A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.

We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and — in spite of True Romance magazines — we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely — at least, not all the time — but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.

Too often we measure everything and understand nothing. The three most important things you need to measure in a business are customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and cash flow. If you’re growing customer satisfaction, your global market share is sure to grow, too. Employee satisfaction gets you productivity, quality, pride, and creativity. And cash flow is the pulse—the key vital sign of a company.

A good cause has to be careful of the company it keeps.

The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer. Our goal is to be earth’s most customer-centric company.

Government isn’t that good at rapid advancement of technology. It tends to be better at funding basic research. To have things take off, you’ve got to have commercial companies do it.

Fate is fickle, and the company of unwilling friends short lived.

What the Supreme Court did in Citizens United is to say to these same billionaires and the corporations they control: ‘You own and control the economy, you own Wall Street, you own the coal companies, you own the oil companies. Now, for a very small percentage of your wealth, we’re going to give you the opportunity to own the United States Government.’ This is the essence of what Citizens United is all about – and that’s why it must be overturned.

Bad companies are destroyed by crisis, Good companies survive them, Great companies are improved by them.

Every company in America should be on its knees thanking Jesus for being born. Without Christmas, most American businesses would be far less profitable. More than enough reason for business to be screaming ‘Merry Christmas.’

During the 1999 debate over Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China President Bill Clinton said, ‘In opening the economy of China, the agreement will create unprecedented opportunities for American farmers, workers and companies to compete successfully in China’s market. WRONG: Our trade deficit with China has increased from $83 billion in 2001 to a record breaking $342 billion in 2014.

All we had ever heard about record company people is that they were vampires and criminals…and they killed Elvis Presley.

Most companies don’t die because they are wrong; they die because they don’t commit themselves. They fritter away their momentum and their valuable resources while attempting to make a decision. The greatest danger is standing still.

One of the great things about building a tech company is the amazing people that you can hire.

The climate, financial and national security crises are all connected. They share the same cause: Our [the USA’s] absurd dependency on foreign oil. As long as we need to spend billions of dollars each year to buy foreign oil from state-run oil companies in the Persian Gulf, our problems of a trade deficit, a budget deficit and a climate crisis will persist.

Actions speak louder than words. Businesses must act. Once the door to social consciousness is opened, bring the spirit of your company through it to affect change.

Countries with more gender equality have better economic growth. Companies with more women leaders perform better. Peace agreements that include women are more durable. Parliaments with more women enact more legislation on key social issues such as health, education, anti-discrimination and child support. The evidence is clear: equality for women means progress for all.

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.

My mother taught me something at a young age – she said ‘you are the company you keep.’ To define yourself by some label or some level of resources – that’s pretty shallow.

Make winners out of every business in your company. Don’t carry losers.

I’m going to go do this crazy thing. I’m going to start this company selling books online.

Focusing on the customer makes a company more resilient.

Small business, right down to the individual can beat big, bureaucratic companies ten times out of ten.

Leading a big company means never allowing a company to take itself too seriously.

If it isn’t the sheriff, it’s the finance company; I’ve got more attachments on me than a vacuum cleaner.

The more inventory a company has, the less likely they will have what they need.

All companies are service companies; some also manufacture products.

As both a local resident and a parent with a CF-afflicted child, I’m thankful for companies like Canon, Chase and Outback who believe that giving back to the community is critical to their role as corporate citizens.

It’s the first company to build the mental position that has the upper hand, not the first company to make the product. IBM didn’t invent the computer; Sperry Rand did. But IBM was the first to build the computer position in the prospect’s mind.

On one hand we encourage and allow major pharmaceutical companies to openly hook vast sectors of our population on narcotics, and then we cut them off and throw them in jail, and moralize about it. It is clearly a huge, huge, and growing problem. It’s devastating. We need to treat it as a health crisis, which it is, and stop moralizing.

As a person, I was born to give out my opinions. By giving out my opinions, I realize who I am. As long as I can communicate, I’m not so lonely. If I cannot travel, or do art, or have company, if they take away all my belongings, it doesn’t matter at all.

I’ve had my best times when trailing a Mainbocher evening gown across a sawdust floor. I’ve always loved high style in low company.

What kind of bank gives back 65 percent-often less-of what you deposit? Indeed, when you compare the services of a bank and an insurance company, common sense suggests something is out of whack.

The stereotypical gay man is someone whose company I enjoy, someone who makes me laugh, someone I’d want my kid to be. The stereotypical gay woman makes me insecure, conscious of my failings as a feminist.