James Cash Penney

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

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

No company can afford not to move forward. It may be at the top of the heap today but at the bottom of the heap tomorrow, if it doesn’t.

Salesmanship is limitless. Our very living is selling. We are all salespeople.

A merchant who approaches business with the idea of serving the public well has nothing to fear from the competition.

We get real results only in proportion to the real values we give.

I do not believe in excuses. I believe in hard work as the prime solvent of life’s problems.

Paying good wages is not charity at all-it is the best kind of business.

If the boss stands in the way of men getting what they earn, he is not fit to be boss.

It was always my practice to train salespeople under my direct supervision, and to treat children with the utmost consideration.

Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.

The more predictable the business, the more valuable it is.

Anyone who criticises me for talking about fair trade is a few pebbles short of a beach. Because everyone should care about it, just like everyone should care about the environment, because we all live here.

What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it.

Good publicity is preferable to bad, but from a bottom-line perspective, bad publicity is sometimes better than no publicity at all. Controversy, in short, sells.

If you love what you do, if you love going to the office, if you really like it – not just say it, but really like it – it keeps you young and energised. I really love what I do.

The highest use of capital is not to make more money, but to make money do more for the betterment of life.

If you go through some big corporate change, it’s just not going to be the same. If we sold to Yahoo, they would have done something different; if you want to continue your vision of the company, then don’t sell because there’s inevitably going to be some change.

In the Ford Motor Company we emphasize service equally with sales.

I don’t make deals for the money. I’ve got enough, much more than I’ll ever need. I do it to do it.

You have an idea of the way you think it is, and it’s not that way at all, it’s something else.