James Cash Penney

Honor bespeaks worth. Confidence begets trust. Service brings satisfaction. Cooperation proves the quality of leadership.

Too many would-be executives are slaves of routine.

A store’s best advertisement is the service its goods render, for upon such service rest the future, the good-will, of an organization.

Selling is our No. 1 job. Never get away from selling a lot of merchandise personally. The more you sell the more you learn.

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.

The men who have furnished me with my greatest inspiration have not been men of wealth, but men of deeds.

Mr. Edison was comfortably well off-he was not a money maker.

Too many would-be executives are slaves of routine.

When most people ask about a business growing, what they really mean is growing revenue, not just growing the number of people using a service. Traditional businesses would view people using your service that you don’t make money from as a cost.

If you think your boss is stupid, remember: you wouldn’t have a job if he was any smarter.

Our friendship was based on my payouts. That wasn’t a friendship when – as, for example, it’s me, my friends, we are friends for many years, and it doesn’t matter for me what the position is, where they work; we simply are friends. And with Mr. Berezovsky, our friendship was based on my payoffs.

Our clients pay for value. London is the top city in the world, the best tax haven in the world for some and the top residential site in the city is One Hyde Park at the top end of Sloane Street.

If I had asked them what they had wanted, they would have said a faster horse.

We’’ve designed swimming pools that turn into ballrooms, and fitted security devices that fill a garage with gas if someone is stealing your car.

Do not spend too much time planning or trying to anticipate and solve problems before they happen. That is just another kind of excuse for procrastination. Until you start, you won’t know where the problems will occur. You won’t have the experience to solve them. Instead, get into action, and solve the problems as they arise.

No king on earth is as safe in his job as a Trade Union official. There is only one thing that can get him sacked; and that is drink. Not even that, as long as he doesn’t actually fall down.

As a rule, we find what we look for; we achieve what we get ready for.

I myself never make any notes. Usually, if I write something down, I can’t read it afterwards.

Competition is the keen cutting edge of business, always shaving away at costs.

Test ideas in the marketplace. You learn from hearing a range of perspectives. Consultation helps engender the support decisions need to be successfully implemented.

You don’t learn to walk by following rules, you learn by doing and by falling over.