# Quotes about business

- Quotes: 57
- Authors: 32
- Broader topic: [Quotes about work](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work.md)
- Topic page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business
- JSON version (same data): https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.json

## Quotes

> When things go wrong, the standard management strategy is to decide who takes the blame. This should be an underling, as far down the chain as possible, but preferably with some visibility so people know management means business.

[Jack Mcdevitt](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt.md) · [Odyssey](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt/odyssey.md) · p. 78 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-mcdevitt/odyssey/when-things-go-wrong.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Business, like a jackal, trotted on the heels of war.

[Barbara W. Tuchman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/barbara-w-tuchman.md) · [A Distant Mirror](https://www.leafyquotes.com/barbara-w-tuchman/a-distant-mirror.md) · p. 389 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/barbara-w-tuchman/a-distant-mirror/business-like-a-jackal.md)

Topics: [war](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> People who instinctively establish a strong network of relationships have always created great businesses.

[Keith Ferrazzi](https://www.leafyquotes.com/keith-ferrazzi.md) · [Never Eat Alone](https://www.leafyquotes.com/keith-ferrazzi/never-eat-alone.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/keith-ferrazzi/never-eat-alone/people-who-instinctively.md)

Topics: [relationships](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/relationships.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Apparently, sir you Chinese are far ahead of us in every respect, except that you don’t have entrepreneurs. And our nation, though it has no drinking water, electricity, sewage system, public transportation, sense of hygiene, discipline, courtesy, or punctuality, ‘’does’’ have entrepreneurs. Thousands and thousands of them. Especially in the field of technology. And these entrepreneurs—’’we’’ entrepreneurs—have set up all these outsourcing companies that virtually run America now.

[Aravind Adiga](https://www.leafyquotes.com/aravind-adiga.md) · [The White Tiger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/aravind-adiga/the-white-tiger.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/aravind-adiga/the-white-tiger/apparently-sir-you.md)

Topics: [irony](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Even people within systems don't often recognize what whole-system goal they are serving. "To make profits", most corporations would say, but that's just a rule, a necessary condition to stay in the game. What is the point of the game? To grow, to increase market share, to bring the world (customers, suppliers, regulators) more and more under the control of the corporation, so that its operations becomes ever more shielded from uncertainty.

[Donella H. Meadows](https://www.leafyquotes.com/donella-h-meadows.md) · [Thinking in Systems](https://www.leafyquotes.com/donella-h-meadows/thinking-in-systems.md) · p. 161 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/donella-h-meadows/thinking-in-systems/even-people-within.md)

Topics: [power](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> This artifice will drive them to seek authenticity. Authenticity will be the buzzword of the twenty-first century. And what is authentic? Anything that is not devised and structured to make a profit. Anything that is not controlled by corporations. Anything that exists for its own sake and assumes its own shape. But of course, nothing in the modern world is allowed to assume its own shape. The modern world is the corporate equivalent of a formal garden, where everything is planted and arranged for effect. Where nothing is untouched, where nothing is authentic.

[Michael Crichton](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-crichton.md) · [Timeline](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-crichton/timeline.md) · p. 444 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-crichton/timeline/this-artifice-will.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md), [authenticity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/authenticity.md)

> [an Ontario-based bus company] Trentway-Wagar was arguing that because carpooling used to be inconvenient, it should always be inconvenient, and if that inconvenience disappeared, then it should be reinserted by legal fiat. Curiously, an organization that commits to helping society manage a problem also commits itself to the preservation of that same problem, as its institutional existence hinges on society’s continued need for its management. Bus companies provide a critical service—public transportation—but they also commit themselves, as Trentway-Wagar did, to fending off competition from alternative ways of moving people from one place to another.

[Clay Shirky](https://www.leafyquotes.com/clay-shirky.md) · [Cognitive Surplus](https://www.leafyquotes.com/clay-shirky/cognitive-surplus.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/clay-shirky/cognitive-surplus/an-ontario-based-bus.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> That’s how business works. There’s always somebody coming in on your blind side.

[Gregory Benford](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford.md) · [The Martian Race](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/the-martian-race.md) · p. 54 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gregory-benford/the-martian-race/thats-how-business.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> There are only two industries. This has always been true....There is the industry of things, and the industry of entertainment....After people have everything they need to live, everything else is entertainment. Everything.

[Neal Stephenson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson.md) · [The Diamond Age](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/the-diamond-age.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/the-diamond-age/there-are-only.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> So Beck was the hacker and Oda was the backer. The oldest and most troublesome relationship in the technological world.

[Neal Stephenson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson.md) · [The Diamond Age](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/the-diamond-age.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neal-stephenson/the-diamond-age/so-beck-was.md)

Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Marketing, and the whole firm, should devote extraordinary endeavour towards delighting, keeping for ever and expanding the sales to the 20 per cent of customers who provide 80 per cent.

[Richard Koch](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-koch.md) · [The 80/20 Principle](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-koch/the-8020-principle.md) · p. 103 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-koch/the-8020-principle/marketing-and-the.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Business strategy should not be a grand and sweeping overview. It should be more like an under view, a peek beneath the covers to look in great detail at what is going on.

[Richard Koch](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-koch.md) · [The 80/20 Principle](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-koch/the-8020-principle.md) · p. 58 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-koch/the-8020-principle/business-strategy-should.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> If you want to build a major firm, you cannot do it by having a modest vision.

[Sir Ronald Cohen](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sir-ronald-cohen.md) · [The Second Bounce Of The Ball](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sir-ronald-cohen/the-second-bounce-of-the-ball.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sir-ronald-cohen/the-second-bounce-of-the-ball/if-you-want.md)

Topics: [ambition](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ambition.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> The first rule of luck in business is that you should persevere in doing the right thing. Opportunities will come your way if you do.

[Sir Ronald Cohen](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sir-ronald-cohen.md) · [The Second Bounce Of The Ball](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sir-ronald-cohen/the-second-bounce-of-the-ball.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/sir-ronald-cohen/the-second-bounce-of-the-ball/the-first-rule.md)

Topics: [perseverance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/perseverance.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Theory is a dirty word in some managerial quarters. That is rather curious, because all of us, managers especially, can no more get along without theories than libraries can get along without catalogs — and for the same reason: theories help us make sense of incoming information.

[Henry Mintzberg](https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-mintzberg.md) · [Managers Not MBAs](https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-mintzberg/managers-not-mbas.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-mintzberg/managers-not-mbas/theory-is-a-dirty.md)

Topics: [knowledge](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Effective managing therefore happens where art, craft, and science meet. But in a classroom of students without managerial experience, these have no place to meet — there is nothing to do.

[Henry Mintzberg](https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-mintzberg.md) · [Managers Not MBAs](https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-mintzberg/managers-not-mbas.md) · p. 10 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-mintzberg/managers-not-mbas/effective-managing-therefore.md)

Topics: [education](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/education.md), [experience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/experience.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> It takes a village to make a mall. Community precedes commerce.

[Kevin Kelly](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly.md) · [New Rules for the New Economy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly/new-rules-for-the-new-economy.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly/new-rules-for-the-new-economy/it-takes-a-village.md)

Topics: [community](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/community.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Privacy is a type of conversation. Firms should view privacy not as some inconvenient obsession of customers that must be snuck around but more as a way to cultivate a genuine relationship.

[Kevin Kelly](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly.md) · [New Rules for the New Economy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly/new-rules-for-the-new-economy.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kevin-kelly/new-rules-for-the-new-economy/privacy-is-a-type.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md), [privacy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/privacy.md)

> Businesses have changed when the public came to expect and require different behavior, to reward businesses for behavior that the public wanted, and to make things difficult for businesses practising behaviors that the public didn't want. I predict that in the future, just as in the past, changes in public attitudes will be essential for changes in businesses' environmental practices.

[Jared Diamond](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jared-diamond.md) · [Collapse](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jared-diamond/collapse.md) · p. 485 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jared-diamond/collapse/businesses-have-changed.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md), [public opinion](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/public-opinion.md)

> My views may seem to ignore a moral imperative that businesses should follow virtuous principles, whether or not it is most profitable for them to do so. Instead I prefer to recognize that, throughout human history, [...] government regulation has arisen precisely because it was found to be necessary for the enforcement of moral principles. Invocation of moral principles is a necessary first step for eliciting virtuous behavior, but that alone is not a sufficient step.

[Jared Diamond](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jared-diamond.md) · [Collapse](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jared-diamond/collapse.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jared-diamond/collapse/my-views-may.md)

Topics: [morality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality.md), [law](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> The supposition is prevalent the world over that there would be no problems in production or service if only our production workers would do their jobs in the way that they were taught. Pleasant dreams. The workers are handicapped by the system, and the system belongs to the management.

[W. Edwards Deming](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming.md) · [Out of the Crisis](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis.md) · p. 134 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis/the-supposition-is-prevalent.md)

Topics: [work](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> We cannot rely on mass inspection to improve quality, though there are times when 100 percent inspection is necessary. As Harold S. Dodge said many years ago, 'You cannot inspect quality into a product.' The quality is there or it isn't by the time it's inspected.

[W. Edwards Deming](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming.md) · [Out of the Crisis](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis.md) · p. 139 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis/we-cannot-rely.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md), [quality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/quality.md)

> Part of America's industrial problems is the aim of its corporate managers. Most American executives think they are in the business to make money, rather than products or service...The Japanese corporate credo, on the other hand, is that a company should become the world's most efficient provider of whatever product and service it offers. Once it becomes the world leader and continues to offer good products, profits follow.

[W. Edwards Deming](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming.md) · [Out of the Crisis](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis.md) · p. 99 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis/part-of-americas.md)

Topics: [money](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Quality comes not from inspection, but from improvement of the production process.

[W. Edwards Deming](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming.md) · [Out of the Crisis](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis.md) · p. 29 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis/quality-comes-not.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md), [quality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/quality.md)

> Foremost is the principle that the purpose of consumer research is to understand the customer's needs and wishes, and thus design product and service that will provide better living for him in the future. A second principle is that no one can guess the future loss of business from a dissatisfied customer...

[W. Edwards Deming](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming.md) · [Out of the Crisis](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis.md) · p. 175 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis/foremost-is-the.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.

[W. Edwards Deming](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming.md) · [Out of the Crisis](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis.md) · p. 23 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis/improve-constantly-and.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md), [quality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/quality.md)

> Defects are not free. Somebody makes them, and gets paid for making them.

[W. Edwards Deming](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming.md) · [Out of the Crisis](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis.md) · p. 11 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/w-edwards-deming/out-of-the-crisis/defects-are-not.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md), [quality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/quality.md)

> Getting the right people in the right jobs is a lot more important than developing a strategy.

[Jack Welch](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch.md) · [Jack](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch/jack.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch/jack/getting-the-right.md)

Topics: [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Business success is less a function of grandiose predictions than it is a result of being able to respond rapidly to real changes as they occur.

[Jack Welch](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch.md) · [Jack](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch/jack.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch/jack/business-success-is-less.md)

Topics: [change](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/change.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Business has to be fun. For too many people, it's "just a job."

[Jack Welch](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch.md) · [Jack](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch/jack.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-welch/jack/business-has-to-be-fun.md)

Topics: [work](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> What the corporations fear most is that grassroots activists and independent journalists will utilize the same model that companies have used to grab power: globalization. Grassroots globalization.

[Amy Goodman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-goodman.md) · [The Exception To The Rulers](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-goodman/the-exception-to-the-rulers.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/amy-goodman/the-exception-to-the-rulers/what-the-corporations.md)

Topics: [media](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/media.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> I have not tried to investigate it. It’s no use. There is no information about corporations. There is only disinformation. Even after they collapse, imploding into a cratered ruin stinking of burnt stockholder and surrounded by an impenetrable barrier formed by members of Congress and other government officials holding hands and wearing yellow tape marked Private Property, No Trespassing, Keep Out, No Hunting, Fishing, or Accounting—even then there is no truth in them.

[Ursula K. Le Guin](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin.md) · [Changing Planes](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/changing-planes.md) · p. 135 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ursula-k-le-guin/changing-planes/i-have-not.md)

Topics: [lies](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/lies.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> He is looking for something called The Omega Management System, which is the latest management fad in a tradition stretching back through Six Sigma and Total Quality Management to the practice of bleeding sick patients and investing in tulips.

[Max Barry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry.md) · [Company](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company.md) · p. 36 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company/he-is-looking.md)

Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> But what can I say? That’s how business works. Nobody gives a crap about ethics. That’s why people like me will always be successful.

[Max Barry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry.md) · [Company](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company.md) · p. 335 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company/but-what-can.md)

Topics: [morality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Sydney feels an affinity with Human Resources. She likes the name, with its not-so-hidden implication that employees are an exploitable resource, like stock or real estate. And not a particularly valuable one, despite that old chestnut about employees being the company’s most important asset. Sydney knows the truth: give the company cash resources, give it strategic partnerships, give it inventory; give it anything but prickly, unreliable, idiosyncratic humans. People are the worst: you can’t stack them, or (easily) relocate them, and you can’t even just leave them alone to accumulate value. That’s why the company requires HR: a department to transform humans into resources.

[Max Barry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry.md) · [Company](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company.md) · p. 226 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company/sydney-feels-an-affinity.md)

Topics: [work](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> You can say this for Senior Management: it knows how to articulate a goal. The strategy may be fuzzy, the execution nonexistent, but Senior Management knows what it wants.

[Max Barry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry.md) · [Company](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company.md) · p. 54 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company/you-can-say.md)

Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Elizabeth is smart, ruthless, and emotionally damaged; that is, she is a sales representative.

[Max Barry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry.md) · [Company](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company.md) · p. 2 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company/elizabeth-is-smart.md)

Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> How she became manager remains a mystery. But there are only two possibilities. One is that Senior Management mistook her tirades for drive and a commitment to excellence. The other is that they knew Sydney was a paranoid psychopath, and that’s exactly the kind of person they want in management.

[Max Barry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry.md) · [Company](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company.md) · p. 31 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company/how-she-became.md)

Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> The Infrastructure Control manager is a short, muscular man with a dark beard. He is an oddity in Zephyr Holdings: a person who started on the floor and was promoted through hard work. This makes other managers uncomfortable. The idea that you can get ahead through sheer competence, and not politicking, backstabbing, fleeing impending disasters, and clambering on board imminent successes, undermines everything they know.

[Max Barry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry.md) · [Company](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company.md) · p. 222 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/company/the-infrastructure-control.md)

Topics: [work](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> “She’s such a bitch,” Tina says, which I find a little contradictory, but overall quite true. “She’s got to be in charge of everything.”
>
> I sit next to her. “Well, I guess. But in business, that’s leadership.”
>
> Tina stares at me for a second. “I can’t believe you consider that a positive trait. How about her inability to accept other points of view? Is it good leadership to be narrow, too?”
>
> “Focus,” I say. “They call that focus.”
>
> Tina stares at me. “Her paranoia?”
>
> “Business savvy.”
>
> “Compulsive need to have everything just how she wants it?”
>
> “Organizational skills.”
>
> “Aggressiveness?”
>
> “Aggressiveness,” I say, “is already a good thing.”
>
> “Jesus Christ,” Tina says, her eyebrow ring glinting in the morning sun. “Sometimes I worry about this country.”

[Max Barry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry.md) · [Syrup](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/syrup.md) · p. 162 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-barry/syrup/shes-such-a-bitch.md)

Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [leadership](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/leadership.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> "The insurance business is completely screwy now. You know they've reintroduced the death penalty for insurance company directors?"
>
> "Really?" said Arthur. "No, I didn't. For what offense?"
>
> Trillian frowned.
>
> "What do you mean, offense?"
>
> "I see."

[Douglas Adams](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams.md) · [Mostly Harmless](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/mostly-harmless.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/mostly-harmless/the-insurance-business.md)

Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> "Well, you're obviously being totally naive of course", said the girl, "When you've been in marketing as long as I have, you'll know that before any new product can be developed it has to be properly researched. We’ve got to find out what people want from fire, how they relate to it, what sort of image it has for them."
>
> The crowd were tense. They were expecting something wonderful from Ford.
>
> "Stick it up your nose," he said.
>
> "Which is precisely the sort of thing we need to know," insisted the girl, "Do people want fire that can be fitted nasally?"
>
> "And the wheel," said the Captain, "What about this wheel thingy? It sounds a terribly interesting project."
>
> "Ah," said the marketing girl, "Well, we're having a little difficulty there."
>
> "Difficulty?" exclaimed Ford. "Difficulty? What do you mean, difficulty? It's the single simplest machine in the entire Universe!"
>
> The marketing girl soured him with a look.
>
> "Alright, Mr. Wiseguy," she said, "if you're so clever, you tell us what colour it should be."

[Douglas Adams](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams.md) · [The Restaurant at the End of the Universe](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/the-restaurant-at-the-end-of-the-universe.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/the-restaurant-at-the-end-of-the-universe/well-youre-obviously.md)

Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> "Share and Enjoy" is the company motto of the hugely successful Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Complaints division, which now covers the major land masses of three medium sized planets and is the only part of the Corporation to have shown a consistent profit in recent years.

[Douglas Adams](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams.md) · [The Restaurant at the End of the Universe](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/the-restaurant-at-the-end-of-the-universe.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-adams/the-restaurant-at-the-end-of-the-universe/share-and-enjoy.md)

Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> A corporation, essentially, is a pile of money to which a number of persons have sold their moral allegiance. Unlike a person, a corporation does not age. It does not arrive, as most persons finally do, at a realization of the shortness and smallness of human lives; it does not come to see the future as the lifetime of the children and grandchildren of anybody in particular.

[Wendell Berry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry.md) · [Citizenship Papers](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/citizenship-papers.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/citizenship-papers/a-corporation-essentially.md)

Topics: [morality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> We certainly have at present the dismal situation that the most imaginative men are directed by a group, the top managers, who are among the least.

[Paul Goodman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman.md) · [Growing Up Absurd](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman/growing-up-absurd.md) · p. 94 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-goodman/growing-up-absurd/we-certainly-have.md)

Topics: [imagination](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/imagination.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> People of intelligence often treat business in the way ignorant people treat books: they understand nothing.

[Joseph Joubert](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert.md) · [The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/people-of-intelligence.md)

Topics: [intelligence](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/intelligence.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> The weakness of businessmen was their belief that money was the point of the game; they worked 14-hour days in order to earn enough of it to buy cars with leather interiors, they thought it was a sensible recreation to play around with it in casinos—idiots, in short. But useful idiots.

[Kim Stanley Robinson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson.md) · [Red Mars](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson/red-mars.md) · p. 395 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kim-stanley-robinson/red-mars/the-weakness-of-businessmen.md)

Topics: [money](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> He learned this much selling cars: offer the customer something he doesn't want, to make what he half-wants look better.

[John Hoyer Updike](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike.md) · [Rabbit at Rest](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike/rabbit-at-rest.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike/rabbit-at-rest/he-learned-this.md)

Topics: [manipulation](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/manipulation.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Along with the standard computer warranty agreement which said that if the machine 1) didn't work, 2) didn't do what the expensive advertisements said, 3) electrocuted the immediate neighborhood, 4) and in fact failed entirely to be inside the expensive box when you opened it, this was expressly, absolutely, implicitly and in no event the fault or responsibility of the manufacturer, that the purchaser should consider himself lucky to be allowed to give his money to the manufacturer, and that any attempt to treat what had just been paid for as the purchaser's own property would result in the attentions of serious men with menacing briefcases and very thin watches. Crowley had been extremely impressed with the warranties offered by the computer industry, and had in fact sent a bundle Below to the department that drew up the Immortal Soul agreements, with a yellow memo form attached just saying: "Learn, guys..."

[Neil Gaiman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman.md) · [Good Omens](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/good-omens.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neil-gaiman/good-omens/along-with-the.md)

Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [technology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technology.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> I don't do it for the money. I've got enough, much more than I'll ever need. I do it to do it. Deals are my art form.

[Donald J. Trump](https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-j-trump.md) · [Trump: The Art of the Deal](https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-j-trump/trump-the-art-of-the-deal.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/donald-j-trump/trump-the-art-of-the-deal/i-dont-do-it-for.md)

Topics: [money](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> "Strange business," said Lasher. "This crusading spirit of the managers and engineers, the idea of designing and manufacturing and distributing being sort of a holy war: all that folklore was cooked up by public relations and advertising men hired by managers and engineers to make big business popular in the old days, which it certainly wasn't in the beginning. Now, the engineers and managers believe with all their hearts the glorious things their forebears hired people to say about them. Yesterday's snow job becomes today's sermon."

[Kurt Vonnegut](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut.md) · [Player Piano](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano.md) · p. 93 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/player-piano/strange-business-said.md)

Topics: [manipulation](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/manipulation.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md), [advertising](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/advertising.md)

> In science you need to understand the world; in business you need others to misunderstand it.

[Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb.md) · [The Bed of Procrustes](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes.md) · p. 4 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes/in-science-you.md)

Topics: [science](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/science.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Businessmen are the one group that distinguishes capitalism and the American way of life from the totalitarian statism that is swallowing the rest of the world. All the other social groups- workers, farmers, professional men, scientists, soldiers- exist under dictatorships, even though they exist in chains, in terror, in misery, and in progressive self-destruction. But there is no such group as businessmen under a dictatorship. Their place is taken by armed thugs: by bureaucrats and commissars. Businessmen are the symbol of a free society- the symbol of America.

[Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [Capitalism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism/businessmen-are-the.md)

Topics: [America](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/america.md), [tyranny](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/tyranny.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Economic power is exercised by means of a positive, by offering men a reward, an incentive, a payment, a value; political power is exercised by means of a negative, by the threat of punishment, injury, imprisonment, destruction. The businessman's tool is values; the bureaucrat's tool is fear.

[Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [Capitalism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism/economic-power-is-exercised.md)

Topics: [power](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power.md), [fear](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Every movement that seeks to enslave a country, every dictatorship or potential dictatorship, needs some minority group as a scapegoat which it can blame for the nation's troubles and use as a justification of its own demands for dictatorial powers. In Soviet Russia, the scapegoat was the bourgeoisie; in Nazi Germany, it was the Jewish people; in America, it is the businessmen.

[Ayn Rand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand.md) · [Capitalism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism/every-movement-that.md)

Topics: [tyranny](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/tyranny.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)

> Normally its narrow streets were crowded with stalls, and people from all over the Carpet. They'd all be trying to cheat one another in that open-and-above-board way known as 'doing business'.

[Terry Pratchett](https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett.md) · [The Carpet People](https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/the-carpet-people.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/the-carpet-people/normally-its-narrow.md)

Topics: [irony](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md), [deception](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/deception.md)

> [...] for public companies [...], the job is no longer just to report performance. It's to recognize that ownership now comes with attention, interpretation, and emotion attached, and that those forces have become part of the market itself.

[Katherine Perry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/katherine-perry.md) · [Ticker Shock: A Playbook for Investor Relations, Communications, and Leadership in the Age of Retail Investors](https://www.leafyquotes.com/katherine-perry/ticker-shock-a-playbook-for-investor-relations-communications-and-leadership-in-the-age-of-retail-investors.md) · Chapter one: The new retail reality · How investing became cultural · p. 15 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/katherine-perry/ticker-shock-a-playbook-for-investor-relations-communications-and-leadership-in-the-age-of-retail-investors/for-public-companies.md)

Topics: [emotions](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emotions.md), [business](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/business.md)