“I saw opportunity appear in an ugly six-spindle shake machine … and grabbed it.”

If I had a brick for every time I’ve repeated the phrase Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value, I think I’d probably be able to bridge the Atlantic Ocean with them.

I was never much of a reader when I was a boy. Books bored me. I liked action. But I spent a lot of time thinking about things. I’d imagine all kinds of situations and how I would handle them.

We take the hamburger business more seriously than anyone else.

There’s a lot more future in hamburgers than in baseball.

Tomorrow at sunrise I shall no longer be here.

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

Nothing in the world can one imagine beforehand,not the least thing,everything is made up of so many unique particulars that cannot be forseen.

If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business.

None of Us is as Good as All of Us.

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.

You must perfect every fundamental of your business if you expect it to perform well.

McDonald’s is a people business, and that smile on that counter girl’s face when she takes your order is a vital part of our image.

The key to success is being in the right place at the right time, recognizing that you are there, and taking action!

The first dollar is the most you will get if you don’t love what you are doing.

Take calculated risks. Act boldly and thoughtfully. Be an agile company.

There is absolutely nothing special about walking on a rope stretched along the ground. Where there is no risk, there can be no pride in a deed accomplished, and therefore no happiness.

Political economy came into being as a natural result of the expansion of trade, and with its appearance elementary, unscientific huckstering was replaced by a developed system of licensed fraud, an entire science of enrichment.

The corruption of religions comes from turning them to mere words and appearances.

To look back is to relax one’s vigil.

The greatest lesson I learned that year in Mrs. Henry’s class was the lesson Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to teach us all: Never judge people by the color of their skin. God makes each of us unique in ways that go much deeper.

Technicolor makes me look like death warmed over.

I love myself when I am laughing. And then again when I am looking mean and impressive.

You cannot look at a person and tell whether they’re good or bad.

My reasoning they may counter; my speech they may distrust; my apparel they may disapprove; my face they may reject; and even my bargains may cause them suspicion; yet my love will melt all hearts liken to the sun whose rays soften the coldest clay.