It requires a certain kind of mind to see beauty in a hamburger bun. Yet is it any more unusual to find grace in the texture and softly carved silhouette of a bun than to reflect lovingly on the hackles of a fishing fly? Or the arrangements and textures on a butterfly's wing? Not if you are a McDonalds's man.

The two most important requirements for major success are: first, being in the right place at the right time, and second, doing something about it.

When times are bad is when you want to build! Why wait for things to pick up so everything will cost more?

Customers tend to avoid a restaurant that's going aswamp in its own sludge.

Perfection is very difficult to achieve, and perfection was what I wanted in McDonald's. Everything else was secondary for me.

Achievement must be made against the possibility of failure, against the risk of defeat. It is no achievement to walk a tightrope laid flat on the floor. Where there is no risk, there can be no pride in achievement and, consequently, no happiness. The only way we can advance is by going forward, individually and collectively, in the spirit of the pioneer. We must take the risks involved in our free enterprise system. This is the only way in the world to economic freedom. There is no other way.

I wasn't prepared for this big room with clattering typewriters and teletype printers. You could hardly hear yourself think.