Jeff Bezos Quotes - Page 8

You're not going to make Hemingway better by adding animations.

I definitely believe people should pay for copyrighted works. And the laws are sufficient: They already require you to pay for copyright work. There's no confusion. The problem is...it's a heck of a lot easier to steal MP3s than to buy them.

I think if people read more, that is a better world.

Your margin is my opportunity.

Cultures, for better or worse, are very stable.

The world is littered with corpses that predicted technology in a particular arena was done. If there's another gigantic step change out there, we don't yet know what it is.

Our garage was basically science fair central.

It's harder to be kind than clever

I'm going to go do this crazy thing. I'm going to start this company selling books online.

What characteristics do I look for when hiring somebody? That's one of the questions I ask when interviewing. I want to know what kind of people they would hire.

For people who are readers, reading is important to them.

I like to be counted on.

I went to Princeton specifically to study physics.

Cultures aren’t so much planned as they evolve from that early set of people.

I don't know about you, but most of my exchanges with cashiers are not that meaningful.

... if it's not your style to stretch and go the extra mile to make sure our customer experience is great, you're going to have an allergic reaction to this company. You probably won't stay. If you do try and stay, but can't adapt to the culture then it will reject you like a virus from a healthy immune system.

I'm skeptical that the novel will be 're-invented.'

Will you be clever at the expense of others, or will you be kind?

We are at the 1908 Hurley washing machine stage with the Internet.

Part of company culture is path-dependent. It’s the lessons you learn along the way.

Not the outcome any of us wanted.

Strip malls are history.

I wouldn't be surprised if history records Tim Berners-Lee as the second Gutenberg.

Many of the traits that make Amazon unusual are now deeply ingrained in the culture. In fact, if I wanted to change them, I couldn't. The cultures are self-reinforcing, and that's a good thing.

My own view is that every company requires a long-term view.