And I never forgot what he said, Bill Clinton. He looked at me, and he said, “You know, Leon, you can be the greatest OMB director in the history of the world, but nobody’s going to remember you if the White House has fallen apart!” I never forgot that.
Originally asked
Vogue, to one guest at a time, on camera, 73 Questions
A repeated rapid-fire prompt in Vogue's 73 Questions, verified in separate English- and Korean-language episodes.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
KKR, 2024 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 37 →When I first met Sergeant Jackson I had grown a mustache and had taken up the affectation of smoking cigars, because I thought this made me look, you know, quite dashing and much older than my 22 years, or what have you. And the first thing that Sergeant Jackson did after I asked him to, in essence, take the insignia off, you know, just tell me straight up what I could do to improve my performance. And he told me, he said, “Well, the first thing, shave off that ridiculous mustache, and quite smoking the cigars — because you look absurd — and be yourself.” And I don’t think I ever forgot that. I don’t think I ever tried an affectation after that point in my life.
Harold Prince went to see it and he wrote me a letter saying don’t be discouraged about this because actually there’s some quite good songs in here. But he also said something which stayed with me all my life, which is that you can’t listen to a musical if you can’t look at it, by which he was actually saying that the designs for Jeeves were absolutely hideous.
Well, I remember Steven Spielberg was incredibly informed about lenses and technical things, and that made him very instinctive in terms of how he directed: “Do it quicker, faster, something’s not right.” He is totally spontaneous, he doesn’t try to measure his direction but it’s very true, it’s very direct and for that reason, very exciting.
More from Henry R. Kravis
View profile →Oh, all the time. We have a fear all the time. But that’s what keeps us going, that’s what keeps us focused. You have to have a fear. People who say, “I have no fear. I’m not afraid of ever failing,” are kidding themselves. Sometimes it’s the fear of failure, of not wanting to fail, that makes people as great as they are. I know that’s what pushes me, a lot.
In 50 years, I hope to be remembered not just as an industrialist but as someone who believed in the potential of people and worked to leave the world better than he found it.
As I reflect on my journey, I am forever grateful to have always had George by my side. As I said in the beginning, my story is really our story. George influenced almost every decision I made in life and my friendship and kinship with him deeply influenced the man I am today.
I don’t like those people that only want to be nice to people that they consider their equal or above them as far as maybe they’ve got money or something like that.
We have made many investments in our history. Not all have succeeded. As entrepreneurs willing to take some risk, we have made many mistakes. But when we are successful, we leave the company better than we found it.
Education is the cornerstone of unlocking human potential, and it's something I believe should be available to every individual, regardless of their circumstances.
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