Orison Swett Marden

We lift ourselves by our thoughts. We climb upon our vision of ourselves.

I started the site when I was 19. I didn’t know much about business back then.

I have very good executives and great children. They’re very good.

My definition of an executive’s job is brief and to the point. It is simply this: Getting things done through other people.

The Golden Rule finds no limit of application in business.

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.

We started learning ourselves, understanding ourselves, reading, researching, going around the world and looking at what was defined as the very best.

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

I built a great company, one of the – some of the most iconic assets in the world, $10 billion of net worth, more than $10 billion of net worth, and frankly, I had a great time doing it.

If you find out what men want and give them that, you are pleasing them. If you find out what is good for them and give them that, you are performing a service. That’s what we are trying to do.

The union organizers are asking us to sit still while it sells our men the jobs that have always been free.

I have a great, great company. I employ thousands of people. And I’m very proud of the job I did.

The more informative your advertising, the more persuasive it will be.

The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning; to create a product or service to make the world a better place.

Profits made out of the distress of the people are always much smaller than profits made out of the most lavish service of the people at the lowest prices that competent management can make possible.

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.