John Boyd > Quotes

“If a man asks me for my loyalty...I will give him my honesty.
If a man asks me for my honesty...I will give him my loyalty!”
― John Boyd

“Tiger, one day you will come to a fork in the road and you’re going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. He raised his hand and pointed. “If you go that way you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and you will get good assignments.” Then Boyd raised his other hand and pointed in another direction. “Or you can go that way and you can do something- something for your country and for your Air Force and for yourself. If you decide you want to do something, you may not get promoted and you may not get the good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won’t have to compromise yourself. You will be true to your friends and to yourself. And your work might make a difference. To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That’s when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do? Which way will you go?
”
― John Boyd

“The most important thing in life is to be free to do things. There are only two ways to insure that freedom — you can be rich or you can you reduce your needs to zero.”
― John Boyd

“Decisions without actions are pointless. Actions without decisions are reckless.”
― John Boyd

“To be or to do? Which way will you go?”
― John Boyd

“You gotta challenge all assumptions. If you don’t, what is doctrine on day one becomes dogma forever after.”
― John Boyd