To the man with only a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Part of [having uncommon sense] is being able to tune out folly, as opposed to recognizing wisdom. If you bat away many things, you don't clutter yourself.

It takes character to sit there with all that cash and do nothing. I didn't get to where I am by going after mediocre opportunities.

Don't do cocaine. Don't race trains. And avoid AIDS situations.

Tthe first rule is that you can't really know anything if you just remember isolated facts and try and bang 'em back. If the facts don't hang together on a latticework of theory, you don't have them in a usable form.... You may have noticed students who just try to remember and pound back what is remembered. Well, they fail in school and in life.

It would be easier to screw up American Express than Coke or Gillette, but it's an immensely strong business.

It never ceases to amaze me to see how much territory can be grasped if one merely masters and consistently uses all the obvious and easily learned principles.