|
ISTP
Miyamoto Musashi
Samurai and author of 'The Book of Five Rings '
Musashi: "If you make your opponent flinch, you have already won."
Musashi: "I dislike preconceived [thought]."
Musashi: "You win battles [by] using a timing which the enemy does not expect."
Musashi: "When you [know] the rhythm of any situation, you will be able to hit the enemy naturally and
strike naturally."
Musashi: "Really skillful people ... never appear busy."
|
ISTP
Erwin Rommel
World War II general
Rommel: "Strike at once. You cannot permit unique opportunities to slip by for the sake of trifles."
Rommel: "Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, and brains save both."
Churchill: "[Rommel] was a splendid military
gambler ... scornful of opposition ... and may I say, across the havoc of war, a great general."
|
ISTP
Donald Rumsfeld
U.S. Secretary of Defense (R)
Rumsfeld: "I don't do diplomacy."
Rumsfeld: "The information those in positions of responsibility in government, as well as in other
human endeavors, have at their disposal is almost always incomplete."
Rumsfeld: "The best strategists [are] agile enough to adjust course if and when new and surprising information requires it."
Rumsfeld: "Certainty without power can be interesting, even amusing; certainty with power can be dangerous."
[On his secretary calling him a son of a bitch for not yet having called his wife 12
hours after a plane hit the Pentagon:]
Rumsfeld: "She had a point."
|
ISTP
Steve Jobs
Co-founder and CEO of Apple
Jobs: "I say when something sucks rather than sugarcoat it."
Jobs: "You can't connect the dots looking forward [so] you have to trust in something -
your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down."
Jobs: "[Miele] really thought the process through. They did such a great job designing
[their] washers and dryers. I got more thrill out of them than I have out of any piece of high tech in years."
Jobs: "I wish [Bill Gates] the best, I really do. I just think
he and Microsoft are a bit narrow. He'd be a broader guy if he had dropped acid."
Larry Page: "He always seemed to be able to say in very few
words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it."
|
|
ISTP
Diogenes the Dog
Greek philosopher
Diogenes: "I saw a woman praying in front of an alter with her ass in the air and said to her:
'Look out; Zeus is behind you, too.'"
Diogenes: "Other dogs bite only their enemies, whereas I bite also my friends."
Alexander: "I am Alexander the King."
Diogenes: "I am Diogenes the Dog."
Alexander: "Ask me any boon you like."
Diogenes: "You are blocking my sunlight."
Alexander: "If I were not Alexander, the great king, I would be Diogenes."
Plato: "He is a Socrates gone mad."
|
ISTP
Dalai Lama XIV
Head of Tibetan Buddhism
Dalai Lama: "As a child I liked to disassemble things; radios, clocks, and the like. I took them apart to see how they worked."
Dalai Lama: "When you look for a teacher you should be very, very suspicious. ... You must test them."
Dalai Lama: "By learning from science ... I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview."
Desmond Tutu: "He has a childlike, boyish, impish mischievousness. And
I have to try and make him behave properly, like a holy man!"
|
ISTP
Vladimir Putin
President of Russia
Putin: "One should never fear threats. It's like with a dog. A dog senses when somebody
is afraid of it, and bites. The same applies [with humans]. If you become jittery, they will think that they are stronger."
Putin: "Only one thing works: Go on the offensive. You must hit first, and hit so hard
that your opponent will not rise to his feet."
Putin: "Judo is not just a sport. It's a philosophy. [And] it's not for weaklings."
Putin: "[When I was young] I didn't try to command people. It was more important to preserve my
independence."
Putin: "At one point I really wanted to be a pilot. ... But then books and spy movies ... took
hold of my imagination. [I saw] how one man's effort could achieve what whole armies
could not. [From then on] I wanted to be a spy."
[Larry King: "What happened to the
Kursk submarine?"]
Putin: "It sank."
Sergei Roldugin: "[When Putin was young] he was terrible at making conversation. ... He is a
Cicero now, compared to back then."
[His wife:] "[Putin] described himself to me: Not a talker, can be pretty harsh, can
hurt your feelings... Not a good person to spend your life with. [Then] he said, 'I propose we get married.'"
|
|