The business of business is people.

Hire for attitude, train for skill.

Treat your employees like customers.

It takes nerves of steel to stay neurotic.

You [the employees] are involved in a crusade.

You have to treat your employees like customers

I think flying is kind of an emotional experience.

Nothing kills your company's culture like layoffs.

I learned it by doing it, and I was scared to death.

I love battles. I think it's part of the Irish in me.

We have a strategic plan. It's called 'doing things'.

Culture is intangible. It's spiritual. You can't buy it.

To be an excellent leader, you have to be a superb follower.

You can have parties without spending enormous sums of money.

I've always been able to make erroneous decisions very quickly.

A company is stronger if it is bound by love rather than by fear.

I forgive all personal weaknesses except egomania and pretension.

Sometimes you need a little courage too just to buck popular opinion.

If employees aren't satisfied, they won't promote the product we need.

Just because you don't announce your plan doesn't mean you don't have one.

Who says a lighthearted approach to business is incompatible with success?

If you don't treat your own people well, they won't treat other people well.

I've always said manage in good times so that you're ready for the bad times.

I want to see Texas remain an entrepreneurial powerhouse in the United States.

You don't hire for skills, you hire for attitude. You can always teach skills.

The more time I spend with our people, the more I find out about our business.

You can't have a mid-life crisis in the airline industry because every day is a crisis.

Your people come first, and if you treat them right, they'll treat the customers right.

If the Wright brother were alive today Wilbur would have to fire Orville to reduce costs.

Think small and act small, and we'll get bigger. Think big and act big, and we'll get smaller.

Keep costs low and spirits high, and the people of Southwest Airlines will keep LUV in the air.

Wild Turkey whiskey and Philip Morris cigarettes are essential to the maintenance of human life!

I tell my employees that we're in the service business, and it's incidental that we fly airplanes.

The clear, unmistakable sign of a bureaucrat is somebody who worries about whether he has a window.

Power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats, and leadership really involves responsibility.

It is my practice to try to understand how valuable something is by trying to imagine myself without it.

The tragedy of our time is that we've got it backwards, we've learned to love techniques and use people.

If you're crazy enough to do what you love for a living, then you're bound to create a life that matters.

The Wright Amendment is a pain in the ass, but not every pain in the ass is a constitutional infringement.

I guess the worst moment I ever had in business was the fear that Southwest Airlines wouldn't get off the ground.

Most people think of us as this flamboyant airline, but we're really very conservative from the fiscal standpoint.

I've found that many of the greatest ideas surface in bars because that's where many people cultivate inspiration.

The important thing is to take the bricklayer and make him understand that he’s building a home, not just laying bricks.

Leading an organization is as much about soul as it is about systems. Effective leadership finds its source in understanding

You have to treat your employees like your customers. When you treat them right they will treat your outside customers right.

When I started working on Southwest Airlines, I kid you not, only people flying on business and very wealthy people ever flew.

The essential difference in service is not machines or 'things.' The essential difference is minds, hearts, spirits, and souls.

The spirit of Southwest Airlines is exuberant, it's caring, it's dedicated, it's diligent, it's fun, it's rewarding, it's a joy.

Fight hierarchy and bureaucracy as hard as you possibly can. Don't ever let it become the master; always remember it's the servant.

One piece of advice that always stuck in my mind is that people should be respected and trusted as people, not because of their position or title.

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