James Cash Penney

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.

Change is vital, improvement the logical form of change.

Success will always be measured by the extent to which we serve the buying public.

The Golden Rule finds no limit of application in business.

No matter what his position or experience in life, there is in everyone more latent than developed ability; far more unused than used power.

Luck is always the last refuge of laziness and incompetence.

I own buildings. I’m a builder; I know how to build. Nobody can build like I can build. Nobody. And the builders in New York will tell you that. I build the best product. And my name helps a lot.

Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them.

It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea.

Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image.

Profits made out of the distress of the people are always much smaller than profits made out of the most lavish service of the people at the lowest prices that competent management can make possible.

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

This is a perverse thing, personally, but I would rather be in the cycle where people are underestimating us. It gives us latitude to go out and make big bets that excite and amaze people.

I remember flying in, driving down 101 in a cab, and passing by all these tech companies like Yahoo! I remember thinking, ‘Maybe someday we’ll build a company. This probably isn’t it, but one day we will.’

Theory is splendid but until put into practice, it is valueless.

The headline is the ‘ticket on the meat.’ Use it to flag down readers who are prospects for the kind of product you are advertising.

A big business never becomes big by being a narrow society looking after only the interests of its organization and stockholders.

Asking me to come work here is the dumbest idea you ever had. It has been a waste of a year.

The worst of times often create the best opportunities to make good deals.

[To his ex-entertainment lawyer Eric Eisner who resigned from the presidency of The David Geffen Company in 1991 just as a deal was about to be made with some Japanese] Keep your stock. [Eric sold it.]

In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.