No enterprise can exist for itself alone. It ministers to some great need, it performs some great service, not for itself, but for others; or failing therein, it ceases to be profitable and ceases to exist.
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American Head of State, Lawyer
In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.
—Harold S. Geneen (1910–1997) British-American Businessman
Blessed is he who talks in circles, for he shall become a big wheel.
—Frank Lane (1896–1981) American Sportsperson, Businessperson
To take something from a person and keep it for oneself: that is robbery. To take something from one person and then turn it over to another in exchange for as much money as you can get: that is business. Robbery is so much more stupid, since it is satisfied with a single, frequently dangerous profit; whereas in business it can be doubled without danger.
—Octave Mirbeau (1848–1917) French Journalist, Art Critic, Novelist, Playwright
It may never come, but I fancy than no man who has sympathy for the human race does not wish that sometime those who labor should have the whole product of their toil. Probably it will never come, but I wish that the time might come when men who work in the industries would own the industries.
—Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American Civil Liberties Lawyer
Show me the business man or institution not guided by sentiment and service; by the idea that “he profits most who serves best” and I will show you a man or an outfit that is dead or dying.
—Charles Spurgeon (1834–92) English Baptist Preacher
The most important word in the vocabulary of advertising is test. If you pretest your product with consumers, and pretest your advertising, you will do well in the marketplace.
—David Ogilvy (1911–99) British-American Advertising Executive
Business, that’s easily defined; it’s other people’s money.
—Alexandre Dumas, pere (1802–1870) French Novelist, Playwright
There’s a lot more business out there in small town America than I ever dreamed of.
—Sam Walton (1918–92) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
All business depends upon men fulfilling their responsibilities.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Goodwill is the one and only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy.
—Marshall Field (1834–1906) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson, Philanthropist
Never write an advertisement which you wouldn’t want your own family to read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them to mine. Do as you would be done by. If you tell lies about a product, you will be found out — either by the Government, which will prosecute you, or by the consumer, who will punish you by not buying your product a second time. Good products can be sold by honest advertising. If you don’t think the product is good, you have no business to be advertising it.
—David Ogilvy (1911–99) British-American Advertising Executive
Feedback is the breakfast of champions.
—Ken Blanchard (b.1939) American Author, Management Consultant
If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.
If you teach a man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
—Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie (1837–1919) English Novelist, Biographer
The best mental effort in the game of business is concentrated on the major problem of securing the consumer’s dollar before the other fellow gets it.
—Stuart Chase (1888–1985) American Economist, Engineer, Author
People expect a certain reaction from a business and when you pleasantly exceed those expectations, you’ve somehow passed an important psychological threshold.
—Richard Thalheimer (b.1948) American Entrepreneur
A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
I buy when other people are selling.
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Business Person, Art Collector, Philanthropist
Few great men could pass personal.
—Paul Goodman (1911–72) American Novelist, Essayist
Attend no auctions if thou hast no money.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
You can employ men and hire hands to work for you, but you will have to win their hearts to have them work with you.
—William J. H. Boetcker (1873–1962) American Presbyterian Minister
Perhaps the most distinguishing trait of visionary leaders is that they believe in a goal that benefits not only themselves, but others as well. It is such vision that attracts the psychic energy of other people, and makes them willing to work beyond the call of duty for the organization.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
Formerly when great fortunes were only made in war, war was a business; but now when great fortunes are only made by business, business is war.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
We let folks know we’re interested in them and that they’re vital to us. ‘Cause they are.
—Sam Walton (1918–92) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
When you are skinning your customers you should leave some skin on to grow again so that you can skin them again.
—Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) Russian Head of State, Political leader
I understand small business growth. I was one.
—George W. Bush (b.1946) American Head of State, Businessperson
More business is lost every year through neglect than through any other cause.
—Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (1890–1995) American Philanthropist, Socialite
A free-enterprise economy depends only on markets, and according to the most advanced mathematical macroeconomic theory, markets depend only on moods: specifically, the mood of the men in the pinstripes, also known as the Boys on the Street. When the Boys are in a good mood, the market thrives; when they get scared or sullen, it is time for each one of us to look into the retail apple business.
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b.1941) American Social Critic, Essayist
The meek shall inherit the earth, but not its mineral rights.
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Business Person, Art Collector, Philanthropist
If each of us hires people smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs.
—David Ogilvy (1911–99) British-American Advertising Executive
A generation which has passed through the shop has absorbed standards and ambitions which are not of those of spaciousness, and cannot get away from them. Everything with them is done as though for sale, and they naturally have in view the greatest possible benefit, profit and that end of the stuff that will make the best show.
—Alexander Herzen (1812–70) Russian Revolutionary, Writer
What’s good for the country is good for General Motors, and vice versa.
—Charles E. Wilson (1886–1972) American Businessperson
The people who think that the power of big business is enormous are mistaken
—Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) Austrian Economist, Philosopher, Author
Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.
—Richard Branson (b.1950) British Entrepreneur
The busy have no time for tears.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
You can’t run a business or anything else on a theory.
—Harold S. Geneen (1910–1997) British-American Businessman
The best time to do great customer service is when a customer is upset.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
Do not leave to the morning the business of the evening.
—Turkish Proverb
In business for yourself, not by yourself.
—Ray Kroc (1902–84) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
There’s always room at the top.
—Common Proverb
Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts.
—Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) South African Political leader
When a man says that he approves something in principal, it means he hasn’t the slightest intention of putting it in practice.
—Otto von Bismarck (1815–98) German Chancellor, Prime Minister
Markets change, tastes change, so the companies and the individuals who choose to compete in those markets must change.
—An Wang (1920–90) Chinese-born American Engineer, Inventor, Entrepreneur
Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.
—Andy Warhol (1928–87) American Painter, Printmaker, Film Personality
Our jobs determine to a large extent what our lives are like. Is what you do for a living making you ill? Does it keep you from becoming a more fully realized person? Do you feel ashamed of what you have to do at work? All too often, the answer to such questions is yes. Yet it does not have to be like that. Work can be one of the most joyful, most fulfilling aspects of life. Whether it will be or not depends on the actions we collectively take.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
You read a book from beginning to end. You run a business the opposite way. You start with the end, and then you do everything you must to reach it.
—Harold S. Geneen (1910–1997) British-American Businessman
Don’t try to be the ‘next’. Instead, try to be the other, the changer, the new.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
He who will not apply himself to business, eventually discovers that he means to get his bread by cheating, stealing, or begging, or else is wholly void of reason.
—Xenophon (c.430–c.354 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
The market is not an invention of capitalism. It has existed for centuries. It s an invention of civilization.
—Mikhail Gorbachev (b.1931) Soviet Head of State
A leader will find it difficult to articulate a coherent vision unless it expresses his core values, his basic identity…one must first embark on the formidable journey of self-discovery in order to create a vision with authentic soul.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
Perpetual devotion to what a man calls his business, is only to be sustained by perpetual neglect of many other things.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.
—John Wanamaker (1838–1922) American Merchant, Civil Servant
Commerce is a game of skill, which every man cannot play, which few men can play well. The right merchant is one who has the just average of faculties we call commonsense; a man of strong affinity for facts, who makes up his decision on what he has seen. He is thoroughly persuaded of the truths of arithmetic. There is always a reason, in the man, for his good or bad fortune; and so, in making money. Men talk as if there were some magic about this, and believe in magic, in all parts of life. He knows that all goes on the old road, pound for pound, cent for cent-for every effect a perfect cause-and that good luck is another name for tenacity of purpose.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The trade-unionist has the same limitation imposed upon him as the capitalist. He cannot advance his interests at the expense of society.
—Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) British Head of State, Journalist
The best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants them to do, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises but only performance is reality.
—Harold S. Geneen (1910–1997) British-American Businessman
People want economy and they’ll pay almost any price to get it.
—Lee Iacocca (1924–2019) American Businessperson
Once you have permission to talk to someone, finding new products or services for them is a smart way to grow.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
One way to think about running a successful business is to figure out what the least you can do is, and do that.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
You can hype a questionable product for a little while, but you’ll never build an enduring business.
—Victor Kiam (1926–2001) American Entrepreneur
He who looks daily after his field finds a corn.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
It is not the employer who pays the wages. He only handles the money. It is the product that pays the wages.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
I have the same credo with my land as I had with my business: He who profits most serves the best.
—Ted Turner (b.1938) American Businessperson, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
The secret to success is to know something nobody else knows.
—Aristotle Onassis (1906–75) Greek Businessperson
It is difficult, but not impossible, to conduct strictly honest business.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Most men are individuals no longer so far as their business, its activities, or its moralities are concerned. They are not units but fractions; with their individuality and independence of choice in matters of business they have lost all their individual choice within the field of morals.
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
A man with a surplus can control circumstances, but a man without a surplus is controlled by them, and often he has no opportunity to exercise judgment.
—Harvey Samuel Firestone (1868–1938) American Businessperson
It is much more difficult to measure non-performance than performance. Performance stands out like a ton of diamonds. Non-performance can almost always be explained away.
—Harold S. Geneen (1910–1997) British-American Businessman
He who thinks his place below him, will certainly be below his place.
—George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax (1633–95) British Statesman, Writer, Politician
There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes.
—William Bennett (b.1943) American Politician, Political Theorist, Government Official
In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product and profits. Unless you’ve got a good team, you can’t do much with the other two.
—Lee Iacocca (1924–2019) American Businessperson
The one sure way to conciliate a tiger is to allow oneself to be devoured.
—Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967) German Head of State, Politician, Lawyer
Developing expertise or assets that are not easily copied is essential; otherwise you’re just a middleman.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
—Bill Gates (b.1955) American Businessperson, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Author
Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people.
—David Sarnoff (1891–1972) American Broadcaster, Businessman
Markets as well as mobs respond to human emotions; markets as well as mobs can be inflamed to their own destruction.
—Owen D. Young (1874–1962) American Businessperson, Lawyer, Diplomat
Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
There is no better ballast for keeping the mind steady on its keel, and saving it from all risk of crankiness, than business.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
A businessman is a hybrid between a dancer and a calculator.
—Paul Valery (1871–1945) French Critic, Poet
Industry is the soul of business and the keystone of prosperity.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
If you call one thing good, you must call its opposite bad. If you think it wonderful to make a big profit in your business, you will also think it terrible if you incur a large loss. The idea is to live above the opposites.
—Vernon Howard (1918–92) American Spiritual Teacher, Philosopher
Make a decision. It doesn’t have to be a wise decision or a perfect one. Just make one.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
Every business and every product has risks. You can’t get around it.
—Lee Iacocca (1924–2019) American Businessperson
Far too many executives have become more concerned with the “four P’s” — pay, perks, power and prestige — rather than making profits for shareholders.
—T. Boone Pickens (1928–2019) American Businessman, Financier
In a balanced organization, working towards a common objective, there is success.
—Arthur Helps (1813–75) English Dramatist, Essayist
The magic formula that successful businesses have discovered is to treat customers like guests and employees like people.
—Tom Peters (b.1942) American Management Consultant, Author
If we listened to our intellect we’d never have a love affair. We’d never have a friendship. We’d never go in business because we’d be cynical: It’s gonna go wrong. Or She’s going to hurt me. Or, I’ve had a couple of bad love affairs, so therefore … Well, that’s nonsense. You’re going to miss life. You’ve got to jump off the cliff all the time and build your wings on the way down.
—Ray Bradbury (b.1920) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Business is really more agreeable than pleasure; it interests the whole mind, the aggregate nature of man more continuously, and more deeply. But it does not look as if it did.
—Walter Bagehot (1826–77) English Economist, Journalist
Give up control and give it away … The more you give your idea away, the more your company is going to be worth.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
It is the customer, and the customer alone, who casts the vote that determines how big any company should be…. The regulations laid down by the consuming public are far more potent and far less flexible than any code of law, merely through the exercise of the natural forces of trade.
—Crawford Greenewalt (1902–93) American Engineer
It’s better to make a decision, even the wrong one, than to be in limbo.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
Knowing oneself is not so much a question of discovering what is present in one’s self, but rather the creation of who one wants to be.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
The position you hold and the work you are now doing.
—Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806–67) American Poet, Playwright, Essayist
What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Treat employees like partners, and they act like partners.
—Fred Allen (1894–1956) American Humorist, Radio Personality
If thy business does not prosper in one town try another.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
Choose your customers. Fire the ones that hurt your ability to deliver the right story to the others.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
My father said: “You must never try to make all the money that’s in a deal. Let the other fellow make some money too, because if you have a reputation for always making all the money, you won’t have many deals.”
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Business Person, Art Collector, Philanthropist
Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.
—Donald Trump (b.1946) American Businessperson, Head of State
If your organization requires success before commitment, it will never have either.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
Stressing output is the key to improving productivity, while looking to increase activity can result in just the opposite.
—Andrew Grove (1936–2016) Hungarian-born American Businessperson
If I love you, what business is it of yours?
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
All lasting business is built on friendship.
—Alfred A. Montapert (1906–97) American Engineer, Philosopher
Our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions.
—Edward R. Murrow (1908–65) American Journalist, Radio Personality
Playing safe is very risky.
—Seth Godin (b.1960) American Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the last refuge of the trouble making individual.
—Natalie Clifford Barney (1876–1972) American Playwright, Poet, Novelist
When the product is right, you don’t have to be a great marketer.
—Lee Iacocca (1924–2019) American Businessperson
Some individuals have developed such strong internal standards that they no longer need the opinion of others to judge whether they have performed a task well or not. The ability to give objective feedback to oneself is in fact the mark of the expert.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.
—Warren Buffett (b.1930) American Investor
You don’t hear things that are bad about your company unless you ask. It is easy to hear good tidings, but you have to scratch to get the bad news.
—Thomas J. Watson, Sr. (1874–1956) American Business Executive
Don’t try to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. This can’t be done, except by liars.
—Bernard M. Baruch (1870–1965) American Financier, Economic Consultant
If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business.
—Ray Kroc (1902–84) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering, and providing tremendous service to customers. Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationships.
—Ross Perot (1930–2019) American Businessman
For every sale you miss because you’re too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you’re not enthusiastic enough.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
The downside, of course, is that over time religions become encrusted with precepts and ideas that are the antithesis of soul, as each faith tries to protect its doctrines and institution instead of nurturing the evolution of consciousness. If one is not careful to distinguish the genuine insights of a religion from its irrelevant accretions, one can go through life following an inappropriate moral compass.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.
—Victor Kiam (1926–2001) American Entrepreneur
When a management team with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.
—Warren Buffett (b.1930) American Investor
If we decide to take this level of business creating ability nationwide, we’ll all be plucking chickens for a living.
—Ross Perot (1930–2019) American Businessman
There’s only one boss: the customer. He can fire everybody from the chairman on down simply by spending his money elsewhere.
—Sam Walton (1918–92) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
To succeed in business, to reach the top, an individual must know all it is possible to know about that business.
—J. Paul Getty (1892–1976) American Business Person, Art Collector, Philanthropist
Nobody ever lost money taking a profit.
—Bernard M. Baruch (1870–1965) American Financier, Economic Consultant
People will buy anything that is ‘one to a customer.’
—Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) American Novelist, Short-Story Writer
Keep partners with him whom the hour favors.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
The consumer is not a moron. She is your wife. Try not to insult her intelligence.
—David Ogilvy (1911–99) British-American Advertising Executive
Our business in life is not to get ahead of others but to get ahead of ourselves – to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterdays by our today, to do our work with more force than ever before.
—Stewart B. Johnson
The crossroads of trade are the meeting place of ideas, the attrition ground of rival customs and beliefs; diversities beget conflict, comparison, thought; superstitions cancel one another, and reason begins.
—William C. Durant (1861–1947) American Industrialist
Well, I don’t know as I want a lawyer to tell me what I cannot do. I hire him to tell how to do what I want to do.
—J. P. Morgan (1837–1913) American Financier, Philanthropist, Art Collector
It’s better to take over and build upon an existing business than to start a new one.
—Harold S. Geneen (1910–1997) British-American Businessman
War is the business of barbarians.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
All business proceeds on beliefs, or judgments of probabilities, and not on certainties.
—Charles William Eliot (1834–1926) American Educator, Academic
Dealing with people is probably the biggest problem you face, especially if you are in business. Yes, and that is also true if you are a housewife, architect or engineer.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
In modern business it is not the crook who is to be feared most, it is the honest man who doesn’t know what he is doing.
—Owen D. Young (1874–1962) American Businessperson, Lawyer, Diplomat
That’s free enterprise, friends: freedom to gamble, freedom to lose. And the great thing — the truly democratic thing about it — is that you don’t even have to be a player to lose.
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b.1941) American Social Critic, Essayist
A man who cannot mind his own business is not to be trusted with the king’s.
—George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax (1633–95) British Statesman, Writer, Politician
It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.
—Warren Buffett (b.1930) American Investor
Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It’s something that we make happen, and it results from doing our best. Feeling fulfilled when we live up to our potentialities is what motivates differentiation and leads to evolution.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
—Unknown
The worst disease which can afflict executives in their work is not, as popularly supposed, alcoholism; it’s egotism.
—Harold S. Geneen (1910–1997) British-American Businessman
When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is usually the reputation of the business that remains intact.
—Warren Buffett (b.1930) American Investor
You can make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
Business is religion, and religion is business. The man who does not make a business of his religion has a religious life of no force, and the man who does not make a religion of his business has a business life of no character.
—Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858–1901) American Presbyterian Clergyman, Writer
Our business in this world is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
They are the guiding oracles which man has found out for himself in that great business of ours, of learning how to be, to do, to do without, and to depart.
—John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (1838–1923) British Political Leader, Writer, Editor, Journalist
Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production, and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer.
—Adam Smith (1723–90) Scottish Philosopher, Economist
Industry prospers when it offers people articles which they want more than they want anything they now have. The fact is that people never buy what they need. They buy what they want.
—Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958) American Inventor, Entrepreneur, Businessperson