Leon Trotsky

Life is not an easy matter… You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness.

Let a man find himself, in distinction from others, on top of two wheels with a chain – at least in a poor country like Russia – and his vanity begins to swell out like his tires. In America it takes an automobile to produce this effect.

The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.

The historic ascent of humanity, taken as a whole, may be summarized as a succession of victories of consciousness over blind forces – in nature, in society, in man himself.

Old age is the most unexpected of all the things that can happen to a man.

The dynamic of revolutionary events is directly determined by swift, intense, and passionate changes in the psychology of classes which have already formed themselves before the revolution.

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

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 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 really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising, not its form.

I was the most productive when I was in a flex situation. Do not check for me for needless meetings.

Well, I think that there’s a very thin dividing line between success and failure. And I think if you start a business without financial backing, you’re likely to go the wrong side of that dividing line.

Our clients pay for value. London is the top city in the world, the best tax haven in the world for some and the top residential site in the city is One Hyde Park at the top end of Sloane Street.

I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn’t really interested in being an entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become an entrepreneur in order to keep my magazine going.

A world where men ran half our homes and women ran half our institutions would be just a much better world.

Mass production is craftsmanship with the drudgery taken out of it.

You should consider an employment change before you consider selling out.

I really don’t retain information – by the time I arrive wherever I’m going, I already forget what it is that I wanted to say.

When most people ask about a business growing, what they really mean is growing revenue, not just growing the number of people using a service. Traditional businesses would view people using your service that you don’t make money from as a cost.

What America needs most is aviation.

In the long run people are going to buy the cheapest and the best article no matter where it is made.