Lee Iacocca quotes

Lee Iacocca was an American automobile executive, best known for his leadership roles at Ford and Chrysler. His vision helped create iconic cars like the Ford Mustang and rescue Chrysler from bankruptcy. He became a symbol of American innovation and resilience in the auto industry. Here are 64 of his quotes:

In times of great stress or adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.

Lee Iacocca

My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life.

Lee Iacocca

In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something else.

Lee Iacocca

We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.

Lee Iacocca

So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don't sit there. If we screw it up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we've satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.

Lee Iacocca

It pains me to see my old company, which has meant so much to America, on the ropes. But Chrysler has been in trouble before, and we got through it, and I believe they can do it again. [...] Let's face it, if your car breaks down, you're not going to take it to the White House to get fixed. But, if your company breaks down, you've got to go to the experts on the ground, not the bureaucrats.

Lee Iacocca

I've always found that the speed of the boss is the speed of the team.

Lee Iacocca

The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.

Lee Iacocca

I have found that being honest is the best technique I can use. Right up front, tell people what you're trying to accomplish and what you're willing to sacrifice to accomplish it.

Lee Iacocca

Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can't miss.

Lee Iacocca

The trick is to make sure you don't die waiting for prosperity to come.

Lee Iacocca

People want economy and they will pay any price to get it.

Lee Iacocca

We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course." Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic.

Lee Iacocca

We were on a joyride, on free energy almost. [...] It seems to me we need something like the Manhattan Project. We need some urgency saying, "Here's what we should be doing. We've got to get off fossil fuels."

Lee Iacocca

The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in business – or almost anywhere else.

Lee Iacocca

You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere.

Lee Iacocca

Business, after all, is nothing more than a bunch of human relationships.

Lee Iacocca

The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.

Lee Iacocca

There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Know yourself, know your business, know your men.

Lee Iacocca

Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there, make it happen.

Lee Iacocca

I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.

Lee Iacocca

We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?

Lee Iacocca