David Geffen

It’s easy in music to tell what’s good. It’s hard to tell what’s bad.

Some people have a greater ability to imagine than others.

I forgive you for all the times you’ve f**ked me in the past and for all the times you’re going to f**k me in the future.

Steve Jobs didn’t give a shit about money, and I do give a shit about money. I wanted to have a lot of money. I thought it would change my life, which it did, but not in the ways I expected.

[In 1969] I thought how awful, this poor girl is being managed by someone who had no respect for her at all… I’ve been her agent since then.

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

Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.

I myself never make any notes. Usually, if I write something down, I can’t read it afterwards.

Cutting wages is not the way to recovery. Raise wages and improve the product.

A brand is two words: the ‘Promise’ you telegraph, and the ‘Experience’ you deliver.

It’s not just about being better. It’s about being different. You need to give people a reason to choose your business.

We can serve our customers well only if our buying jobs are right. You cannot sell if you haven’t ordered wanted goods into your store.

I’ve been making deals all my life.

Ridiculous yachts and private planes and big limousines won’t make people enjoy life more, and it sends out terrible messages to the people who work for them. It would be so much better if that money was spent in Africa – and it’s about getting a balance.

The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning; to create a product or service to make the world a better place.

Investors are visionaries in some respects – they look beyond the present.

I think I’ve got the best staff in television.

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

One client didn’t want to go out so had us build him a nightclub in his house.

We’ve created a recognisable brand that has the ability to be the Louis Vuitton of our era.

Any business arrangement that is not profitable to the other person will in the end prove unprofitable for you. The bargain that yields mutual satisfaction is the only one that is apt to be repeated.