I never wanted to be a businessman; I was a craftsman and good at working with my hands. At some point, I decided that this company is my best resource. Patagonia now exists to put into practice all the things that smart people are saying we have to do not only to save the planet but to save the economy.

The more you know, the less you need.

There's a movement for simplifying your life: purchase less stuff, own a few things that are very high quality that last a long time, and that are multifunctional.

The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life; it’s so easy to make it complex.

Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all.

The most important thing is to get the fish in quickly and leave it in the water. Forget the hero pose.

I wanted to distance myself from those pasty faced corpses in suits I saw in airline magazine ads. If I was going to become a businessman, I was going to do it on my own terms.