The Art of Alchemy

"That doesn’t make sense!" "What do you mean?" "Go for the jugular!"

“The scarce resource in our society is not money but people.”

"You won’t be able to imagine the level of energy and commitment and the things you have to give up if you really want to do something like this."

“If you hire people at senior positions, you are a failure.”

“We never made the error that so many others have: mistaking their product for the device that delivers it.”

“In business the secret is to seize opportunities.”

"If you control your factories, you control your quality; if you control your distribution, you control your image."

“Life is a big craps game. I've got to tell you, it's all been fun.”

"Kerkorian makes these huge, stupid deals, and he always comes out richer."

"My goal is to be number one. I would like to be number one in anything I did. I don't say I can be. I don't say I should be. I'm saying I would like to be."

"I thought I'd be a success even back in the mailroom at William Morris. It was just inconceivable to me I couldn't win at all."

“I trade wherever it is legal to trade."

“The key to success - and to real wealth - is long-term thinking.”

“Probably none of us have ever lost so much money so fast in our lives.”

"Some said I was a 'crackpot' (many still do)."

“My life was always about being confronted with an environment where you had to adapt.”

“People who get their thrills from talking about big deals end up not doing them. The fewer words, the better."