If you can get over this initial distrust that people have of strangers, you can do remarkable things.

The personal wealth that's coming is absolutely secondary to the stories that I hear about our users who have given themselves some financial independence as well by starting businesses, and all the lives we've touched positively.

We believe people are basically good. We believe everyone has something to contribute. We encourage you to treat others the way that you want to be treated.

I built a system simple enough to sustain itself.

Build a platform - prepare for the unexpected...you' ll know you're successful when the platform you've built serves you in unexpected ways.

Everyone is born equally capable but lacks equal opportunity.

In February of 1996, about six months after I created eBay, I started receiving a spate of complaints. Everyone was complaining about each other. I felt very much like I was a parent who had to adjudicate the brothers beating each other up.