A politician and a government should be judged by one way only: on the record of what you do or did, not on what you say.
How empty is theory in the presence of fact!
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910
Good words do not last long unless they amount to something.
I don't like to move abstract theoretical policies that, on a white paper, sound good. If I wanted to do that, I'd be a professor.
The brightest flashes in the world of thought are incomplete until they have been proven to have their counterparts in the world of fact.
If you talk to a lot of people in government, they will talk about the pathway to getting something done rather than the thing itself. And I just talk about material outcomes.
Honestly achieved results surpass all others.
I've had tons of odd jobs, but I think that I would probably be a fireman because you get to see the results of your job. You get there and there is a house on fire. You leave and there's not a fire anymore.
Do something real, and keep it simple.
The most important question of the 21st century is not what or how much, it is 'How?' How do you propose to turn your good ideas into positive changes in other people's lives? You must be the 'how generation.'
Deeds Not Words
Nothing speaks like results. If you want to build the kind of credibility that connects with people, then deliver results before you deliver a message. Get out and do what you advise others to do. Communicate from experience.
The scientist-community guy may get a $500,000 grant, and if his equipment works or doesn't work, he still gets a gold star for doing the science experiment. For me, there is no merit in anything for doing an experiment; I have to go home with pictures.
Our age is before all things a practical one. It demands of us all clear and tangible results of our work.
Performance is better than promise. Exuberant assurances are cheap.
I don't deal with hypotheticals. I deal with reality.
I believe in deeds, not words.
I think talk is cheap - when I hear people say what they'd like to happen, I think it's empty.
What I'm trying to do is deliver results, not promises; results, not vision; results, not concepts. The world is cynical about IBM's promises.
Choices are much more practical and small when you're dealing with a real story. It's about execution, it's not about content.
The test is can you do something, rather than have a theoretical argument - can you make a difference?
I am now and have always been a stranger to the realm of practical matters.
We have now reached a level where we should be even more ambitious. We should focus on more tangible mechanisms and outcomes. Make BRICS a platform of Impact.
The work of a garden bears visible fruits-in a world where most of our labours seem suspiciously meaningless.
Don't tell us about dreams – dream dinners aren't any good and we can't share them.
