Read the Declaration of Independence to your children as a tradition every Fourth of July. Make sure they understand why the word "pursuit" precedes the word "happiness."

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.

The New York Daily News suggested that my biggest war crime was not killing myself like a gentleman. Presumably Hitler was a gentleman.

The more desperate you are to reach heaven, the deeper you descend into hell.

I read once, somewhere, that the way you know you've grown up is when your future death becomes a stone in your shoe: when you feel it with every step.

Remember what Susan B. Anthony said? 'Failure is impossible.' Failure is possible if women don't vote.

I feel my heart break to see a nation ripped apart by it's own greatest strength - it's diversity.

Read it aloud to yourself because that's the only way to be sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK.

WikiLeaks is a important focus of our attention.

Wisdom is the highest position a man can attain!

Is a hippopotamus a hippopotamus or just a really cool opotamus?

Great leaders have no need for reputation. Reputation is what you are in public. Character is who you are in private.