There’s a reason that God gave us two ears, two eyes and one mouth. It’s so you can listen and watch twice as much as you talk. Best of all, listening costs you nothing.
In the long run principles are just more important than expediency.
If I were running a company, I would always want to listen to the thoughts of its most talented youngsters, because they are the people most in touch with the realities of today and the prospects for tomorrow.
The experience of defeat, or more particularly the manner in which a leader reacts to it, is an essential part of what makes a winner.
You cannot lead by following.
When I was lost in my own thoughts, Cathy would always say, ‘You’re not listening to me.’ She was right.
Sweeter after difficulties’.
If you can assemble a team of 11 talented players who concentrate intently during training sessions, take care of their diet and bodies, get enough sleep and show up on time, then you are almost halfway to winning a trophy. It is always astonishing how many clubs are incapable of doing this.
For me drive means a combination of a willingness to work hard, emotional fortitude, enormous powers of concentration and a refusal to admit defeat.
With young people you have to try to impart a sense of responsibility. If they can add greater awareness to their energy and their talents they can be rewarded with great careers.
Don’t play the occasion, play the game.
I never had a problem reaching a decision based on imperfect information. That’s just the way the world works.
Watching others, listening to their advice and reading about people are three of the best things I ever did.
We had a virus that infected everyone at United. It was called winning.
Losing is a powerful management tool so long as it does not become a habit.
Eleven Nobel laureates are not going to win the FA Cup.
Part of the pursuit of excellence involves eliminating as many surprises as possible because life is full of the unexpected.
Origins should never be a barrier to success. A modest start in life can be a help more than a hindrance.
There was no way I could contemplate taking the England job. Can you imagine me doing that? A Scotsman? I always joked that I would take the position and relegate them: make them the 150th rated country in the world, with Scotland 149.
Young people will always manage to achieve the impossible–whether that is on the football field or inside a company or other big organisation. If I were running a company, I would always want to listen to the thoughts of its most talented youngsters, because they are the people most in touch with the realities of today and the prospects for tomorrow.