"Most important things take lots of time. Peerless quality. Relationship building. Developing people. Superb design. EXCELLENCE."

Tom Peters Literature See all quotes by Tom Peters →

React to this quote

More by Tom Peters

“If not excellence, what? If not excellence now, when?”

“If you want to achieve Excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less than Excellent work. The first 99.9% of getting from here to there is the determination to do it and not to compromise, no matter what set of road blocks those around you erect.”

“Bosses: You make your living going to meetings. Hence any meeting that does not bubble and incite enthusiasm is a forever-lost opportunity.”

“Read deep! Read often! Out-READ the 'Competition'!!!”

“The Big Four: Out-read 'em. Out-study 'em. Out-present 'em. Out-listen 'em.”

“What is my personal strategy for the next 10 hours? Who can I talk with or what can I volunteer for to learn something new?”

Resonant Thoughts

"Now, in the unhindered and unobstructed dharma-opening of the dharma-realm there is no dharma, and yet no non-dharma; no opening, and yet no non-opening. Thus it is neither large nor small, neither in…"

— Wonhyo

Philosophy

#time

"The last days of my childhood were also the last days of the village. I belonged to that generation which saw, by chance, the end of a thousand years' life."

— Laurie Lee

Literature1914–1997

#time

"The small things of life were often so much bigger than the great things, she decided, wondering how many writers and philosophers had said this before her, the trivial pleasures like cooking, one's h…"

— Barbara Pym

Literature1913–1980

#life

"The Government cannot afford to have a country made up entirely of rich people, because rich people pay so little tax that the Government would quickly go bankrupt. This is why Government men always t…"

— Russell Baker

Literature1925–2019

#politics