If you want to understand the entrepreneur, study the juvenile delinquent. The delinquent is saying with his actions, โThis sucks, Iโm going to do my own thing.โ
Yvon ChouinardGoing back to a simpler life based on living by sufficiency rather than excess is not a step backward. Rather, returning to a simpler way allows us to regain our dignity, puts us in touch with the land, and makes us value human contact again.
Yvon ChouinardWe're a part of nature. As we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. It's a selfish thing to want to protect nature.
Yvon ChouinardWhile our managers debated what steps to take to address the sales and cash-flow crisis, I began to lead week-long employee seminars in what we called Philosophies. We'd take a busload at a time to places like Yosemite or the Marin Headlands above San Francisco, camp out, and gather under the trees to talk. The goal was to teach every employee in the company our business and environmental ethics and values.
Yvon ChouinardDoing risk sports had taught me another important lesson: never exceed your limits. You push the envelope and you live for those moments when youโre right on the edge, but you donโt go over. You have to be true to yourself; you have to know your strengths and limitations and live within your means. The same is true for a business. The sooner a company tries to be what it is not, the sooner it tries to โhave it all,โ the sooner it will die.
Yvon Chouinard