If you decide that you're going to do only the things you know are going to work, you're going to leave a lot of opportunity on the table.

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

Infrastructure web services had to happen.

What I want to talk to you about today is the difference between gifts and choices. Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy - they’re given after all. Choices can be hard. You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you’re not careful, and if you do, it’ll probably be to the detriment of your choices.

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.

Our biggest cost is not power, or servers, or people. It's lack of utilization. It dominates all other costs.

There are two ways to extend a business. Take inventory of what you're good at and extend out from your skills. Or determine what your customers need and work backward, even if it requires learning new skills. Kindle is an example of working backward.