Al Neuharth

Allen Harold "Al" Neuharth (March 22, 1924 – April 19, 2013) was an American businessman, author, and columnist born in Eureka, South Dakota. He was the founder of USA Today, The Freedom Forum, and its Newseum.

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• I saw every day how many things can go wrong, but I also saw that somehow my mother prevailed. And she had her two sons to help her do that. When my brother was in eighth grade, he worked in a grocery store making a dollar or a dollar and a half a week. My first real job was a dollar a week in a butcher shop. Every dime or every dollar that the three of us brought in helped my mother hold this group of three people together, because her income was absolutely unpredictable. All she had when my father died was a small house that was paid for. I got to the point in grade school where I felt that I had to try anything—or everything—to succeed, and I learned to expect a lot of knocks, because I had seen my mother take them. I really think... that was my real education, what I learned at home in my early years.
  • Courage Is a Three Letter Word (New York: Random House, 1986), p. 125

• You have to ask yourself, What do I really want to do or be? Then make yourself this promise: I will not look over my shoulder; I will use whatever I have learned, but I will not dwell on the mistakes I have made. Whether you're seventeen, twenty-seven or sixty-seven, you bring experience to your new venture or adventure. If you draw from your own experience and use it as a guide, focus on today and not yesterday, your chances of success are greatly improved.
  • Courage Is a Three Letter Word (New York: Random House, 1986), p. 132

• The saddest people I know are those who have spent thirty or forty years working for the same employer doing something they almost like.
  • Courage Is a Three Letter Word (New York: Random House, 1986), p. 132

• In my book, an S.O.B. is someone who uses whatever tactics it takes to get the job done—to rise to the top.
  • The Quotable Tycoon: An Irreverent Collection Of Brutally Honest And Inspirational Business Wisdom (Naperville: Sourcebooks, 2004), p. 86

• Only cream and S.O.B.s rise to the top.
  • Confessions of an S.O.B. (New York: Doubleday, 1989), p. 6

• Everyone should fail in a big way at least once before they’re forty. I don’t mean little disappointments, like screwing up an important assignment or quitting a good job or even getting fired from a normal job. It needs to be a big failure. You can only fail big if you take a big risk. The bigger you fail, the bigger you’re likely to succeed later.
  • Confessions of an S.O.B. (New York: Doubleday, 1989), p. 24

• The difference between a mountain and a molehill is your perspective.
  • Confessions of an S.O.B. (New York: Doubleday, 1989), p. 67

• Eat only when you are hungry. Drink only when you’re thirsty. Sleep only when you’re tired. Screw only when you’re horny.
  • Confessions of an S.O.B. (New York: Doubleday, 1989), p. 288

• Be as nice as possible and as nasty as necessary.
  • Confessions of an S.O.B. (New York: Doubleday, 1989), p. 358

• Life is a game and a gamble.
  • Free Spirit (Arlington: Newseum Books, 2000), p. 29

• Ideas are harder to promote than products or personalities.
  • Free Spirit (Arlington: Newseum Books, 2000), p. 48

• We in the media could help [the insurance situation] if we put in proper perspective long range hurricane forecasts that often are exaggerated and play into insurers’ hands.
  • "Getting blown away," Florida Today, November 30, 2007

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Al Neuharth