30 One-liners: wisdom of the ages ... in a nutshell.

• Position: ENDNOTE - Quotation

Efforts to strengthen corporate governance must start by recognizing a fundamental, albeit circular, reality: Namely, a board will be as effective as top management, and specifically the CEO, wants it to be, and top management will be as effective as a board insists that it be. --Robert Malott, retired chairman and CEO, FMC Corp., "Directors: Step Up to Your Responsibilities" [Summer 1992] Your only real protection as an outside director is the ethics of the other members of the board and the management. --Felix Rohatyn, investment banker, "Taking the Measure of Today's Boards" [Spring 2003] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Never ask the board to vote on a complicated issue without explaining its nuances and risks. --Harvey Golub, retired chairman and CEO, American Express Co., "A CEO Looks at the Director's Role" [Winter 2004] CEOs who do not leave willingly seem to need power like an addiction, or never have enough money, or have no other interests in life and for whom life after a CEOship is like a black hole. --Donald Frey, former chairman and CEO, Bell and Howell Co., "Reminiscences on Succession Planning" [Summer 1995] Nothing is worse than a "luncheon director" whose principal contribution to the company is that he eats well. --Henry Sweetbaum, CEO, Wickes PLC, "Best Practices, or Just Best People" [Summer 1995] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

We have a saying at Warburg Pincus: "We have never fired a bad CEO too soon." --John Vogelstein, vice chairman and president, E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Co. LLC, "As I, an Owner-Director, See It" [Summer 1998] Successful management should end up wealthy; unsuccessful management should not end up wealthy. --Winston Churchill, venture capitalist, "The 10 Commandments of Ownership" [Spring 1994] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

There is no way I'm going to get people to join my board if I am unwilling to join other company boards. --Robert Knowling Jr., former CEO, Covad Communications Group Inc., "Director Spotlight" [Fall 2000] The idea that directors can be on a board for a year or so before they make a contribution is nonsense. --Lewis Platt, chairman and CEO, Hewlett-Packard Co., "Governance the H-P Way" [Summer 1997] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The investor community is always looking for proof that a CEO's vision isn't goofy. --John Kotter, professor or organizational behavior, Harvard Business School, "Looking for Leaders" [Fall 1990] The businessperson who builds the strongest relationships wins. --Earl G. Graves, president...