See What Others Miss Quotes
The advantage rarely goes to the man who works hardest; it goes to the man who sees first. Opportunity hides in plain sight for the eye trained to notice it. This Execution path holds history's sharpest quotes on perception and spotting what others miss. Scroll through and put them to work.
Choose a Pillar of Greatness
Pick a Type of Insight
“The feet are the most honest part of the body.”
“Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them.”
“Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.”
“The superior man, when resting in safety, does not forget that danger may come.”
“A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can.”
“What you aim at determines what you see.”
“The details are not the details. They make the design.”
“Without data, you're just another person with an opinion.”
“We think a wise person is someone who solves problems. Truth is, a wise person is someone who avoids problems.”
“Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.”
“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.”
“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”
“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.”
“A spark neglected makes a mighty fire.”
“Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”
“To a great mind, nothing is little.”
“We can be blind to the obvious, and we are also blind to our blindness.”
“It's not about having the right opportunities, it's about handling the opportunities right.”
“The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do.”
“Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it, they will want to come back and see you do it again.”
“Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be.”
“Data beats emotions.”
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.”
“The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.”
“The plural of anecdote is not data.”
“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”
“Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.”
“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.”
“Visionaries see the 'impossible' as the inevitable.”
“A little neglect may breed great mischief.”
“You see, but you do not observe.”
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
“It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”
“The truth is that we are not only irrational, but predictably irrational.”
“Show me the incentives and I will show you the outcome.”
“Always look for the fool in the deal. If you don't find one, it's you.”
“A wonderful gift may not be wrapped as you expect.”
“Be a student of the marketplace, not a victim of the weather.”
“The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.”
“Always keep your eyes open. Keep watching. Because whatever you see can inspire you.”
“The most important thing is to ask the right questions.”
“The only way to get ahead is to find errors in conventional wisdom”
“Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.”
“A pessimist is somebody who complains about the noise when opportunity knocks.”
“Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things.”
“One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.”
“The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.”
“We cannot solve problems with the kind of thinking we employed when we came up with them.”
“In life and business, the person with the fewest blind spots wins.”
“He that contemneth small things shall fall by little and little.”
“Wisdom is always an overmatch for strength.”
