Quotes & Sayings About Professionalism

The higher Christian churches--where, if anywhere, I belong--come at God with an unwarranted air of professionalism, with authority and pomp, as though they knew what they were doing, as though people in themselves were an appropriate set of creatures to have dealings with God. I often think of the set pieces of liturgy as certain words which people have successfully addressed to God without their getting killed. In the high churches they saunter through the liturgy like Mohawks along a strand of scaffolding who have long since forgotten their danger. If God were to blast such a service to bits, the congregation would be, I believe, genuinely shocked. But in the low churches you expect in any minute. This is the beginning of wisdom. — Annie Dillard

because if you want someone badly enough, morals (and certainly professionalism) don't come into it. You'll do anything to have them. He just doesn't want me badly enough. — Paula Hawkins

The great hope is that people who wouldn't normally make films will be making them. Suddenly, one day some little fat girl in Ohio is going to be the new Mozart and make a beautiful film with her father's camera and for once the so called professionalism about movies will be destroyed forever - and it will really become an art form. — Francis Ford Coppola

Professionalism in medicine has given us medial miracles for the affluent but hospitals that will charge $35 for aspirin. — Bill James

Shut up," I hissed. Ticked that he was taller than me, I stepped up onto a nearby coffee table. "I'm not in a cage anymore," I said, keeping enough presence of mind not to poke him in the chest with a finger. His face went startled, then cloric. "The only thing between your head and my foot becoming real close and personal right now is my questionable professionalism. And if you ever threaten me again, I'll slam you halfway across the room before you can say number-two pencil. Got it, you tall freak of nature? — Kim Harrison

Clean code is not written by following a set of rules. You don't become a software craftsman by learning a list of heuristics. Professionalism and craftsmanship come from values that drive disciplines. — Robert C. Martin

Professionalism is always the enemy of authentic gospel leadership. Leaders — Tim Chester

Modeling gave me a strong discipline of professionalism where you work very long hours. — Jaime King

Professionalism in law has brought us the O.J. Simpson case in lieu of justice. — Bill James

It was a small of her back and her face that got so tired. Their (her retail employer's) mono was supposed to be, 'Keep on your toes and smile.' Once she was out of the store she had to frown a long time to get her face natural again. Even her ears were tired. — Carson McCullers

I was bitterly resentful, but somehow greatly relieved. And I respected him enormously for his clarity of thought, his obvious caring, and his unwillingness to equivocate in delivering bad news. — Kay Redfield Jamison

In professions where the criteria of professionalism, expertise, good manners and ethics apply, the gender aspect, i.e., whether a person is a man or woman, is not relevant at all. What is important is that citizens' confidence in politicians and the politics is strong enough to make politicians proud of their profession. — Dalia Grybauskaite

[I]f Modi is toast, it will in one sense be a tremendous pity. In his way, he represents a third generation in cricket's governance. For a hundred years and more, cricket was run by administrators, who essentially maintained the game without going out of their way to develop it. More recently it has been run by managers, with just an ounce or two of strategic thought. Modi was neither; he was instead a genuine entrepreneur. He has as much feeling for cricket as Madonna has for madrigals, but perhaps, because he came from outside cricket's traditional bureaucratic circles, he brought a vision and a common touch unexampled since Kerry Packer. — Gideon Haigh

One theme that runs through many [job hunting books] is just plain harmful: the advice to "just be yourself." Wrong. Remember that first day on your first job, when you went to get your first cup of coffee? You found the coffee machine, and there, stuck on the wall behind it, was a handwritten sign reading:
YOUR MOTHER DOESN'T WORK HERE
PICK UP AFTER YOURSELF
You thought, "Pick up after myself? Gee, I guess I've got to develop a new way of doing things." And so you started to observe and emulate the more successful professionals around you. You weren't born this way. You developed new skills and ways of conducting yourself, in effect creating a professional persona that enabled you to survive in the professional world. — Martin Yate

When I started blogging in 2004, I responded to every comment no matter how nasty the reader was. I was generally polite, believing that these critics would be so charmed by my professionalism that they would see the error of their misogynist ways and swiftly run out to read a bell hooks book. Ha! — Jessica Valenti

...practicing or teaching business administration can, inshallah, essentially become a profession that is full of righteous acts on the part of the believer if a person follows the rights, commands, and limits established in Islam. — Mohammad Rahman

Most corporate mission statements are worthless. They consist largely of pious platitudes such as: "We will hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and ethical behavior." They often formulate necessities as objectives; for example, "to achieve sufficient profit." This is like a person saying his mission is to breathe sufficiently. — Russell L. Ackoff

The night schedule is a crazy pit I fall into most of the time, but I do like it because the buzz of normal professionalism has gone away. Even though you're working, you feel like you're playing. — Nate Lowman

Professionalism' is my only Religion and I am 'Workofanatic — Himmilicious

Let's have a little honesty," I said instead. "You want me every day. You want me every hour, just as I want you. You fantasize about my control, my commands, my gaze on your naked skin. You want me to hurt you. You want my cock inside you, fucking you until everything else falls away." With every word, her gaze flickered a little. The front of prim professionalism would never hide the need inside her. "Just admit it," I said quietly. "To me and to yourself. — Annabel Joseph

I see Professionalism as a spreading disease of the present-day world, a sort of poly-oligarchy by which various groups (subway conductors, social workers, bricklayers) can bring things to a halt if their particular demands are not met. (Meanwhile, the irrelevance of each profession increases, in proportion to its increasing rigidity.) Such lucky groups demand more in each go-round - but meantime, the number who are permanently unemployed grows and grows. — Ted Nelson

The trouble with specialists is that they tend to think in grooves. — Elaine Morgan

People always think it's unprofessional if your appearance doesn't match your biological sex. What does my gender have to do with my skills? — Marcel Weyers

I would like to, in some capacity, observe how Tom Cruise goes about his business when it comes to making a movie and how he behaves on set and how he interacts with the crew because from everything that I've heard, it is the template for professionalism and just the way to conduct yourself as an actor. — Stephen Amell

Do we really have to talk about professionalism? Everyone here is a professional. A master builder who puts up a wall that hasn't collapsed is certainly acting professionally, but professionalism ought to be the norm, and we should only be talking about the dodgy builder who puts up a wall that doesn't collapse....This insistence on professionalism, that it is something special, makes it sound as if people are generally lousy workers. — Umberto Eco

Presenting leadership as a list of carefully defined qualities (like strategic, analytical, and performance-oriented) no longer holds. Instead, true leadership stems from individuality that is honestly and sometimes imperfectly expressed ... Leaders should strive for authenticity over perfection. — Sheryl Sandberg

Seeing Ed Belfour have expectations higher than anyone else of him shows the kind of competitor he is. I would love to incorporate a high level of professionalism into my game. — Marty Turco

When did you feel most fulfilled? When did you impress yourself, or otherwise feel most proud of yourself? — David Maister

Over 95% of the designers who have ever lived are alive today. Together, we have the power to define what professionalism in the communications industry will be about: helping increase market share or helping repair the World. — David Berman

I believe I have a good idea of what you mean by "professionalism". It appears to mean getting one's way by cheating and manipulating. It means ordering one's priorities according to greed and advantage rather than the desire to see goodness and justice prevail in the world. If that is the "professionalism" you refer to, sir, I don't much care for it and have no wish to acquire it. — Kazuo Ishiguro

Most of the people you see going to work today are LARPing (live-action role playing) an incredibly boring RPG (role-playing game) called "professionalism" that requires them to alter their vocabulary, posture, eating habits, facial expressions
every detail all the way down to what they allow themselves to find funny. — Cory Doctorow

Working with Michael Chiklis is a lesson in professionalism and staying focused. That's what Chiklis brings all day long. — Sean Faris

Literacy isn't just about reading, writing, and comprehension. It's about culture, professionalism, and social outlook. — Taylor Ellwood

They looked more like day laborers than seamen. — Erik Larson

Things hurt.. accepted. Shedding tears.. accepted. Sadness.. accepted.. But to quit and make your work suffer.. not at all accepted.. — Himmilicious

At home and abroad, military men and women are showing purpose and dedication in defending American ideas. They are performing in our country's best traditions under circumstances both difficult and complex. Thanks to their determined spirit of patriotism and professionalism, our country has a powerful and unified defense team, employing its forces in the constant quest for peace and freedom. — Melvin Laird

However much pains may be taken to combine the soldier and the citizen in one and the same individual, whatever may be done to nationalize wars, never will it be possible to do away with the professionalism of the business; and if that cannot be done, then those who belong to it will always look upon themselves as a kind of guild, in the regulations, laws, and customs in which the "Spirit of War" finds its expression. It would be very wrong to look down upon this corporate spirit, or esprit de corps, which may and should exist more or less in every Army. — Carl Von Clausewitz

I was most impressed with the professionalism of our soldiers stationed there, and I am now more confident than ever that that the operations at Guantanamo are being conducted in a humane and necessary manner. — Jim Ryun

To have the opportunity to lead the Solicitor General's office is the honor of a lifetime. As you know, this is an office with a long and rich tradition, not only of extraordinary legal skill but also of extraordinary professionalism and integrity. That is due, in large measure, to the people who have led it. — Elena Kagan

One man can make another's life so much better. — Janet Morris

Everybody else specializes. Daddy knows everything, and he puts the pieces together. — Robert A. Heinlein

For your own professionalism, reputation & appearance, it really is ok to NOT post every #video, picture, event or show on social media.
On the contrary, holding back, waiting or not posting certain things all together can help much more than hurt. — Loren Weisman

A life that most people will never even know about can be yours in this study, but only if you approach it with equanimity, poise, grace, balance, and professionalism. — Frederick Lenz

Our all-volunteer force continues to prove itself with a great level of professionalism, personal commitment and a technical competence that is quite remarkable. — Geoff Davis

Professionalism is not sportsmanship. If you don't succeed, you won't be in your profession for long. In our society, it's not about good or bad. It's about who's on top. — Chili Davis

The professionalism of technique and flash of dexterity are more comfortable to be around than raw creative power, hence our society generally rewards virtuoso performers more highly than it rewards original creators. — Stephen Nachmanovitch

I think of these desert years of mine, not of my choosing. Maybe if it were all smooth and comfortable, if my pride and professionalism were defining life for me, God's steel-quiet, penetrating word would have been lost in the babble and sheen of success. — Luci Shaw

But then I noticed a deeper result: defining roles reduced conflict. Most fights inside a company happen when colleagues compete for the same responsibilities. Startups face an especially high risk of this since job roles are fluid at the early stages. Eliminating competition makes it easier for everyone to build the kinds of long-term relationships that transcend mere professionalism. — Peter Thiel

The main differences between contemporary English and American literature is that the baleful pseudo-professionalism imparted by all those crap M.F.A. writing programs has yet to settle like a miasma of standardization on the English literary scene. But it's beginning to happen. — Will Self

What worries me is the professionalism of everything. — Irvine Welsh

Professionalism in tennis ... only resulted in making billionaires out of rude children, producing an onslaught of moody defectors, and a lot of guys with hair that looks as if bats slept in it ... Meanwhile, my head swims with the thought that I have watched tennis progress from Don Budge and Alice Marble to Farrah Fawcett becoming John McEnroe's mother-in-law. — Dan Jenkins

What I call Professionalism someone else might call the Artist's Code or the Warrior's Way. It's an attitude of egolessness and service. The Knights of the Round Table were chaste and self-effacing. Yet they dueled dragons. — Steven Pressfield

The professionalism of wire service reporters is constantly being tested because reporters know that if they're late or sloppy on a story, it will show up because the competition is likely to be not late and not sloppy. — Bob Greene

...if you want someone badly enough, morals (and certainly professionalism) don't come into it. You'll do anything to have them. — Paula Hawkins

The essence of professionalism is the focus upon the work and its demands, while we are doing it, to the exclusion of all else. — Steven Pressfield

It is by now beyond question that Elton John is a competent and classy entertainer. Few people who have achieved his popularity have succeeded in maintaining his standards for performance and professionalism. — Jon Landau

You thought you knew what food was, you thought it was elemental. You forgot how much restaurant there was in restaurant food and how much home was in homemade. — Jonathan Franzen

Once you realize that you're in something that you've always wanted and you don't want to lose it, you behave differently. And that means the integrity, the professionalism, and knowing what's right from wrong and still making choices that you probably wouldn't have made. — Paul Anka

And we remember the end of our combat mission and the emergence of a new dawn
the precision of our efforts against al Qaeda in Iraq, the professionalism of the training of Iraqi security forces, and the steady drawdown of our forces. In handing over responsibility to the Iraqis, you preserved the gains of the last four years and made this day possible. — Barack Obama

Confidence is the immaterial residue of material actions. Confidence is the public face of competence. — Ron Suskind

Gossip: a weed watered by wayward words. — Soul Dancer

Caring for others is not a warm, fuzzy feeling. A caring state requires exceptional professionalism, strong systems and accountability. This — Helen Zille

If you learn how to master yourself, you stand a good chance of learning how to master your job. — Auliq Ice

Making yourself a corporation (or just thinking of yourself in that way) reinforces the idea of professionalism because it separates the artist-doing-the-work from the will-and-consciousness-running-the-show. — Steven Pressfield

I think people ease into this careerist professionalism, so if you're a writer it's your job to manufacture books as opposed to writing them and to go to festivals and spend your life emotionally invested in reviews or the awards. You have to shrink your universe in a way. To me, it's the opposite. — Arundhati Roy

Banish professionalism from our midst, Oh God, an din its place put passionate prayer, poverty of spirit, hunger for God, rigorous study of holy things, white-hot devotion to Jesus Christ, utter indifference to all material gain, and unremitting labor to rescue the perishing, perfect the saints, and glorify our sovreign Lord.
Humble us, O God, under your mighty hand, and let us rise, not as professionals, but as witnesses and partakers of the sufferings of Christ. — John Piper

I am proud of my achievements, my work ethic, and the way I live my life. The PGA Tour not only treated me unfairly, but displayed a lack of professionalism that should concern every professional golfer and fan of the game. — Vijay Singh

Dress how you want to be addressed. — Bianca Frazier

There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don't want to, don't much like what you're writing, and aren't writing particularly well. — Agatha Christie

Given the professionalism of Michigan teachers, I think they're not teaching because of the financial rewards. — John Engler

Perhaps we can only truly serve those we are willing to touch, not only with our hands but with our hearts and even our souls. Professionalism has embedded in service a sense of difference, a certain distance. But on the deepest level, service is an experience of belonging, an experience of connection to others and to the word around us. It is this connection that gives us the power to bless the life in others. Without it, the life in them would not respond to us. — Rachel Naomi Remen

If you're good at something, never let your friends know, because for their purpose,they will make you do it for free — Himmilicious

Ronaldo is a unique player for all of his talent and his professionalism. He is a player who is extraordinarily consistent. — Carlo Ancelotti

From the War for Independence to today in Iraq and Afghanistan, I am inspired by the courage, professionalism and patriotism of our men and women in uniform. — Tim Ryan

There's nothing glorious about being a professional ... Professionalism probably comes down to being able to work on a bad day. — Norman Mailer

My idea of professionalism is probably a lot of people's idea of obsessive. — David Fincher

If he could be hard on kings and cabinets, he was invariably kind to his colleagues. — John Taliaferro

Our civilization depends critically on software, and we have a dangerously low degree of professionalism in the computer fields — Bjarne Stroustrup

Many or few alternatives can be at hand. A wise and skilful choice acts from a sincere effort. Solutions and results come from cooperation, hard work and efficiency. With high intention matched with a flexible, patient heart and proficient action gets best quality and value. As for the restless grumbles raving from unconsciousness of complexity of matters, best be brushed off ducking out wisely from discourtesies. — Angelica Hopes

I believe in professionalism, but playing is not like a job. You have to be grateful to have the opportunity to play. — Wynton Marsalis

When it comes to professionalism, it makes sense to talk about being professional in IT. Standards are vital so that IT professionals can provide systems that last. — Tim Berners-Lee

Through the early 1930s, Barbara Stanwyck established her reputation in a field overflowing with other young Broadway starlets: Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Joan Blondell. Barbara was lower-keyed and less mannered than Davis and Hepburn; less glamorous than Colbert. She was "real," and she also proved to be the personification of no-nonsense professionalism, making her popular with directors and coworkers alike. — Eve Golden

It is the height of professionalism to be able to make an ordinary piece of music sound good. When playing routine melodic studies the player must treat them as if they are musical value. — Howard Snell

What would happen if you allowed a bug to slip through a module, and it cost
your company $10,000? The nonprofessional would shrug his shoulders, say
"stuff happens," and start writing the next module. The professional would
write the company a check for $10,000! — Robert C. Martin

In constructing the Coast Guard, Hamilton insisted on rigorous professionalism and irreproachable conduct. He knew that if revenue-cutter captains searched vessels in an overbearing fashion, this high-handed behavior might sap public support, so he urged firmness tempered with restraint. He reminded skippers to "always keep in mind that their countrymen are free men and as such are impatient of everything that bears the least mark of a domineering spirit. [You] will therefore refrain . . . from whatever has the semblance of haughtiness, rudeness, or insult." 34 So masterly was Hamilton's directive about boarding foreign vessels that it was still being applied during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Hamilton — Ron Chernow

To be an outstanding musician, you have to be very attentive to the smallest detail and willing to have infinite patience in the pursuit of your ideal. You require absolute control and professionalism. — Yehudi Menuhin

You can be an expert on anything if you just use logic. — Adam Carolla

Don't ever accuse anyone of being full of pride, undignified and unprofessional when simply they are wise to move away from dishonest schemers.
Dishonesty comprise too of layers of lies simply casted for impressive appearances. There are times too that corrupt hearts have their own confused, modified, self-affirming, pro-self interest business inclined definitions of professionalism, integrity, dignity and pride. — Angelica Hopes

Be a pro at what you do. No one shows-up to meetings of the Unsuccessful Skydivers Club. — Ryan Lilly

Jesus gave us a model for the work of the church at the Last Supper. While his disciples kept proposing more organization - Hey, let's elect officers, establish hierarchy, set standards of professionalism - Jesus quietly picked up a towel and basin of water and began to wash their feet. — Philip Yancey

Being successful is about professionalism, and chewing gum is unprofessional. Its also a huge pet peeve of mine. — Tabatha Coffey

The older you get the more you realize that just because someone has an important job doesn't necessarily mean that they do it responsibly, or are even good at it. There are many 'D' students running around with high social status gained from their seemingly important positions. Integrity and proficiency are not a given. These qualities can only be proven over time. — Gary Hopkins

Preparation breeds professionalism, and professionalism enhances leadership competencies. — Noel DeJesus

Long, flat expanses of professionalism bother me. I'd rather have a band that could explode at any time. — Neil Young

The particular threat to
the intellectual today, whether in the West or the nonWestern
world, is not the academy, nor the suburbs, nor the appalling commercialism of journalism and publishing
houses, but rather an attitude that I will call professionalism.
By professionalism I mean thinking of your work
as an intellectual as something you do for a living, between
the hours of nine and five with one eye on the clock, and
another cocked at what is considered to be proper, professional
behavior-not rocking the boat, not straying outside
the accepted paradigms or limits, making yourself marketable
and above all presentable, hence uncontroversial
and unpolitical and "objective. — Edward Said

It is professional snobbery that refrains training rookies. — Aniruddha Sastikar

I am inspired by the professionalism of others. I believe there is an obligation to strive for excellence in what one is asked to do. No pains are too great, no revisions too tedious no matter how small the result. But I also believe that while humility should not be overdone, excellence should never be taken for granted, otherwise we stop reaching for it. — Densey Clyne

Those were times when brave men who knew and loved their profession couldn't be overlooked. — Thomas Hughes

You have to be a cop-out or a wash-out or a dropout to come to our college. You have to work with your hands. You have to have a dignity of labor. You have to show that you have a skill that you can offer to the community and provide a service to the community. So we started the Barefoot College, and we redefined professionalism. — Bunker Roy

I believe that no one can teach you how to act, but schools do give you an environment to make mistakes, to learn techniques and to learn professionalism. — Enrico Colantoni