James Cash Penney

Too many would-be executives are slaves of routine.

Men are not great or small because of their material possessions. They are great or small because of what they are.

Exchange ideas frequently.

The five separate fingers are five independent units. Close them and the fist multiplies strength. This is organization.

It is the service we are not obliged to give that people value most.

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.

We decided not to show One Hyde Park til we were 100% ready. A lot of people open the doors too early.

I live on a plane. I like to visit London. If I had to think where I could live if not Moscow, London would be my first choice, and second would be New York. In Moscow I feel most comfortable. I’m used to four different seasons; it’s difficult for people in London to understand. People brought up in Russia like my kids want to play in the snow.

Nations are great as they are prosperous as they are industrious as they are just.

Prune – prune businesses, products, activities, people. Do it annually.

The Model T blazed the way for the motor industry and started the movement for good roads everywhere. It is still the pioneer car in many parts of the world which are just beginning to be motorized.

What America needs most is aviation.

The epiphany for me at William Morris was realizing, ‘They bullshit on the phone! I can bullshit on the phone too!’

We know everything about our clients – if they like their dressing gowns heated, what colour flowers they like, if their chef works left-handed – we know everything and we incorporate it into our work for them.

You now have to decide what ‘image’ you want for your brand. Image means personality. Products, like people, have personalities, and they can make or break them in the market place.

We have had just one main purpose during these years, and that is to give the people transportation of the most dependable quality at the lowest possible cost. Our car was called the Universal Car thirty years ago, because it fulfilled so many needs; it is The Universal Car today for the same reason.

I was never involved in arms trading. In the Russian Federation, arms trading is the prerogative of the state.

The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.

Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.

I used to be able to read memo’s upside down… It was like going to the college of the entertainment business.