David Ogilvy

It strikes me as bad manners for a magazine to accept one of my advertisements and then attack it editorially – like inviting a man to dinner then spitting in his eye.

Advertising is a business of words, but advertising agencies are infested with men and women who cannot write. They cannot write advertisements, and they cannot write plans. They are helpless as deaf mutes on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.

Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.

A well-run restaurant is like a winning baseball team. It makes the most of every crew member’s talent and takes advantage of every split-second opportunity to speed up service.

If you ever have the good fortune to create a great advertising campaign, you will soon see another agency steal it. This is irritating, but don’t let it worry you; nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else’s advertising.

Political advertising ought to be stopped. It’s the only really dishonest kind of advertising that’s left. It’s totally dishonest.

I think shareholders are the great evil of this modern world.

Getting permanent value out of a job means purpose and fitting means to ends.

Luck is always the last refuge of laziness and incompetence.

Without hustle, talent will only carry you so far.

What right have you, save service to the world, to think that other men’s labor should contribute to your gains?

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.

If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will.

I don’t know the exact details of his background but from what I have read Mr. Abramovich had a very humble start in life and has made his own luck.

As betting at the race ring adds neither strength nor speed to the horse, so the exchange of shares in the stock market adds no capital to business, no increase in the production and no purchasing power to the market.

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

I’m not looking to be a personal manager.

I did not feel ‘evil’ when I wrote advertisements for Puerto Rico. They helped attract industry and tourists to a country which had been living on the edge of starvation for 400 years.

Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.

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

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