John W. Gardner
John W. Gardner
John William Gardner,was Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfareunder President Lyndon Johnson...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEducator
Date of Birth8 October 1912
CountryUnited States of America
fate men pay
The man who once cursed his fate, now curses himself - and pays his psychoanalyst.
leadership unqualified facts
If the modern leader doesn't know the facts, he is in grave trouble, but rarely do the facts provide unqualified guidance.
islands sea excellence
We cannot have islands of excellence in a sea of slovenly indifference to standards.
stars perfection excellence
Whoever I am, or whatever I am doing, some kind of excellence is within my reach.
politics poverty talent
For every talent that poverty has stimulated it has blighted a hundred.
character responsibility community
One exemplary act may affect one life, or even millions of lives. All those who set standards for themselves, who strengthen the bonds of community, who do their work creditably and accept individual responsibility, are building the common future.
teamwork government hardship
It is hard to feel individually responsible with respect to the invisible processes of a huge and distant government.
ignorance simple two
Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all.
self stranger individual
The individual who has become a stranger to himself has lost the capacity for genuine self-renewal.
integrity men people
Men of integrity, by their very existence, rekindle the belief that as a people we can live above the level of moral squalor. We need that belief; a cynical community is a corrupt community.
education school years
I am entirely certain that twenty years from now we will look back at education as it is practiced in most schools today and wonder that we could have tolerated anything so primitive.
faithful problem being-faithful
Our problem is not to find better values but to be faithful to those we profess.
powerful failure personality
We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. It is a powerful obstacle to growth. It assures the progressive narrowing of the personality and prevents exploration and experimentation. 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.
creativity practice doubt
Creativity requires the freedom to consider unthinkable alternatives, to doubt the worth of cherished practices.