Dr. Earl R. Smith II

Dr. Earl R. Smith II
Managing Partner, The Federal Circle
DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com
Dr-Smith.com

One of my favorite sayings is ‘to excuse yourself is to excuse yourself. I recently intervened with a management team that had really messed things up – and that saying kept running through my head. They were masters of the excuse. There was a reason why or why not for everything. However, none of these reasons involved anything approaching personal responsibility for outcomes. What astonished me was how natural all this excusing seemed to come to them. The team had truly created a culture of excuses where a culture of achievement was called for. Now, at the end of the investor funding, they had run out of relevance. Their excuses meant absolutely noting to anyone.

I did a quick search for sayings about excuses and gathered quite a few. Here are a some of the better ones:

Excuses are tools of the incompetent, and those who specialize in them seldom go far.

Excuses are tools of the incompetent used to build monuments to nothing. For those who specialize in them shall never be good at anything else.

An excuse is worse than a lie, for an excuse is a lie, guarded. Alexander Pope

Bad excuses are worse than none. Thomas Fuller

Don’t make excuses, make good. Elbert Hubbard

Every vice has its excuse ready. Publilius Syrus

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. Benjamin Franklin

He who excuses himself, accuses himself. Gabriel Meurier

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you, never excuse yourself. Henry Ward Beecher

If you don’t want to do something, one excuse is as good as another. Yiddish Proverb

Nothing is impossible; there are ways that lead to everything, and if we had sufficient will we should always have sufficient means. It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible. Francois De La Rochefoucauld

The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses. Napoleon Hill

Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they make a good excuse. Thomas Szasz

We are all manufacturers. Making good, making trouble, or making excuses. H. V. Adolt

We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse. Rudyard Kipling

There aren’t nearly enough crutches in the world for all the lame excuses. Marcus Stroup

Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure. Don Wilder

Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts. Edward R. Murrow

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one. George Washington

We are all manufacturers. Making good, making trouble, or making excuses. H. V. Adolt

The real man is one who always finds excuses for others, but never excuses himself. Henry Ward Beecher

People with integrity do what they say they are going to do. Others have excuses. Laura Schlessinger

For many people, an excuse is better than an achievement because an achievement, no matter how great, leaves you having to prove yourself again in the future; but an excuse can last for life. Eric Hoffer

Several excuses are always less convincing than one. Aldous Huxley

The trick is not how much pain you feel but how much joy you feel. Any idiot can feel pain. Life is full of excuses to feel pain, excuses not to live; excuses, excuses, excuses. Erica Jong

It is easier to find an excuse than to find a reason. Doug Brown

I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse. Florence Nightingale

Don’t make excuses, make good. Elbert Hubbard

There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results. Art Turock

Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses. George Washington Carver

You can give in to the failure messages and be a bitter deadbeat of excuses. Or you can choose to be happy and positive and excited about life. A.L. Williams

Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts. Edward R. Murrow

An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie; for an excuse is a lie guarded. Alexander Pope

Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure. Don Wilder

Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses. George Washington Carver

There aren’t nearly enough crutches in the world for all the lame excuses. Marcus Stroup

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.” George Bernard Shaw

Never ruin an apology with an excuse. Kimberly Johnson

Uncalled for excuses are practical confessions. Charles Simmons

“Don’t look for excuses to lose. Look for excuses to win.” Chi Chi Rodriguez

“Love will find a way. Indifference will find an excuse.”

“Good taste is the excuse I’ve always given for leading such a bad life” Oscar Wilde

“Bad things are always going to happen in life. People will hurt you. But you can’t use that as an excuse to fail or to hurt someone back. You’ll only hurt yourself.”

“Man gives every reason for his conduct save one, every excuse for his crimes save one, every plea for his safety save one; and that one is his cowardice” George Bernard Shaw

“There’s no excuse to be bored. Sad, yes. Angry, yes. Depressed, yes. Crazy, yes. But there’s no excuse for boredom, ever.” Karolvig Viggo Mortensen

“Pessimism is an excuse for not trying and a guarantee to a personal failure.” Bill Clinton

“We have more ability than will power, and it is often an excuse to ourselves that we imagine that things are impossible.” François de la Rochefoucauld

“Smokers, male and female, inject and excuse idleness in their lives every time they light a cigarette.” Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

“Destiny: A tyrant’s authority for crime and a fool’s excuse for failure.” Ambrose Bierce

“Every man ought to be inquisitive through every hour of his great adventure down to the day when he shall no longer cast a shadow in the sun. For if he dies without a question in his heart, what excuse is there for his continuance?” Frank Moore Colby

© Dr. Earl R. Smith II

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Related Articles:

• Making the Possible Probable

• Adults in Wonderland

• Finding a Mirror – Realizing

• Moving the Ball

• Knowing Versus Doing – Post-Success Malaise

• Counting the Cost

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Dr. Smith is Managing Partner of The Federal Circle. The Federal Circle partners with teams and existing companies. We help them up their game and win big in the Federal space. We also arrange funding for acquisitions and expansion by acquisition. Our model is based on the belief that, if you select the very best and work with them in a highly professional and focused manner, the results will be truly amazing. He is the author of Amazing Pace: Turbo-charged Business Development – a book that shows how Advisory Boards can dramatically increase revenue. Dr. Smith is also the author of Dream Walk: Parables for the Living – a book of Raven Tales and exploration.

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