Invention requires a long-term willingness to be misunderstood.

A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.

The common question that gets asked in business is, why? That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, why not?

We can't be in survival mode. We have to be in growth mode.

What we want to be is something completely new. There is no physical analog for what Amazon.com is becoming.

One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don't choose your passions; your passions choose you.

If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.

It's hard to find things that won't sell online.

Everything you are comes from your choices.

A company shouldn't get addicted to being shiny, because shiny doesn't last.

We've had three big ideas at Amazon that we've stuck with for 18 years, and thy're the reason we're successful: Put the customer first. Invent. And be patient.

Change starts with awareness.

All we have to do is to go onward and upward, and keep the commandments of our Father and God; and he will confound our enemies.

I'm far from a saint.

God cares about you and your needs. Bring them to Him in a spirit of worship and thanksgiving, knowing that He is mindful of your place in His creation.

If I have learned how to write fiction it's by working with great writers and getting them to explain their craft to me so that I can do it in English.

I could never stay long enough on the shore; the tang of the untainted, fresh, and free sea air was like a cool, quieting thought.

The stock market has an insidious effect on C.E.O.s' moods, because of its impact not just on their companies but on their own bank accounts.

I cannot remember a time when I did not want to go to Africa to study animals.

I think Republicans need to do a better job of reaching out to everyone in the United States. Politics is always about getting the support of the majority of our people.

There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level ofmuscular stimulation and growththan the correctly performed full squat.