David Geffen

It’s an idiotic thing that you have to be a college graduate to be an agent.

There are so few great talents, it’s always a discovery when you find the one.

[To a psychedelic rock sextet call Strawberry Alarm Clock] We’re going to get you six Ed Sullivan shows and we’re going to get you on Janis Joplin’s next tour. [After the meeting on being told by Schiffman ‘David, what are you doing? Six Ed Sullivan shows? Are you kidding? Janis Joplin wouldn’t piss on these people! We are not going to give them any Janis Joplin dates’] If they have another hit, we’ll get them one Ed Sullivan show, and we’ll get them a couple of dates on somebody else’s tour. I don’t care. And if they don’t have another hit, well, f*ck ’em.

[On his mother] She certainly ran her own race… I thought my mother was nuts.

Anybody who thinks money will make you happy, hasn’t got money.

My father died in 1960. He was an intellectual. . . . She made the money and he read a lot. He wasn’t successful or ambitious. He spoke lots of languages. There were times that kids said to me, ‘What does your father do?’ and I had to make something up because I actually didn’t know what he did.

When there is no job related stress, you are more aware of your mate and children, if you are a parent.

I’d be foolish not to take some of these opportunities that are coming my way.

I’m a great believer in anything that makes you 1 percent better. So I try everything. Freudian. Jungian. Est. Life Spring. Course in Miracles. Twelve Steps. I have pain from time to time. I have joy from time to time.

It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow.

Your understanding of what you read and hear is, to a very large degree, determined by your vocabulary, so improve your vocabulary daily.

That’s how we do it… we give back to the people who made us who we are. We never forget that.

If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.

People can’t live with change if there’s not a changeless core inside them. The key to the ability to change is a changeless sense of who you are, what you are about and what you value.

There is no need to be afraid of having faults, because knowing we have them can help us to improve.

Life is change; growth is optional. Choose wisely.

Due diligence equals increasing your financial IQ daily.

You just do it. You force yourself to get up. You force yourself to put one foot in front of the other, and God damn it, you refuse to let it get to you. You fight. You cry. You curse. Then you go about the business of living. That’s how I’ve done it. There’s no other way.

If my mind can conceive it, if my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it.

If you’re going to have to swallow a frog, you don’t want to have to look at that sucker too long!

Watch, listen, and learn. You can’t know it all yourself. Anyone who thinks they do is destined for mediocrity.