Wisdom of Malcolm Forbes

Malcolm Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an American businessman and publisher of Forbes magazine, which was founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He promoted capitalism and free market economics and was known for an extravagant lifestyle, including spending $2.5 million on his 70th birthday party.

Below we list some words of wisdom from Malcolm Forbes.

“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”

“If you've had a good time playing the game, you're a winner even if you lose.”

“It's always worthwhile to make others aware of their worth.”

“It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem.”

“Failure is success if we learn from it.”

“Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat.”

“Since you have to do the things you have to do, be wise enough to do some of the things you want to do.”

“The smart ones ask when they don't know. And, sometimes, when they do.”

“The difference between towering and cowering is totally a matter of inner posture.”

“Keeping score of old scores and scars, getting even and one-upping, always makes you less than you are.”

“Being right half the time beats being half-right all the time.”

“When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always get worse. And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better.”

“Those who talk loudly are rarely listened to.”

“The more sympathy you give, the less you need.”

“To seduce most anyone, ask for and listen to his opinion.”

“Scientists ofttimes have the greatest faith in a higher power. The more they dig into, establish facts and figures, the more they marvel about the mystery of it all.”

“Listening to advice often accomplishes far more than heeding it.”

“Meaningful truths are never newly discovered; they're just uncovered anew.”

“Some people as a result of adversity are sadder, wiser, kinder, more human. Most of us are better, though, when things go better. Knowing when to keep your mouth shut is invariably more important than opening it at the right time. Always listen to a man when he describes the faults of others. Often times, most times, he's describing his own, revealing himself.”

“How in heck are they handling their surplus population in Hell these days? Maybe by the time you and I are in the queue there won't be room for us.”

“He who hesitates is sometimes wise.”

“The richest person in the world - in fact. All the riches in the world - couldn't provide you with anything like the endless, incredible loot available at your local library. You can measure the awareness, the breadth and the wisdom of a civilization, a nation, a people by the priority given to preserving these repositories of all that we are, all that we were, or will be.”

“Daydreams are doable. The turn-on is not in scale, spectacle, or cost. It's in the doing. Anything you haven't done is an adventure. Wanting to is the principal requirement. If you can do and want to, don't not. In short, while alive, live.”

Copyright © Scott Petullo, Stephen Petullo