“I was trained from the beginning to work, to save, and to give.”
“The American Beauty Rose can be produced in the splendor and fragrance which bring cheer to its beholder only by sacrificing the early buds which grow up around it. This is not an evil tendency in business. It is merely the working-out of a law of nature and a law of God.”
“Don't blame the marketing department. The buck stops with the chief executive.”
“Competition is a sin.”
“It is very important to remember what other people tell you, not so much what you yourself already know.”
“When a man has accumulated a sum of money, accumulated it within the law, the Government has no right to share in its earnings.”
“I have ways of making money that you know nothing of.”
“Character - not wealth, power, or position - is the supreme word.”
“I have nothing else to say other than I wasn't corrupt, unfair, or greedy. I was smart when it came to making decisions for my company, and I wasn't greedy. I gave to others in charity and donated money to fund programs. I have nothing else to say.”
“The common denominator for success is work.”
“Who is the poorest man in the world? I tell you, the poorest man I know of is the man who has nothing but money.”
“I was born into it and there was nothing I could do about it. It was there, like air or food, or any other element. The only question with wealth is what you do with it.”
“We give scholarships to high school kids and a new library of books to every preschool child in the county where I was born. I didn't have books at home so I did all my reading at school. I love books and I believe that helping kids to read gives them a great start in life.”
“I did not, thank the Lord, have to have a hysterectomy.”
“Is forever longer than always?”
“I look at myself like a show dog. I've got to keep her clipped and trimmed and in good shape.”
“It's when you treat people like freaks that you become one yourself.”
“They say somebody's 'street smart.' I feel like, if I got intelligence, it's just a country smart.”
“I write for myself things that I've gone through.”
“'9 to 5,' that little song, that little story, just won't ever end. Just like 'I Will Always Love You,' it just keeps comin' back, popping up its head in one way or another.”
“I have suffered most of the things I write about - or my friends have.”
“I grew up around lots of men - my father, my brothers, my uncles - so I wasn't intimidated by them.”
“Now I usually try not to give advice. Information, yes, advice, no. But, what has worked for me may not work for you. Well, take for instance what has worked for me. Wigs. Tight clothes. Push up bras.”
“Sometimes my mouth is a little too big and a little too open and sounds too much like a sailor.”
“We just seem to have lost all our morals and principles and values these days.”
