Donald Keough Quotes
101 Donald Keough Quotes
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An ice-cold Coke is… a simple pleasure, nothing fancy, offered not to solve the world’s problems but to give… a simple moment of satisfaction and refreshment.
Donald Keough
As you move up through your career path, you’re judged on your ability to articulate a point of view. Once you reach certain levels in an executive capacity, the ability to communicate perhaps a little better than others is a tremendous asset.
Donald Keough
[To
Chuck Feeney] You are a model for all of us.
Donald Keough
In my time, CFOs were basically tough, smart, and mean. Bringing good news wasn’t their function. They were the truth-tellers.
Donald Keough
[To Warren Buffett] Warren, are you buying a share or two of Coca-Cola stock? [He owned over 7% of all The Coca-Cola Company shares at the time.]
Donald Keough
The U.S. is the test market for the world. When good things happen, we can export them around the world. And when things don’t work, we can make sure they don’t get exported.
Donald Keough
[At The Coca-Cola Company.] You know, we don’t sell funeral vaults. We sell a happy thing.
Donald Keough
The Coca-Cola Company has the ultimate secret. The secret formula which is driven into the DNA of the company.
Donald Keough
[On why they recovered from the ‘New Coke’ debacle.] The reason we recovered was that we told the truth… We just told people you were right and we were wrong. We made a mistake.
Donald Keough
We you decide that you’re not infallible it’s amazing what the American public will forgive you for.
Donald Keough
[In January 2009] There’s never the right time to invest anywhere, you can always find the bad reasons why you shouldn’t so let’s delay let’s not expand internationally because it’s difficult economic times. And that’s absolutely the wrong way to look at it. If you’re an American company four percent of the world’s population lives here and the rest of the population lives outside of the United States.
Donald Keough
It’s awfully easy to get to 40 and say, ‘I’m tired of sticking my neck out. I’m going to play it cool.’ If you look at the history of a lot of companies, you’ll see that they often turn down opportunity.
Donald Keough
If you take outrageous risk, you get outrageous failure.
Donald Keough
[In January 2009] It’s very easy to be afraid of the future… but two years from now, the financial crisis will be just a piece of history.
Donald Keough
Trust your instincts even when momentum is going the other direction and everyone is on board.
Donald Keough
Once you begin to lose your own judgment, if you believe outside experts know more about your business than you do, the question becomes: ‘Should you be there at all?’
Donald Keough
[On Warren Buffett living across the road from him.] He paid $29,000 for his house and I paid $27,500 for mine. His name was Warren Buffett.
Donald Keough
[On him regretting not giving Warren Buffett $10,000 to invest in 1960 for his partnership that he ran from his own home.] Can you imagine giving $10,000 to a guy who doesn’t get up and go to work in the morning?
Donald Keough
[On Warren Buffett in his Bershire Hathaway annual reports.] Before he talks about his successes he talks about the mistakes that he has made.
Donald Keough
[In January 2009] I’ve always been curious about the future, never spent a lot of time worrying about the past.
Donald Keough
You don’t learn to swim until you get into the water. People need to plunge into life.
Donald Keough
Bonus
If you wanted to invent a human personification of The Coca-Cola Company, it would be Don Keough… Don’s best ability is to cut to the chase on an issue, to cut through the bureaucratic fog. Keep it simple is his principle and mine too.
Warren Buffett
Herbert Allen says that the only two businessmen he knew who could have become president if they had run for office were Jack Welch and Don Keough. I agree with that; they both had that natural brilliance. They are both people we can learn so much from.
Warren Buffett
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