Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf was a general in the American army. Norman was a man who was known for his strong personality and his keen calculation. He was someone who did speak his mind.
He was a major general and labor on became a four-star general and also the commander of the U.S. Army. His career included commanding forces in Grenada and the Persian Gulf War.
He completed his graduation with a degree in engineering and earned a master's degree from the University of California. He started his military career by volunteering to fight in the Vietnam war in 1966.
He did retire from military service in 1991. Later on, he shared his life experiences in his autobiography It Doesn't Take a Hero. The book was later on published in the following year. His book became the best selling nonfiction all over.
Even though he did retire from the military service, he did not stay from the military matters completely. Norman died on December 27, 2012, at his home in Tampa, Florida. Even though he was a man of his principles, people did respect him.
Now, let us look at some of the quotes which surely inspire you to begin with.
The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.
When you begin to do something new, you always know the right thing to do. The difficult part is to follow.
There are certain times in your life where you're right is not the right thing. Even when you know the right path to be taken, there is always the fear to do it.
The right thing always takes time. It isn't easy to make decisions in one's life. People are afraid to make the right decision at the right time. It is courage that is needed.
So, follow the right path and achieve the path of success.
When placed in command, take charge.
This quote is quite a simple one to understand. It simply takes to take charge when in charge.
It is a rule in the military which states to take charge when you have certain control. Taking charge means is all about the key leadership and having enough trust and confidence.
Leaders have the default role of being in charge. And leaders with such a personality is always valued. So, be a leader protect your clan.
It's nice to feel that you have a purpose.
To have a purpose in your life gives a certain meaning to your life. Purpose gives you a reason to move forward in your life. It gives you a justification as to why you are alive.
It gives you an idea of what you need, what you are good at, and what you want. Purpose can lead us to certain critical life decisions.
Purpose helps to define what our goals are and how we can pursue them. Hence, find a purpose and execute your goals.
You can't help someone get up a hill without getting closer to the top yourself.
Helping someone to achieve something is always a good deed. It is always commendable to help others.
But to help others to move forward, you need to get on the top first. Understand what is needed to do to reach above. Learn what you need at first.
To help others, you need to acquire knowledge. Gain an understanding at first and then provide a helping hand.
Hence, learn initially and get others on the top.
For the entire first part of my career, I prided myself on being unflappable even in the most chaotic of circumstances.
Norman was a man who took huge pride in himself. He was a man of his own choices.
This quote of Norman shows his quality of being unstoppable. Even in the most challenging situations, he chose to be calm and collected. When circumstances hit you, be at your best.
He took satisfaction in being a cool-headed person when tables take a turn against you. So, learn to be cool even when a storm hits you hard.
You learn far more from negative leadership than from positive leadership. Because you learn how not to do it. And, therefore, you learn how to do it.
Leadership is much more than having authority and acceptance. It is about encouraging and inspiring others to reach their capacity.
At times leaders have a negative impact on the people around them. Those are the days where you can make yourself understand how a leader should be.
Negative leadership always helps us to realize what is unacceptable. It helps us to know how we should not be. It creates a better impact rather than the positive one.
Hence, learn from the negative ones and create a positive one.
True courage is being afraid, and going ahead and doing your job anyhow, that's what courage is.
Courage is the tenacity to be able to do the impossible. It is the ability to do something even though it frightens us.
There are moments in your life where you need to be daring to face the worst. Even though you are scared, you have to take that risk and show enough courage. You need to have the tenacity to show your best at your worst.
So, even when you are petrified, sometimes a resolution to do the job makes you courageous enough.
Fear will keep you alive in a war. Fear will keep you alive in business. There's nothing wrong with fear.
Fear is a natural human emotion that is powerful. It is a term used to describe the emotional reaction to something harmful.
In this life, we also face war-like situations where we often hurt ourselves and also the people around us. At such moments a constant feeling of fear occurs. Fear in an appropriate proportion is always a healthy one.
It kicks you to work hard. The constant fear of losing drives you to outdo yourself. It gives you a reason to do things in a better way. Furthermore, it keeps you breathing.
Hence, whenever fear engulfs you push your barriers and do your finest.
It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.
Norman believed that a hero is not the one who gives the order. He believed in people in ownership by themselves.
He quotes that orders are not limited only to heroes. A hero is not the one who just commands other people. Rather hero is the one who himself enters into the battle by himself.
Do not wait for a hero to enter your life; instead, become a hero and then enter your battles of life.
Ninety-nine percent of leadership failures are failures of character.
Character is the personality or rather the moral qualities of a person who defines who you are. Leadership is the technique of inspiring others to achieve a common target.
Leadership needs two major qualities such as character and strategies, out of which character is important. At one point, a strategy may fail, but your personality can maintain that balance.
If a leader has a good personality, then eventually, they will listen to his orders. So, if a leader does fail, then the character is the one to blame.
Therefore, maintain a good character and be a good leader.
Nobody can ever pin you down when you speculate.
It is a common nature of people to ponder on a subject. Sometimes we often review a particular thing when we are idle.
When we see or learn something, we often wonder why certain things are the way they are. Not many people ponder for a long time; some accept things after pondering for a while.
Curious minds are the ones who cannot be forced by others. You will have no control over the ones who often speculate. As they do not listen easily.
So, before accepting anything, ponder over things and make the right decisions.
Good generalship is the realization that you've got to figure out how to accomplish your mission with the minimum loss of human life.
Generalship is one of the terms which is often used in the military. It generally means the command which needs to be obeyed.
Good leadership is the one where the person needs to decipher how to finish a certain task with fewer casualties. In a war, administration holds an important position.
A good leader understands how to achieve complete a given task with less fatality. Be someone who understands his tribe and overcomes the worst with less loss.
I get angry at a principle, not a person.
This quote is something which you need to follow in your way. Keep this quote as a reminder in your life. It is something which needs to be followed by everyone.
He says that whenever he is angry with someone, he doesn't like the idea of that person. He has made us understand that we should never be angry about a particular person.
If you do not like a person's personality, then it is the behavior to be blamed for. Never be angry with a person rather, hold the philosophy to be accountable.
The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.
Norman was a general so all his quotes are mostly related to war. This quote is truly an inspiration to others.
It simply means that the better the preparation, the greater the ability to handle misfortunes in life. They say it is better to be prepared than to wait for ill luck.
When you are ready to handle the worst outcomes, the results are near to successes. The more you learn to face adversities in life, the fewer issues will arise during the actual problem.
So be ready and kick all your suffering away.
Choose to win. Get mad, then get over it.
This quote is quite one that should be followed. It is simple and yet the tough one.
Winning and losing are both the sides of the same coin. Both winning and losing are all a part of the game. Everyone wants to taste the flavor of winning.
To win is not in our hands. And also, it is not necessary to win all the time. Sometimes it is better to lose rather than cheat and win. And then when you lose, be angry but move on.
Remember winning is always fun, but if you are going to do anything in your life, the magic is to lose.
Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.
Leadership is an art where you need to motivate people to be the better version of themselves. Being a leader, you have the chance to change a life.
It is a strong amalgamation of plan and personality. It involves both the strategy and mentality of a person. It is a huge responsibility and one to be handled with maturity.
It's okay if you are not a leader but don't involve plans. Therefore, forget schemes and keep up your personality.
War is a profane thing.
War is a state of armed conflict between different groups or even countries. It is a dispute which disrupts the entire balance of the ecosystem.
During the war, people always have the attitude of winning. This attitude causes entire destruction. It is something where people are often treated with disrespect.
War only causes damage; not only to us but also to others. War is needed at times but should not be a necessity.
Success is sweet, but the secret is sweat.
Success only comes to those who work for it. It comes to you when you least accept it.
When we become successful, we are the happiest. Success always feels sweet. But the actual story behind success is sweat. You may find it difficult to comprehend.
But it is the fact that the secret to achieving success is the amount of hard work and the will to achieve it. And when we put in such efforts, success is bound to come.
To be an effective leader, you have to have a manipulative streak - you have to figure out the people working for you and give each task that will take advantage of his strength.
The leader is the one who leads or commands a particular group or an organization. A leader is a very responsible task that needs to be led by the one who can put other people first.
A successful leader is one who needs to be devious. You need to learn to assess a person who works for you. They say know the people who work for you.
You should understand what their strengths and weaknesses are. Note their strength and assign tasks according to them. You should be capable enough to make them work for you without hurting them.
So, be a leader who knows his troop.
Any soldier worth his salt should be antiwar; and still, there are things worth fighting for.
Soldiers are people who fight for their country with pride. They are the ones who are ready to face the worst at all times.
This quote means that every soldier should be good at their job. They should be competent enough to face issues. Even though a soldier is good at his job he should oppose the war in general.
As sometimes, peace is better than war. War is not necessary at all times as calmness is what you need.
Even though he was a fiery personality, all his quotes are truly inspiring. He did contribute his part by serving in the military. People all over the world loved him for his way of living. He did teach us that even though the circumstances may seem like war, do not be afraid. And even if fear grips you, move forward with lots of vigor. Be your hero. So, if you are still up, then follow it.
Image Attributions:
- Russell Roederer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
