Top 19 Quotes by Herb Kelleher

I tell my employees that we're in the service business, and it's incidental that we fly airplanes.

Power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats, and leadership really involves responsibility.

One piece of advice that always stuck in my mind is that people should be respected and trusted as people, not because of their position or title.

I guess the worst moment I ever had in business was the fear that Southwest Airlines wouldn't get off the ground.

The spirit of Southwest Airlines is exuberant, it's caring, it's dedicated, it's diligent, it's fun, it's rewarding, it's a joy.

I'd say my mother made more of a difference to me than anyone else did. I know that's a conventional and perhaps mundane answer, but my family was blown apart at the start of World War II.

I think my greatest moment in business was when the first Southwest airplane arrived after four years of litigation, and I walked up to it and I kissed that baby on the lips and I cried.

The people of Southwest have always been my pride, my joy and my love. Their indomitable dedication and esprit de corps have taken Southwest from a three-airplane dream to a 500-airplane reality.

Your employees come first. And if you treat your employees right, guess what? Your customers come back, and that makes your shareholders happy. Start with employees and the rest follows from that.

It is my practice to try to understand how valuable something is by trying to imagine myself without it.