Paul Arden Quotes

It's better to regret what you have done than what you haven't.

I watch TV more than I used to, and the commercials don't impress me. The standard of execution is very high, but the standard of ideas is appalling.

We are all advertising, all of the time. If you want to sell your car, what do you do? You clean and polish it and make it the best you can. Some people bake bread when they are trying to sell their house because the smell adds a friendly feeling. Even the priest, with all his or her fervour, is advertising God. Everybody is selling.

Instead of waiting for perfection, run with what you've got, and fix it as you go.

Nearly all rich and powerful people are not notably talented, educated, charming or good-looking. They become rich and powerful by wanting to be rich and powerful.

Don't give a speech. Put on a show.

When it can't be done, do it. If you don't do it, it doesn't exist.

Your vision of where or who you want to be is the greatest asset you have. Without having a goal it’s difficult to score.

Everybody wants to be good, but not many are prepared to make the sacrifices it takes to be great.

Everybody wants to be good, but not many are prepared to make the sacrifices it takes to be great. To many people, being nice in order to be liked is more important. There's equal merit in that, but you must not confuse being good with being liked.

The world is what YOU think of it, so think of it DIFFERENTLY and your life will change.

Have you noticed that the cleverest people at school are often not the ones who succeed in life?

having too many ideas is not always a good thing.

Even a bad idea executed is better than a good idea undone.

Do not covet your ideas.

Risks are a measure of people. People who won't take them are trying to preserve what they have. People who do take them often end up having more. Some risks have a future, and some people call them wrong. But being right may be like walking backwards proving where you've been. Being wrong isn't in the future, or in the past. Being wrong isn't anywhere but being here. Best place to be, eh?

Too many people spend too much time trying to perfect something before they actually do it. Instead of waiting for perfection, run with what you go, and fix it along the way.

Be unfashionable. Take risks.

It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be.

There are rules in advertising, and those rules are self-imposed by the client companies because they don't want their products to be seen as dishonest.

Everything we do we choose. So what is there to regret? You are the person you chose to be.

If you can't solve a problem, it's because you're playing by the rules

Great people have great egos; maybe that's what makes them great.

Do not seek praise. Seek criticism.

It's never the next brief, it's ALWAYS THIS brief .

i wish means: would it be nice if.. i want means: if i want it enough i will get it.

Start taking bad decisions and it will take you to a place where others only dream of being.

it's wrong to be right; it's right to be wrong.

Be your own worst critic. When things go wrong it's tempting to shift the blame. Don't. Accept responsibility. People will appreciate it, and you will find out what you're capable of.

Do not put cleverness in front of the communication.

Life's all about 'me' anyway

The more strikingly visual your presentation is, the more people will remember it. And more importantly, they will remember you.

We are always waiting for the perfect brief from the perfect client. It almost never happens [...] Whatever is on your desk right now, that's the one. Make it the best you possibly can.

Advertising gets such a bashing from the world. At parties you are always asked, 'Aren't you just selling people things they don't want?

If you always make the right decision, the safe decision, the one most people make, you will be the same as everyone else.