James Cash Penney

No matter what his position or experience in life, there is in everyone more latent than developed ability; far more unused than used power.

The best teamwork comes from men who are working independently toward one goal in unison.

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

Clock watchers never seem to be having a good time.

The art of effective listening is essential to clear communication, and clear communication is necessary to management success.

The disciplined are free.

No serious-minded man should have time for the mediocre in any phase of his living.

We get real results only in proportion to the real values we give.

Chris and I came from nothing. We’re selfmade. We started with nothing, so we have nothing to lose. And we have everything to gain.

The secret of long life is double careers. One to about age sixty, then another for the next thirty years.

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

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.

Always be smarter than the people who hire you.

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

Nobody’s ever called me Sir Richard. Occasionally in America, I hear people saying Sir Richard and think there’s some Shakespearean play taking place. But nowhere else anyway.

It’s a new endeavour for me. I’ve never run a territory. I’ve never talked publicly to people. I’ve got to try it just to see whether I like it.

On Beverly Hills we paid too much. One hundred per cent, we did over-pay. We didn’t do our research properly.

Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.

Never write an advertisement which you wouldn’t want your family to read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them to mine.

Competition whose motive is merely to compete, to drive some other fellow out, never carries very far.

There are people who are really good managers, people who can manage a big organization, and then there are people who are very analytic or focused on strategy. Those two types don’t usually tend to be in the same person. I would put myself much more in the latter camp.