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Quotes

  • “It comes down to tactics…. I don’t want to do anything first. I want to do seven things all at once.” (Tom Brennan)

  • “Learn it right, and you’ll do it right for the rest of your life. Learn it wrong, and spent the rest of your life trying to get it right.”     (Unknown)

  • “Don’t confuse enthusiasm with capability.”     (Unknown)

  • “We can practice leadership principles, but the only to learn to use them is to lead…”     (Judy Columbus)

  • “Train the way you’re going to fight or die the way you were trained.”     (Unknown)

  • “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”     (Vince Lombardi)

  • “Any firefighter should know how, a good firefighter knows why.”     (Unknown)

  • “A fireman who says he is never afraid, he’s either a fool or not a fireman.”   (Chief Bob Lewis (via Captain Shane Comparetto, Hardeeville (SC) Fire Department))

 

  • “He’s not heavy, he’s my brother.”   (Lt. Richard Dollahan Engine Company 325 Bluffton Twp. Fire District)

 

  • “Some days you’re the windshield… some days you’re the bug.”  (Elizabeth McDowell)

 

  • “It’s all about the man next to you, that’s it, that’s all there is. ” (Unknown)

 

  • “Good, fast, cheap… pick two”  (Captain Chris Garniewicz, BTFD T375)

  • “Complacency and laziness breed further complacency and laziness, and the only way to stop it is by removing it from our mindset.”  (From “PLAY LIKE YOU PRACTICE: Part 1 “Introduction to the concept” | Traditions Training Blog)

  • “The firefighters’ leadership, bravery and technical knowledge are tested on an everyday basis…  They cannot hide behind rank, a desk or e-mail.”  (Quote from article in the “Marine Corps Gazette”. Excerpted from “First In Last Out: Leadership Lessons of the New York Fire Department, John Salka)

  • “If everyone showed up at fires naked, I guarantee no one would get hurt…  (instead) they give us helmets on our first day.  Our job is risky, sometimes we need to accept that and do our job”  (Anonymous)

  • “If you only do what you’ve always done, you’ll only be as good as you’ve ever been.” (Robert “Bob” Murgallis)

  • “Firefighters are hired to take calculated risks… (there) are some safety risks that are only taken because of ignorance, or lack of training which amounts to the same thing.” (Jim Casey, From “The Editor’s Opinion Page”, Fire Engineering April 1976)

  • If you do not want to risk your life for your neighbors please turn in your badge, your pager, your gear, and your self-proclaimed title of “hero”.   No one put a gun to your head and said, ‘You will be a firefighter!’” (The Fire Service Warrior, From “We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident”, December 27, 2010)

  • The Cavalry adage of “feed the horses first, then the men, then the officers” (Matt Leonard, DCFD, from “Managing a Bunkroom:Part 1: Identify Your Members, FDLiveIn.com)

  • “We the willing, led by the unknowing, continue to do the impossible for the ungrateful.” (Unknown)

  • “Am I being effective in my efforts or am I merely showing up in my fireman costume to watch a house burn down?” (Joe Brown, www.justlookingbusy.wordpress.com)

  • “We are what we repeatedly do… Excellence then, is not an but a habit.” (Aristotle)

  • “Life’s tough, wear a cup.” (Comment cited in “Misguided Anger”, September 8, 2011, www.backstepfirefighter.com) 

  • “Romantic visions of courage and heroism are the stuff from which novels are constructed, but the reality of courage and heroism to a firefighter is hard, dirty work.”  (From “Report From Engine Co. 82″)

  • “When your attitude is sick, stay home, or at least stay away from me. I don’t want your emotional vomit on me.” (Chief Rich Gasaway, via Twitter) 

  • “If you’re going to swing for the fence, make sure you can run the bases.” (Bill Carey, from “Biggest Lesson From DCFD Logo Rebuttal: Tact”, www.backstepfirefighter.com, January 5, 2012)
  • Some are associated with a great company. Others make a company great.  (RE: John Vigiano, Lt. Rescue Company 2, Captain Ladder Company 132, FDNY (ret.) (From Bill Carey’s Facebook Page))
  • “Leadership is a verb, not a noun”
  • “Learn the job, by doing the job”  (from the Fire Department Training Network (FDTN) promo video)