Eli Broad Quotes

Civilizations are not remembered by their business people, their bankers or lawyers. They're remembered by the arts.

Contemporary art challenges us.. it broadens our horizons. It asks us to think beyond the limits of conventional wisdom.

If someone can't give me a good reason why you can't do something, I find a way to do it.

The best move you can make in negotiation is to think of an incentive the other person hasn't even thought of - and then meet it.

Who you spend your life with-much more so than how you choose to spend it-is the most important decision you can make. Do it right. That's the best advice I can give you.

I have always believed that every great city in history needs a vibrant center.

Art evokes emotion. It doesn't have to be a thing of beauty.

Research – and using what you learn from it to analyze every situation – is what separates being unreasonable from being irrational.

For businesses to be successful, they need to constantly ask the question: how can we provide value to our customers? At the end of the day, that is what matters.

If you have poor management that's not doing the right job, you end up with unions filling the void and... page after page of work rules and thicker and thicker contracts.

The inability to delegate is one of the biggest problems I see with managers at all levels.

Artists rarely do the same thing over and over again. Art is about the new, doing things in a new way.

Ideas, more than money, are really the currency for success.

I am not a patient person. My friends and colleagues will confirm this. But, frankly, we should all feel a little more impatient with the state of public education in America today.

Without a doubt, stem cell research will lead to the dramatic improvement in the human condition and will benefit millions of people.

I learned to embrace risk, as long as it was well thought out and, in a worst-case scenario, I'd still land on my feet.

I'm strong-willed. Architects are strong-willed. You get the best results with a strong client and a strong architect working together.

No one ever made a million bucks by being cautious or timid or reasonable.

Museums do not share their collections with other museums unless they get something in exchange. The Metropolitan will deal with the Louvre, but will they send their stuff to Memphis? No.

I've never been one who enjoys maintaining the status quo. I'm always pushing for new ideas, whether it's in business or philanthropy.

Someone once told me I'm a sore winner, and they're right. I rarely take more than a moment to enjoy a success before I'm moving on and looking for the next challenge.

A lot of executives act like their time is worth more than anyone else's. But I always respect an employee who guards his or her time, even from me.

Unfortunately, the boards of art institutions tend to be populated with well-meaning supporters of the arts who often lack any business background or appetite for imposing appropriate discipline.

Time is the most valuable thing you have - and I'm not just talking about the minutes for which you're paid.

School district policies and practices have not kept pace with student and teacher needs.

I don't see myself as a great discoverer of artists, like Charles Saatchi.

I don't want to be in the film business. I'm not even sure it's a business.

I never play golf because it takes too long, and the business connections it produces can be made just as easily over an early breakfast.

I don't think it makes any sense for an individual to invest in common stocks unless they know the company, work at the company, and so on.

Most museums - with all their burdens to pay for exhibitions, administration, and security - really don't have any money really to acquire art, with few exceptions.

I never stay anywhere — parties , museums, meetings — longer than 3 hours.

The first thing I started collecting was stamps. Until I started discovering girls. That was the end of stamps.

There were periods when the art market got overheated, but there is no reason it should appreciate dramatically.

In high school, I would drive my teachers batty. They would make a statement, and I would say, 'Why is that?' They didn't want to be questioned.

You always learn lessons in business.

The first dream I had was just to get a college education. I got through college in three years, taking extra classes in summer school.

How absurd that our students tuck their cell phones, BlackBerrys, iPads, and iPods into their backpacks when they enter a classroom and pull out a tattered textbook.

I think over any period of time, especially if you don't use leverage, it is difficult to continually beat the S&P 500.

You can have great teachers, but if you don't have a good principal, you won't have a good school.

Every artist is unreasonable, because he or she is doing something that hasn't been done before.

Collectors become obsessive and then addicted. You become addicted to art and you can't live without it.

People always say congratulations. When you're a successful bidder it means you're willing to spend more money than anyone else. I'm not sure if that's congratulations or condolences.

I'd be bored to death if I spent all my time with other businesspeople, bankers and lawyers.

Philanthropy is activism.

People don't know I've got a deep social conscience. I'm a child of the Depression, born in 1933. My parents were very liberal in their social views.

Collecting is more than just buying objects.

I can imagine no more important contribution to our country's future than a long-term commitment to improving urban K-12 public schools.

I'd rather be respected than loved.

One, Andrew Carnegie said, ‘He who dies with wealth dies in shame.’ And someone once said, ‘He who gives while he lives also knows where it goes.’

Anything I do, I spend a lot of time. I do it with passion and intensity. I want to be in charge.