--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I can do it, I'll do it better than it…" description: "\"“If I can do it, I'll do it better than it was ever done before, and if I can't do that I'll quit to save you the embarrassment of firing me.”\" — Peter..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/peter-b-kyne-94010_embarrassment_if-i-can-do-it-i-ll-do-it-better-than-it_410796.jpg" --- # If I can do it, I'll do it better than it was ever done… ![“If I can do it, I'll do it better than it was ever done before, and if I can't do that I'll quit to save you the embarrassment of firing me.” quote by Peter B. Kyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/peter-b-kyne-94010_embarrassment_if-i-can-do-it-i-ll-do-it-better-than-it_410796.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/peter-b-kyne-94010_embarrassment_if-i-can-do-it-i-ll-do-it-better-than-it_410796.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d5/peter-b-kyne-94010_embarrassment_if-i-can-do-it-i-ll-do-it-better-than-it_410796.jpg) > ““If I can do it, I'll do it better than it was ever done before, and if I can't do that I'll quit to save you the embarrassment of firing me.”” [Peter B. Kyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-b-kyne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If capable, strive to improve beyond past achievements; if not, step aside to avoid causing others embarrassment. **In simple terms:** Do your best or quit to protect others from shame. Key Takeaway Commit to excellence or gracefully withdraw. Themes excellence humility responsibility performance self‑awareness Mood pragmatic serious Type advice motivational When to use this quote - project work - sports - creative endeavors - employment Key Concepts self‑improvement team dynamics leadership Questions to Reflect On - When is it better to quit than to continue? - How do you handle potential embarrassment? A Different Perspective Perfectionism can hinder progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Embarrassment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embarrassment/) [Embarrassment Firing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embarrassment-firing-3662536/) [Firing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firing/) [Quit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quit/) [Save Embarrassment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/save-embarrassment-988112/) ## Related quotes > [I've never had something - like, you know, drunk people have tried to do that to me, and I instantly shut it off. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-rogen/i-ve-never-had-something-like-you-know-drunk-people-have-tried-to-do/) [Seth Rogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-rogen/) > [By push of bayonets, no firing until you see the whites in their eyes!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-agnew/by-push-of-bayonets-no-firing-until-you-see-the-whites-in-their-eyes/) [Andrew Agnew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-agnew/) > [We should be firing bad teachers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/we-should-be-firing-bad-teachers/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [In discussions around the hiring and firing of Black faculty at universities, the charge is frequently heard that Black women are more easily hired…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/in-discussions-around-the-hiring-and-firing-of-black-faculty-at/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [The number of possible "on-off" patterns of neuronal firing is immense, estimated as a staggering ten times ten one million times (ten to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-siegel/the-number-of-possible-on-off-patterns-of-neuronal-firing-is-immense/) [Daniel J. Siegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-siegel/) > [I have issued the command, and I'll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad, that our war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-have-issued-the-command-and-i-ll-have-anybody-who-utters-but-one/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Welcome to Israel, where chanting “Death to Arabs” is democracy, running over children is equality, and firing on funerals is peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remi-kanazi/welcome-to-israel-where-chanting-death-to-arabs-is-democracy-running/) [Remi Kanazi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remi-kanazi/) > [Every firing happens differently except in this one respect: the person being fired can't believe how fast it happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-kelman/every-firing-happens-differently-except-in-this-one-respect-the/) [Glenn Kelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-kelman/) > [Move in to fire at the mainstream of bombers. Let off a sharp burst and then turn away. Roll over, spin round and come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iron-maiden/move-in-to-fire-at-the-mainstream-of-bombers-let-off-a-sharp-burst/) [Iron Maiden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iron-maiden/) > [The best way to find things out is not to ask questions at all. If you fire off a question, it is like firing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-best-way-to-find-things-out-is-not-to-ask-questions-at-all-if-you/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [The day firing becomes easy is the day to fire yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/the-day-firing-becomes-easy-is-the-day-to-fire-yourself/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [If you take a shot at someone, you keep firing until they can no longer return fire. Wound them, and you have an angry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-traviss/if-you-take-a-shot-at-someone-you-keep-firing-until-they-can-no/) [Karen Traviss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-traviss/) > [If I sleep for more than half an hour, I get horrible dreams in which I'm firing a gun and helicopters are coming down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-jal/if-i-sleep-for-more-than-half-an-hour-i-get-horrible-dreams-in-which/) [Emmanuel Jal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-jal/) > [By far the most difficult skill I learned as a C.E.O. was the ability to manage my own psychology. Organizational design, process design, metrics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-horowitz/by-far-the-most-difficult-skill-i-learned-as-a-c-e-o-was-the-ability/) [Ben Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-horowitz/) > [I did archery when I was in high school. In our gym class we had two weeks of archery, and I remember taking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barrowman/i-did-archery-when-i-was-in-high-school-in-our-gym-class-we-had-two/) [John Barrowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barrowman/) ## More by Peter B. Kyne > [“Any desert land that will grow big sage will produce more fortunes thatn most gold mines -- if you can only get the water.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-b-kyne/any-desert-land-that-will-grow-big-sage-will-produce-more-fortunes/) [Peter B. Kyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-b-kyne/) [Explore all 2 Peter B. Kyne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-b-kyne/) ## More Embarrassment quotes > [Having no regrets is very unrealistic. Everyone has that awkward or embarrassing moment they wish they could take back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayden-hayes/having-no-regrets-is-very-unrealistic-everyone-has-that-awkward-or/) [Jayden Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayden-hayes/) > [So many wonderful books to write, and not enough hours in the day. An embarrassment of riches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/so-many-wonderful-books-to-write-and-not-enough-hours-in-the-day-an/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [“George's hand lifted and fell away again. It seemed an insult to imply that anything so small as a touch could stop the raw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mette-ivie-harrison/george-s-hand-lifted-and-fell-away-again-it-seemed-an-insult-to-imply/) [Mette Ivie Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mette-ivie-harrison/) > [Charles Darwin viewed the fossil record more as an embarrassment than as an aid to his theory ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/charles-darwin-viewed-the-fossil-record-more-as-an-embarrassment-than/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [One day each scene that you spent in this life will flash before you, make sure you're not embarrassed watching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/one-day-each-scene-that-you-spent-in-this-life-will-flash-before-you/) [Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/) > [“-I die. Before I die my body turns hair-side-in. People come from everywhere to see the insides of themselves. But the sight makes them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-haldeman/i-die-before-i-die-my-body-turns-hair-side-in-people-come-from/) [Joe Haldeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-haldeman/) > [I don't want to be the embarrassment of the galaxy to have had the power to deflect an asteroid, and then not and end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-be-the-embarrassment-of-the-galaxy-to-have-had-the/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [That awkward moment, when you're out in public and you hear someone call your name. Just to turn around and figure out that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-swenson/that-awkward-moment-when-you-re-out-in-public-and-you-hear-someone/) [Emma Swenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-swenson/) > [“I understand how families become estranged, not by design, but by embarrassment. You come to a point when so much time has passed that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-richmond/i-understand-how-families-become-estranged-not-by-design-but-by/) [Michelle Richmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-richmond/) > [A bird in the hand may be worth two in the bush, but remember also that a bird in the hand is a positive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-ade/a-bird-in-the-hand-may-be-worth-two-in-the-bush-but-remember-also/) [George Ade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-ade/) > [“No one has ever died of embarrassment-never, not once in the whole history of time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/no-one-has-ever-died-of-embarrassment-never-not-once-in-the-whole/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [ \[Winning the White House was an achievement\], but as an African-American, \[Barack Obama\], I think the symbolism is in how he conducted himself. The… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/winning-the-white-house-was-an-achievement-but-as-an-african-american/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [The job of the media is not to protect the powerful from embarrassment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-jenkins/the-job-of-the-media-is-not-to-protect-the-powerful-from-embarrassment/) [Simon Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-jenkins/) > [I have no qualms: no shame, no guilt, no embarrassment. I tend to act out a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendon-urie/i-have-no-qualms-no-shame-no-guilt-no-embarrassment-i-tend-to-act-out/) [Brendon Urie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendon-urie/) > [The secret of the creative life is to feel at ease with your own embarrassment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-schrader/the-secret-of-the-creative-life-is-to-feel-at-ease-with-your-own/) [Paul Schrader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-schrader/) [Browse all 633 Embarrassment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embarrassment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If I can do it, I'll do it better than it was ever done before, and if I can't do that I'll quit to save you the embarrassment of firing me.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter B. 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