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Robert Smith: Taste like chicken
“Software companies taste like chicken. They’re selling different products, but 80 percent of what they do is pretty much the same.” —Robert Smith.
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Michael Porter: Operational effectiveness
“Operational effectiveness is about things that you really shouldn’t have to make choices on; it’s about what’s good for everybody and about what every business should be doing.” —Michael Porter.
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Howard Marks: Have some knowledge
“If you are investing based on a fact that everybody knows, it can’t possibly constitute an advantage and it can’t possibly have been omitted from the price. So, you must have some knowledge that is different from that of others.” —Howard Marks.
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Charlie Munger: Owning good companies
“Everyone has the idea of owning good companies. The problem is that they have high prices in relation to assets and earnings, and that takes all of the fun out of the game. If all you needed to do is to figure out what company is better than others, everyone would make a lot of…
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Charlie Munger: Barriers
“We buy barriers. Building them is tough.” —Charlie Munger.
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Philip Kerr: Scottish independence
“I will say that anyone who supports Scottish independence should go to Athens. Because nothing works. It is a disaster. It is a ruined, dirty place where people do not have money or future prospects. The day one after independence, Scotland would be worse.” —Philip Kerr.
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Elon Musk: Tesla
“Yeah, well I think anyone who likes fast cars will love the Tesla. And it has fantastic handling by the way. I mean this car will crush a Porsche on the track, just crush it. So if you like fast cars, you’ll love this car. And then oh, by the way, it happens to be…
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Cara Delevingne: One life
“You have this one life. How do you wanna spend it? Apologizing? Regretting? Questioning? Hating yourself? Dieting? Running after people who don’t see you? Be brave. Believe in yourself. Do what feels good. Take risks. You have this one life. Make yourself proud.” —Cara Delevingne.
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Shuri: Just because something works
“Just because something works doesn’t mean it can’t be improved.” —Shuri, Black Panther.
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Eric Hoffer: Propaganda
“Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely helps them to deceive themselves.” —Eric Hoffer.
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Elton John: Mars
“Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids, in fact it’s cold as hell.” —Elton John.
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Emily Ratajkowski: Boy’s club
“Hollywood is a boys’ club, and that’s something I thought was a stereotype – and it’s not. That really shocked me. Still shocks me. Everyone’s helping their buddies out and pressing their buddies and playing tennis with their buddies and making movies with their buddies, and that grosses me out.” —Emily Ratajkowski.
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Elon Musk: Read our DNA
“Trying to read our DNA is like trying to understand software code — with only 90% of the code riddled with errors. It’s very difficult in that case to understand and predict what that software code is going to do.” —Elon Musk.
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Winston Churchill: Most brilliant achievement
“My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.” —Winston Churchill.
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Larry Ellison: Primary goal versus primary role
“A corporation’s primary goal is to make money. Government’s primary role is to take a big chunk of that money and give it to others.” —Larry Ellison.
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Ed Sheeran: Best revenge
“Success is the best revenge for anything. Keep ya head down and work hard to achieve.” —Ed Sheeran.
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Grace Kelly: Indiscreet
“I’ve been accused of being cold, snobbish, distant. Those who know me well know that I’m nothing of the sort. If anything, the opposite is true. But is it too much to ask to want to protect your private life, your inner feelings? Lots of things touch me and I don’t want to be indiscreet.”…
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Sigourney Weaver: Never burn bridges
“Never burn bridges. Today’s junior jerk, tomorrow’s senior partner.” —Sigourney Weaver.
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Nathan Fillion: Costs nothing
“It costs nothing to say something kind. Even less to shut up altogether.” —Nathan Fillion.
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Warren Buffett: Really wonderful businesses
“A really wonderful business is very well protected against the vicissitudes of the economy and competition over time. And I’m talking about businesses that are resistant to effective competition. Three of those will be better than 100 average businesses. And they’ll be safer. There’s less risk in owning three, easy-to-identify, wonderful businesses than in owning…
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Karen McDougal: Evidence
“Let me just say this, if you’re in a loving relationship, do you try and collect evidence?” —Karen McDougal.
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Wayne Huizenga: Develop a sincere relationship
“I don’t want to be just a voice on the phone. I have to get to know these guys face-to-face and develop a sincere relationship. That way, if we run into problems in a deal, it doesn’t get adversarial. We trust each other and have the confidence we can work things out.” —Wayne Huizenga.
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Alex Faickney Osborn: Creativity
“Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and better ideas if our efforts are appreciated.” —Alex Faickney Osborn.
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Harry Houdini: The mind believes
“What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.” —Harry Houdini.
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Erich Fromm: Understanding
“Understanding a person does not mean condoning; it only means that one does not accuse him as if one were God or a judge placed above him.” —Erich Fromm, psychoanalyst and author (23 Mar 1900-1980).
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Bhagat Singh: Mental ignorance
“Study so that you are able to meet arguments of your opponents. Equip your ideology with supporting arguments. If you oppose a prevailing belief, if you criticize a great person who is considered to be an incarnation, you will find that your criticism will be answered by calling you vain and egoist. The reason for…
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Josh Waitzkin: Art completely your own
“[There’s] this theme of finding your own way. One of the most common mistakes that I see people make—whether you’re talking about kids or adults—in the learning curve is trying to do it like someone else does it; whether it’s your dad, or your hero, or Michael Jordan, or Tiger Woods, or whatever the sport…
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Warren Buffett: One wonderful business
“The great personal fortunes in this country weren’t built on a portfolio of 50 companies. They were built by someone who identified one wonderful business.” —Warren Buffett.
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Anna Hazare: Corruption
“I’m not saying all corruption will end, but at least it will reduce by 40-50 percent… the poor will benefit. (on Lokpal Bill).” —Anna Hazare.
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Rod Stewart: It’s the image
“Half the battle is selling music, not singing it. It’s the image, not what you sing.” —Rod Stewart.
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Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia: English and Hindi
“The use of English is a hindrance to original thinking, progenitor of inferiority feelings and a gap between the educated and uneducated public. Come, let us unite to restore Hindi to its original glory.” —Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia.
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Rod Stewart: It’s the image
“Half the battle is selling music, not singing it. It’s the image, not what you sing.” —Rod Stewart.
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H R McMaster: Two ways to fight the US military
“There are two ways to fight the United States military: asymmetrically and stupid. Asymmetrically means you’re going to try to avoid our strengths. In the 1991 Gulf War, it’s like we called Saddam’s army out into the schoolyard and beat up that army.” —H. R. McMaster.
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John Bolt: Real reflection
“If I were doing the Security Council today, I’d have one permanent member, the United States, because that’s the real reflection of the distribution of power in the world. All international laws are invalid, meaningless attempts to constrict American power. ” —John Bolt.
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Kumar Mangalam Birla: Globalization
“To globalize for the sake of globalizing-as a matter of ego-is perilous. Expanding internationally is hard, risky work. Globalization is not just about putting up a plant. It’s not about making an acquisition. It’s much, much more.” —Kumar Mangalam Birla.
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Simon Sinek: Authorities and leaders
“Authorities have control. Leaders have legacies.” —Simon Sinek.
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Hayley Atwell: American and British guys
“I think American guys tend to be a bit more forward, a bit more chatty and open than the Brits. The Brits seem to have a darker sense of humor, though I have met some Americans who have adopted bits of the British dry sense of humor as well.” —Hayley Atwell.
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Lulu: Self-indulgence
“Self-indulgence is something to watch, but anything that helps you understand situations that are difficult to understand is good. If you’re having some sort of emotional trauma, you need to find a person to talk to about it who says, ‘This is quite normal; it’s fine.’” —Lulu.
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Michael Sheen: Twitter
“On the one hand Twitter gives you the opportunity to engage with people, which is great, but on the other there are people who feel they can say whatever they want, put poison out there, really, without fear of any repercussions.” —Michael Sheen.
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Kim Wilde: Pop star
“You need a bit more to be a pop star than just a good voice.” —Kim Wilde.
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Celine Dion: Because you loved me
“You were my strength when I was weak; you were my voice when I couldn’t speak; you were my eyes when I couldn’t see; you saw the best there was in me; lifted me up when I couldn’t reach, you gave me faith cuz you believed. I’m everything I am because you loved me.” —Celine…
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Matthew Rhys: Simplicity of the ’80s
“I would absolutely love to go back to the simplicity of the ’80s, where there wasn’t texting, social media, iPhones, or smartphones. I love the fact that you would go home and check your messages. I’m not well suited to the world of modern technology.” —Matthew Rhys.
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Keri Russell: Smallest decisions
“Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.” —Keri Russell.
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Joe Biden: Corruption
“Corruption is a cancer: a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy, diminishes the instinct for innovation and creativity; already-tight national budgets, crowding out important national investments. It wastes the talent of entire generations. It scares away investments and jobs.” —Joe Biden.
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Mark Zuckerberg: Founding a company
“Founding a company is hard. Most of it isn’t smooth. You’ll have to make very hard decisions. You have to fire a few people. Therefore, if you don’t believe in your mission, giving up is easy. The majority of founders give up. But the best founders don’t give up.” —Mark Zuckerberg.
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Joan Crawford: Love is a fire
“Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell.” —Joan Crawford.
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Susan Forward: Both lying
“When your lover is a liar, you and he have a lot in common, you’re both lying to you.” —Susan Forward, author.
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Louis L’Amour: How the story turns out
‘One day I was speeding along at the typewriter, and my daughter — who was a child at the time — asked me, “Daddy, why are you writing so fast?” And I replied, “Because I want to see how the story turns out!”‘ —Louis L’Amour, novelist (22 Mar 1908-1988).
