Quotes from Price Pritchett

Ethical dilemmas have a way of sneaking up on a person. If something smells funny, stay away from it. Or help get rid of it.

Notice that "I" is at the center of the word "ethical." There is no "they." Achieving the ethics of excellence is our individual assignment.

You can't put someone else in charge of your morals. Ethics is a personal discipline.

But when we get enough people who don't care, and who don't accept personal responsibility for high ethical standards, our organization gets the "M" disease. Mediocrity. Anybody in the place can be a carrier. By the same token, every individual can carry the cure: the ethics of excellence.

Your ethical muscle grows stronger every time you choose right over wrong.

The ethics of excellence require a sense of perspective. Look at the big picture. If you live for the moment, do you mortgage the future? What happens if you put your reputation at risk . . . and lose the bet?

The power of purpose is profound only if you have a desire that stirs the heart.

The ethics of excellence are grounded in action - what you actually do, rather than what you say you believe. Talk, as the saying goes, is cheap.

The only way we can develop muscle is through regular exercise. As soon as we stop stretching and working toward higher ethics, our standards start to sag. The muscle gets soft, and instead of excellence we have to settle for mediocrity. Maybe something even worse.

Live according to the ethics of excellence, and you can always stand proud. Pride - not vanity, but dignity and self-respect - should carry a lot of weight in helping you make decisions. Let pride help you decide.

We need timeless principles to steer by in running our organizations and building our personal careers. We need high standards . . . the ethics of excellence.

Everybody makes honest mistakes, but there's no such thing as an honest cover-up.

We've got to start thinking of school as a lifelong process. That's the only way we'll keep abreast and be able to share in the wealth of the new "knowledge society."

Act as if success is certain.

Narrow life down to what's precious and necessary. In a world of complexity the best weapon is simplicity.

Your ethical muscle grows stronger every time you choose right over wrong.

Most people confuse wishing and wanting with pursuing. You must place your trust in action.

Trust is the glue that holds relationships together.

How can we be trusted with big things if we're not trustworthy with things that are small? Don't allow your finer instincts to become a casualty of the little everyday crimes of ethical compromise.

If you become a giver, you'll make them feel like they want to reciprocate.

The world behaves differently when I take action to go after what I want.

No sense being pessimistic. Wouldn't work anyway.

In these times of self-directed teams, empowered employees, and "boundaryless" organizations, your worth as an individual employee will also get measured by your work group's collective results.

Change always comes bearing gifts.