16 Quotes from Experts on the Art of Business
It’s time to do some spring cleaning, including a mental refresh. Get rid of some of those musty old business ideas you’ve kept for too long. Look to the experts in the art of business and success for some new inspiration:
1. “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” - Sam Walton, the man behind Walmart and Sam’s Club
2. “I want to put a ding in the universe.” - Steve Jobs co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc.
3. “An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” - Jack Welch, chairman and CEO of General Electric
4. “Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.” - Andy Warhol, American pop artist
5. “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” - Henry Ford, founder and chairman of Ford Motor Company
6. “Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon.” - Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II
7. “The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them.” - Benjamin Jowett, a renowned educational reformer at the University of Oxford
8. “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” - Seneca the Younger, a Roman statesman, philosopher, and advisor
9. “Details create the big picture.” - Sanford I. Weill, banker and philanthropist, former chairman and CEO of Citigroup
10. “In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.” - Harold Geneen, former chairman of ITT Corporation
11. “I have a three-legged milk stool in my office perched on top of a cabinet. It is a great symbol for how to succeed in business. There are three legs: Take care of the customer, have a little fun, make a little money. If you don't do that, it doesn't work, but if you do, it comes together easily.” - Larry H. Miller, car sales franchise founder and later owner of the Utah Jazz
12. “If your passion is business and your business is a passion, you’re going to have the love affair of a lifetime!” - Michael Cullinan, managing director at Rapid Finance, an Australian-based organization
13. “Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done.” - Peter Drucker, management consultant and educator from Australia (of the Drucker Institute)
14. “Hell, there are no rules here—we're trying to accomplish something.” - Thomas Edison, inventor
15. “Whenever an individual or a business decides that success has been attained, progress stops.” - Thomas J. Watson, former chairman and CEO of IBM
16. "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." - Henry Ford
Need more inspiration?
