A generation doesn’t have much choice in the problems that the forces of history throw in its lap. It does have a choice as to whether it will face those problems honestly. We need continuous and candid debate as to what the most important problems are, and whether we’re turning our backs on them or solving them or making them worse.

— John W. Gardner

John W. Gardner Quotes

The world loves talent but pays off on character.

— John W. Gardner

Leaders come in many forms, with many styles and diverse qualities. There are quiet leaders and leaders one can hear in the next county. Some find strength in eloquence, some in judgment, some in courage.

— John W. Gardner

Some people have greatness thrust upon them. Very few have excellence thrust upon them.

— John W. Gardner

The idea for which this nation stands will not survive if the highest goal free man can set themselves is an amiable mediocrity. Excellence implies striving for the highest standards in every phase of life.

— John W. Gardner

The creative individual has the capacity to free himself from the web of social pressures in which the rest of us are caught. He is capable of questioning the assumptions that the rest of us accept.

— John W. Gardner

The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.

— John W. Gardner

In the artist’s recreation of the world we are enabled to see the world.

— John W. Gardner

It is one of the ironies of history that reformers so often misjudge the consequences of their reforms.

— John W. Gardner

An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent philosopher.

— John W. Gardner

One man interacting creatively with others can move the world.

— John W. Gardner

Creativity requires the freedom to consider ‘unthinkable’ alternatives, to doubt the worth of cherished practices. Every organization, every society is under the spell of assumptions so familiar that they are never questioned, least of all by those most intimately involved.

— John W. Gardner

There is no learning without some difficulty and fumbling. If you want to keep on learning, you must keep on risking failure-all your life.

— John W. Gardner

The best kept secret in America today is that people would rather work hard for something they believe in than live a life of aimless diversion.

— John W. Gardner

Excellence implies striving for the highest standards in every phase of life.

— John W. Gardner

All of us celebrate our values in our behavior.

— John W. Gardner

Mastery is not something that strikes in an instant, like a thunderbolt, but a gathering power that moves steadily through time, like weather.

— John W. Gardner

We have to face the fact that most men and women out there are more stale than they know, more bored than they care to admit.

— John W. Gardner

History never looks like history when you are living through it. It always looks confusing and messy, and it always feels uncomfortable.

— John W. Gardner

A generation doesn’t have much choice in the problems that the forces of history throw in its lap. It does have a choice as to whether it will face those problems honestly. We need continuous and candid debate as to what the most important problems are, and whether we’re turning our backs on them or solving them or making them worse.

— John W. Gardner

When Alexander the Great visited Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for the famed teacher, Diogenes replied “Only stand out of my light”. Perhaps someday we shall know how to heighten creativity. Until then, one of the best things we can do for creative men and women is to stand out of their light.

— John W. Gardner
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