James Cash Penney

I believe in trusting men, not only once but twice – in giving a failure another chance.

Too many would-be executives are slaves of routine.

The disciplined are free.

I never trust an executive who tends to pass the buck. Nor would I want to deal with him as a customer or a supplier.

My definition of an executive’s job is brief and to the point. It is simply this: Getting things done through other people.

I believe a man is better anchored who has a belief in the Supreme Being.

Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.

Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman – not the attitude of the prospect.

I always said that mega-mergers were for megalomaniacs.

I think I’ve got the best staff in television.

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.

Did I have a problem with lying to get the job? None whatsoever.

If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves.

Ninety-nine percent of advertising doesn’t sell much of anything.

Money will ruin the life of any man who treats it like anything but a tool with which to work.

I just think people have a lot of fiction. But, you know, I mean, the real story of Facebook is just that we’ve worked so hard for all this time. I mean, the real story is actually probably pretty boring, right? I mean, we just sat at our computers for six years and coded.

My style of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after.

The advertisers who believe in the selling power of jingles have never had to sell anything.

I never aspired to be a public figure. I have always been interested primarily in real business and the development of business strategies.

The best way to make money in business is not to think too much about making it.