Any business plan won't survive its first encounter with reality. The reality will always be different. It will never be the plan.

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.

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

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.

Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy-they're given after all. Choices can be hard.

All businesses need to be young forever. If your customer base ages with you, you're Woolworth's.

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.