John W. Gardner
John W. Gardner
John William Gardner,was Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfareunder President Lyndon Johnson...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEducator
Date of Birth8 October 1912
CountryUnited States of America
creativity imagination creative
The creative individual has the capacity to free himself from the web of social pressures in which the rest of us are caught. He is capable of questioning the assumptions that the rest of us accept.
real creativity law
Americans have always believed that-within the law-all kinds of people should be allowed to take the initiative in all kinds of activities. And out of that pluralism has come virtually all of our creativity. Freedom is real only to the extent that there are diverse alternatives.
believe passion thinking
But if we believe what we profess concerning the worth of the individual, then the idea of individual development within a framework of ethical purpose must become our deepest concern, our national preoccupation, our passion, our obsession. We must think of education as relevant for everyone everywhere - at all ages and in all conditions of life.
degrees roles united-states
In the United States, to an unprecedented degree, the individual's social role has come to be determined not by who he is but by what he can accomplish.
nonprofits pluralism democratic
Perhaps the most striking feature of the [nonprofit] sector is its relative freedom from constraints and its resulting pluralism.
moving leader style
Leaders develop their styles as they interact with their constituencies. They move toward the style that seems most effective in dealing with the mixture of elements that make up their constituencies.
art creativity practice
Creativity requires the freedom to consider 'unthinkable' alternatives, to doubt the worth of cherished practices. Every organization, every society is under the spell of assumptions so familiar that they are never questioned, least of all by those most intimately involved.
leadership lasts firsts
The first and last task of aleader is to keep hope alive.
moving men world
One man interacting creatively with others can move the world.
fate men pay
The man who once cursed his fate, now curses himself - and pays his psychoanalyst.
leadership unqualified facts
If the modern leader doesn't know the facts, he is in grave trouble, but rarely do the facts provide unqualified guidance.
islands sea excellence
We cannot have islands of excellence in a sea of slovenly indifference to standards.
stars perfection excellence
Whoever I am, or whatever I am doing, some kind of excellence is within my reach.
politics poverty talent
For every talent that poverty has stimulated it has blighted a hundred.