Herb Kelleher Quotes

Work is the most nourishing thing so far in my life.

I just umpire. That's what I've done. That's all I can do. I'm one of the fortunate ones on God's earth. I found what God meant for me to do. People ask if I like working home plate best. I just want to be between the white lines. That's where I belong, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I think it's absolutely essential that the people that work for a company need to feel that they're part of something bigger - that it's not just a job.

The reality is that every human being is placed on this planet, and one of the things that drives humans is their need for meaning, and if you can make every job meaningful, then you will guarantee that every job will be done to its highest level of excellence.

There is a huge body of evidence showing that people do better in their work when they know why they're doing it in the first place. They do better when they see what they're doing contributes to something in the world.

Work takes on new meaning when you feel you are pointed in the right direction. Otherwise, it's just a job, and life is too short for that.

Pleasure is the least consequential... engagement and meaning are much more important.

People who go to work to be a part of the cause don't go home. They are home. Now - who wants to quit?

It's more important that you be passionate about what you do all day than it is to be passionate about the product that is being sold.

When you're doing the work you're meant to do, it feels right and every day is a bonus, regardless of what you're getting paid.

It is important to ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing and what purpose it serves in the big picture.

To be truly happy, you need a clear sense of direction. You need a commitment to something bigger and more important than yourself. You need to feel that your life stands for something, that you are somehow making a valuable contribution to your world.

Taking a job for the cash is not as important as taking a job for the joy.

I am fierce for work. Without work I am nothing.

It is never until one realizes that one means something to others that one feels there is any point or purpose in one's own existence.

Happiness is really just about four things: perceived control, perceived progress, connectedness (number and depth of your relationships), and vision/meaning (being part of something bigger than yourself).

To actually feel like you've done something good with your life and you're useful to others is what I was always wanting, and was always looking for.

Work is the nearest thing to happiness that I can find.

Everyone makes sacrifices for their job; the movie's not saying that you don't have to work hard. The movie is saying that if you're going to work hard, then make it worth it, believe in what you're doing.

In our factions, we find meaning, we find purpose, we find life.

I don't want to think my life as a career. I'm interested in my work only because of the meaning I can make.

Studies show that over 80 percent of Americans do not have their dream job. If more knew how to build organizations that inspire, we could live in a world in which that statistic was the reverse - a world in which over 80 percent of people loved their jobs. People who love going to work are more productive and more creative. They go home happier and have happier families. They treat their colleagues and clients and customers better. Inspired employees make for stronger companies and stronger economies.

There is no pleasure subtler than the sensation of being a good workman; and in work there is the sense of consanguinity-unconscious as a rule but sometimes conscious.

It is important to always love what you do and do what you love. This is my mentality towards my career and my personal life.