Ford.

15. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.  Maya Angelou.

16. The secret to getting ahead is getting started.  Mark Twain.

17. Creativity is just connecting things.  Steve Jobs.

18. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.  Anon.

19. Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. Theodore Roosevelt.

20. We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.  Galileo.

21. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.  Leonardo da Vinci.

22. Treat employees like they make a difference and they will.  Jim Goodnight, CEO, SAS

23.Customers will never love a company unless employees love it first.  Simon Sinek.

24. Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.  Henry Ford.

25. You paid for my hands for 25 years when you could have had my brain for nothing.  Thank you for asking.  A GE worker in a work out session.

26. Don’t be a know it all, be a learn it all.  Satya Nadella.

27. All of us will be endless newbies in the future simply trying to keep up.  Kevin Kelley.

28. I use the words “responsible stewards” for what we must do.  It is one thing to make these technologies, but if you make them, you had better bring them into the world safely.  And that means preparing society and your own people.  Gini Romenty, former CEO of IBM.

29.Why you work affects how well you work.  Neil Doshi and Lindsey McGregor.

30. Ain’t none of us as smart as all of us.  Satchell Paige.

31. The greatest geniuses sometimes accomplish more when they work less.  Leonardo da Vinci.

32. If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.  African proverb.

33. The genius of the firm is not happening inside people, but between them.  Alec Ross.

34. Great organizations embrace the cultures of both the Peace Corps and the Marine Corps.  You need to reach people’s souls but also demand rigor and accountability.  Amy Pressman

35. I to the power of we.  (a person’s contributions are directly related to the breadth and depth of his or her circle of colleagues). Reid Hoffman.

36. Lots of companies don’t succeed over time.  What do they fundamentally do wrong?  They usually miss the future.  Larry Page.

37. The human collective knows far more today than did ancient bands.  But at the individual level, ancient foragers were the most knowledgeable and skillful people in history.  Yuval Noah Harari.

38. The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence, it is to act with yesterday’s logic.  Peter Drucker.

39. Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.  General Dwight Eisenhower.

40. There are two types of companies today:  the quick and the dead.  The former is infinitely preferable.  David Forman.

41. If you don’t know where you are going, you might end up somewhere else.  Yogi Berra.

42. Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.  John Wooden.

43. If you don’t disrupt yourself, someone else will.  Peter Diamandis.

44. Just because something is common sense doesn’t mean that it is common practice.  David Forman

45. There is no planet B.  Richard Branson.

46. Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.  Warren Buffett

47. The future ain’t what it used to be.  Yogi Berra.

48. Focus on the significant few as opposed to the inconsequential many.  David Forman.

49. It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.  It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.  Mark Twain

50.  Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.  George Santayana.

51. It is easy to become discouraged.  When encountering a difficult situation, ask yourself is this a problem or a possibility?  Dennis Gooler

52. Why does the English language contain more than twice as many words that deal with negative emotions as opposed to positive ones?  Why do you think this is the case?  David Forman

53.  We are never tired when we see far enough.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

54.  If at all possible, we want people to commit to things rather than be assigned to things.  Shona Brown

Thanks for reading along.