Nothing is so dangerous to the progress of the human mind than to assume that our views of science are ultimate, that there are no mysteries in nature, that our triumphs are complete and that there are no new worlds to conquer.
It's not just buying the company. Sure, we picked the right companies, and we picked the right management and, most importantly, we've given them the right incentive to perform.
Giving back is something that comes from the heart to me. It's not that I do it because it's the right thing: I do it because I want do it.
It used to be that you would go in to see a CEO, and you would ask them, 'Is your company for sale?' and if they said 'No, we have no interest in selling,' that was sort of the end of the conversation.
It's not that complicated. If you hear something and it makes you want to hear it again, that's the ticket. You have to be lucky enough to find geniuses, welcome them and get out of their way.
I've been totally replaced by people who are superior. I was doing, like, 15 different things. It's very gratifying to watch your job done better.
Our economy is built upon convergent thinkers, people that execute things, get them done. But artists and designers are divergent thinkers: they expand the horizon of possibilities.
On the subject of Osama bin Laden... we will track him down. We will capture him. We will bring him to justice, and I will follow him to the gates of hell.
We can serve our customers well only if our buying jobs are right. You cannot sell if you haven't ordered wanted goods into your store.
I also administer the Internet Assigned Names Authority, which is the central coordinator for the Internet address space, domain names and Internet protocol conventions essential to the use and operation of the Internet.
The price of a commodity will never go to zero. When you invest in commodities futures, you're not buying a piece of paper that says you own an intangible piece of company that can go bankrupt.
Tough times helped many commodities producers become lean and mean through consolidation, mergers and cost-cutting. All that excess supply has been sopped up.
You can no longer buy commodities at Merrill Lynch. My guess is many analysts and even executives are too young to know how profitable a hot commodities market can be. They will soon.
When I tell my colleagues that I remember 1969, 1974 and 1987, their eyes glaze over, but I'm afraid I do remember them, and I therefore err on the side of caution.
Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.
What I didn't foresee in 2005 was the rise of the post-PC, which are all these tablets now. These are the things that actually will probably be the end of the consoles.
You might not think that programmers are artists, but programming is an extremely creative profession. It's logic-based creativity.
Become that rare person where people know that your word is your bond and you're going to do exactly what you say you're going to do.
Star performers are my favorite to manage and lead. Star performers are critical to any organization, and the key is how can you capture their heart-share and their mind-share when they're on this fast track.
A doctor today would never prescribe the treatments my grandfather used in the Confederate Army, but a minister says pretty much the same thing today that a minister would have said back then.
It's my view that solar energy may be the ultimate solution for energy for most of the world. I believe, based on what little I know about it, that there is a possibility of a breakthrough.
