James Cash Penney

Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.

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.

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

The keystone of successful business is cooperation. Friction retards progress.

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

Determine to do some thinking for yourself. Don’t live entirely upon the thoughts of others. Don’t be an automaton.

Mark my word: A combination airplane and motor car is coming.

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

Salesmanship, too, is an art; the perfection of its technique requires study and practice.

A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.

We pay attention to every demographic in every country, so we’re going to focus on building things that teens are going to like, and we’re also going to focus on building things that other folks are going to like.

If you need a machine and don’t buy it, then you will ultimately find that you have paid for it and don’t have it.

Set exorbitant standards, and give your people hell when they don’t live up to them. There is nothing so demoralizing as a boss who tolerates second rate work.

You don’t have to hold a position in order to be a leader.

Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law.

Some manufacturers illustrate their advertisements with abstract paintings. I would only do this if I wished to conceal from the reader what I was advertising.

Efficient industry is the sole key to prosperity.

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

Everything I do in life is framed through the view of a businessman. That’s my instinct. If I go into a pharmacy to buy shaving cream, then I’m going to look for the best deal on shaving cream.

When people are ‘stung’ in false investment schemes there are three causes; greed of something for nothing; sheer inability to know their mind; or infantile trustfulness.

After the situation with Kursk submarine, I started looking at Mr. Berezovsky in a completely different way. For me, it was a turning point in our relationship. I think that he took a completely dishonorable position.