James Cash Penney

No serious-minded man should have time for the mediocre in any phase of his living.

There has never been a time when a career in the Penney Company was not a challenge that brought out the best in a man.

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

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

The best of merchandise will go back to the shelf unless handled by a conscientious, tactful salesman.

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

Change is vital, improvement the logical form of change.

Employers only handle the money – it is the customer who pays the wages.

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.

In New York and Los Angeles, you can throw your car keys to the valet and he parks it. Same in Hong Kong and Singapore, the service is off the scale. In London it’s sub-standard to abysmal.

London has got better as it’s become more international – you only have to look at the quality of the restaurants to see how improved it’s become.

We decided not to show One Hyde Park til we were 100% ready. A lot of people open the doors too early.

Competition whose motive is merely to compete, to drive some other fellow out, never carries very far.

Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine.

While I love technology and social media, a text or a tweet can never replace the real value of conversation.

There are people who are really good managers, people who can manage a big organization, and then there are people who are very analytic or focused on strategy. Those two types don’t usually tend to be in the same person. I would put myself much more in the latter camp.

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

Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No.1.

Do not primarily train men to work. Train them to serve willingly and intelligently.

If you change anything about the way you approach selling, the thing that would make the biggest difference would be your attitude, your attitude toward your customer, your service, the benefits of your products, your employer, and yourself.

What’s the quickest way to become a millionaire? Borrow fivers off everyone you meet.

I must have had a dozen jobs and I got fired from all of them.