--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: General Motors has no bad years, only…" description: "\"General Motors has no bad years, only good years and better years.\" — Harlow Curtice" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60e/harlow-curtice-107566_bad-years_general-motors-has-no-bad-years-only-goo_3070839.jpg" --- # General Motors has no bad years, only good years and… ![“General Motors has no bad years, only good years and better years.” quote by Harlow Curtice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60e/harlow-curtice-107566_bad-years_general-motors-has-no-bad-years-only-goo_3070839.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60e/harlow-curtice-107566_bad-years_general-motors-has-no-bad-years-only-goo_3070839.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60e/harlow-curtice-107566_bad-years_general-motors-has-no-bad-years-only-goo_3070839.jpg) > “General Motors has no bad years, only good years and better years.” Harlow Curtice ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. General Motors experiences cycles of improvement; focusing on progress rather than labeling years as bad. **In simple terms:** GM sees only good and better years. Key Takeaway Focus on continuous improvement. Themes business growth optimism leadership performance Mood optimistic confident forward-looking Type Bad years:0 General motors:1 Good years:1 Inspirational:1 Motor:0 Years:0 Good Year:0 Years Better:0 Better Years:0 Years Good:0 When to use this quote - annual reports - shareholder meetings - strategic reviews Key Concepts continuous improvement positive framing strategic planning industry cycles Questions to Reflect On - How can companies turn “bad” years into learning? - What metrics define “better” years? A Different Perspective Ignoring challenges can hinder learning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-years/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) ## Related quotes > [We’re going to have good years again. Our bad years are not that bad. Take a school like Missouri. Our bad years are better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deloss-dodds/we-re-going-to-have-good-years-again-our-bad-years-are-not-that-bad/) DeLoss Dodds > [Martina and I went through a very bad five years. Everything's very good between us now, but it was a long haul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billie-jean-king/martina-and-i-went-through-a-very-bad-five-years-everything-s-very/) [Billie Jean King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billie-jean-king/) > [Look, even bad years are pretty good years I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-downey-jr/look-even-bad-years-are-pretty-good-years-i-think/) [Robert Downey, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-downey-jr/) > [You have good games, you have bad games. You have good years, you have bad years. I have always been kind of philosophical about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-nash/you-have-good-games-you-have-bad-games-you-have-good-years-you-have/) [Steve Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-nash/) > [I liked working with Republicans. We had five pretty good years after we had that bad year in '95 that culminated in two government…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/i-liked-working-with-republicans-we-had-five-pretty-good-years-after/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [Life expectancy in America is about 79, we should be able to live to 92. Somewhere along the line, we're leaving 13 years on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-buettner/life-expectancy-in-america-is-about-79-we-should-be-able-to-live-to/) [Dan Buettner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-buettner/) > [I have many years to get better and better, and that has to be my ambition. The day you think there is no improvements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-messi/i-have-many-years-to-get-better-and-better-and-that-has-to-be-my/) [Lionel Messi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-messi/) > [Over the years, you get better at timing because you've been through the situations thousands of times. The ball goes over your head; he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-boateng/over-the-years-you-get-better-at-timing-because-you-ve-been-through/) [Jerome Boateng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-boateng/) > [After 14 years, it better be a real marriage, you know? We do have a great time together. We are really lucky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyra-sedgwick/after-14-years-it-better-be-a-real-marriage-you-know-we-do-have-a/) [Kyra Sedgwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyra-sedgwick/) > [America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-we-are-better-than-these-last-eight-years-we-are-a-better/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [A love that lasts for twenty years may be better than love, but it isn't love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/a-love-that-lasts-for-twenty-years-may-be-better-than-love-but-it-isn/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [If you're only making an album every 10 years, it better be good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sade-adu/if-you-re-only-making-an-album-every-10-years-it-better-be-good/) [Sade Adu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sade-adu/) > [I tell my students, if you are going to spend days and months and years with someone, you had better like that person!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-nagel/i-tell-my-students-if-you-are-going-to-spend-days-and-months-and/) Susan Nagel > [If they can play eight more years, then I can too. I'm in better shape than they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teemu-selanne/if-they-can-play-eight-more-years-then-i-can-too-i-m-in-better-shape/) [Teemu Selanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teemu-selanne/) > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More by Harlow Curtice > [Do it the hard way! Think ahead of your job. Then nothing in the world can keep the job ahead from reaching out for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlow-curtice/do-it-the-hard-way-think-ahead-of-your-job-then-nothing-in-the-world/) Harlow Curtice Explore all 2 Harlow Curtice quotes ## More Bad years quotes > [Great players have bad years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joey-votto/great-players-have-bad-years/) [Joey Votto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joey-votto/) > [Don't plant your bad days. They grow into weeks. The weeks grow into months. Before you know it, you got yourself a bad year.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/don-t-plant-your-bad-days-they-grow-into-weeks-the-weeks-grow-into/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [You have good games, you have bad games. You have good years, you have bad years. I have always been kind of philosophical about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-nash/you-have-good-games-you-have-bad-games-you-have-good-years-you-have/) [Steve Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-nash/) > [Martina and I went through a very bad five years. Everything's very good between us now, but it was a long haul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billie-jean-king/martina-and-i-went-through-a-very-bad-five-years-everything-s-very/) [Billie Jean King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billie-jean-king/) > [You flip the switch. Flip the switch and go into work mode. You're a professional, so be a professional. You can take care of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-faison/you-flip-the-switch-flip-the-switch-and-go-into-work-mode-you-re-a/) [Donald Faison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-faison/) > [For me, there's a bad year of getting started on something. You write bad stuff and it's awkward to throw it out, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whit-stillman/for-me-there-s-a-bad-year-of-getting-started-on-something-you-write/) [Whit Stillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whit-stillman/) > [I had good years when I took steroids, and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mcgwire/i-had-good-years-when-i-took-steroids-and-i-had-bad-years-when-i-took/) [Mark McGwire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mcgwire/) > [So many businesses get worried about looking like they might make a mistake, they become afraid to take any risk. Companies are set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/so-many-businesses-get-worried-about-looking-like-they-might-make-a-2/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [I liked working with Republicans. We had five pretty good years after we had that bad year in '95 that culminated in two government…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/i-liked-working-with-republicans-we-had-five-pretty-good-years-after/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [ I've had few dull moments \[in my life\] and not too many sad and defeated ones. In saying this I am by no means… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buster-keaton/i-ve-had-few-dull-moments-in-my-life-and-not-too-many-sad-and/) [Buster Keaton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buster-keaton/) > [The Republicans have a habit of having three bad years and one good one, and the good one always happens to be election years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/the-republicans-have-a-habit-of-having-three-bad-years-and-one-good/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [Jessica Simpson attended boyfriend Tony Romo's football game. The Cowboys quarterback had the worst game of his career. It's a bad year for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-handler/jessica-simpson-attended-boyfriend-tony-romo-s-football-game-the/) [Chelsea Handler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-handler/) > [“All great companies have passed through bad years that forced soul-searching and rethinking of priorities. How we deal with them will be the litmus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-schultz/all-great-companies-have-passed-through-bad-years-that-forced-soul/) [Howard Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-schultz/) > [I'm just into having fun, because I went through some bad years that really depressed me and made me angry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-young/i-m-just-into-having-fun-because-i-went-through-some-bad-years-that/) [Sean Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-young/) > [I was a bit of a hothead. But I've changed my ways now. My bad years were probably from 2009 to 2014.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-hus/i-was-a-bit-of-a-hothead-but-i-ve-changed-my-ways-now-my-bad-years/) [J Hus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-hus/) [Browse all 22 Bad years quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-years/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "General Motors has no bad years, only good years and better years.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Harlow Curtice" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlow-curtice/general-motors-has-no-bad-years-only-good-years-and-better-years/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bad years" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlow-curtice/general-motors-has-no-bad-years-only-good-years-and-better-years/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60e/harlow-curtice-107566_bad-years_general-motors-has-no-bad-years-only-goo_3070839.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60e/harlow-curtice-107566_bad-years_general-motors-has-no-bad-years-only-goo_3070839.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/60e/harlow-curtice-107566_bad-years_general-motors-has-no-bad-years-only-goo_3070839.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“General Motors has no bad years, only good years and better years.” — Harlow Curtice", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Harlow Curtice", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harlow-curtice/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "General Motors has no bad years,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlow-curtice/general-motors-has-no-bad-years-only-good-years-and-better-years/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harlow-curtice/general-motors-has-no-bad-years-only-good-years-and-better-years/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```