Brett McKay Quotes

“Be useful, not important.”

“Growing up doesn’t have to mean donning a gray flannel suit. It really means taking an active role in the world instead of a passive one. Making an impact. And creating your world instead of consuming it.”

“A boy will dabble in a thousand pursuits and then drop them when he gets bored or they become too difficult. A man will always finish what he starts.”

“All of history’s great leaders had moments of glorious success and moments of devastating defeat. Great leaders focus on the things they can change and influence, and the past is not one of those things. If you fail, learn from it but cease to dwell on it. When you succeed, celebrate with your followers and move on.”

“Don’t talk or answer your cell phone while talking to ANYONE in person. There are no exceptions to this rule. Don’t answer it when you’re talking to someone at a party. Don’t answer it when you’re eating at a restaurant. Don’t answer it when you’re making a purchase or ordering food; the server or clerk is not a robot; each is a human being deserving of your respect.”

“Few things are more annoying than a man who must constantly one-up others during conversation.”

“If you see birds flying high in the sky, it means clear weather. However, if you see a lot of birds roosting on power lines and trees, this either means they're conspiring against you or falling air pressure and bad weather are on the way. Expect rain and/or a killer seagull attack in the next twelve hours.”

“If you want to get your thumb on the pulse of civic life in your community, head over to the barbershop.”

“It’s tempting to straddle the fence and try to have it both ways. Yet in attempting to live in two choices at once, you will find that you truly inhabit neither one.”

“Listen more than you speak. We could all benefit a great deal if we opened our ears and shut our mouth more often. Make it a goal in each conversation to speak less than the other person.”

“Preparing food for your guest is an ancient rite of hospitality.”

“The ability to show hospitality has been a measure of one’s character across cultures and time.”

“There are two ways to define manhood. One way is to say that manhood is the opposite of womanhood. The other way is is to say that manhood is the opposite of childhood.”

“True leaders, even when a subordinate is at fault, will take full responsibility for a mistake. An effective leader will then immediately take action to correct the situation.”

“True leadership is not about superiority, position or prestige. It’s about revealing and releasing the potential of those around you. Leadership is not about the power of one, but facilitating the greatness of many.”

“Unfortunately, many modern men place the gentleman on the sissy end of the manliness spectrum, opposite that of the burping, unshaven, uncouth, “man’s man.” Yet our forebears understood that there was no contradiction in being ruggedly manly and a refined gentleman.”