It is very difficult to get people to focus on the most important things when you're in boom times.

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.

I (God) am only a part of your own human consciousness, but a really bizarre part.

At times you inhale a fragrance that transports you to another world.

You say you're a writer but you're depressed. Not an excuse

I am a person who has many dreams. But as soon as I accomplish one, I move on to the next. That's my fatal, absurd nature.

If we're damaged it will take 20 years to fix ourselves. It only takes one year to cause 20 years of damage.

I got my start in lefty journalism as a labor reporter at 'In These Times', and it's in my blood.

We're out of cocktail olives, it's a tragedy of historic proportions, but we're coping because we're Americans.

When you are far away from reality, your fantasy won't work.

I finally understood what true love meant...love meant that you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.

If we really want to live, we'd better start at once to try.