“Work should be personal. For all of us. Not just for the artist and entrepreneur. Work should have meaning for the accountant, the construction worker, the technologist, the manager and the clerk.”

We are not in the coffee business serving people, we are in the people business serving coffee.

At its core, I believe leadership is about instilling confidence in others.

Don’t be threatened by people smarter than you.

In times of adversity and change, we really discover who we are and what we’re made of.

Beverages have to be created. And they’re created by looking at what trend is in, say, the fashion industry – what color’s hot right now.

I don’t have any secret sauce and I’m no smarter than anyone else. I will say I have surrounded myself with unbelievable talent that has made my job easier.

Everyone starts strong. Success comes to those with unwavering commitment to be at the end.

My passion. My commitment. This is the most important thing in my life other than my family.

I conduct my life with an expectation that people will do the right thing. Yet even with all my experience, I am still surprised when they do not.

Every step of the way, I made a point to underpromise and overdeliver. In the long run, that’s the only way to ensure security in any job.

Grow with discipline. Balance intuition with rigor. Innovate around the core. Don’t embrace the status quo.

One of the fundamental aspects of leadership, I realized more and more, is the ability to instill confidence in others when you yourself are feeling insecure.

China traditionally has been a tea-drinking country but we turned them into coffee drinkers.

When we began Starbucks, what I wanted to try to do was to create a set of values, guiding principles, and culture.

You cant build any kind of organization if you’re not going to surround yourself with people who have experience and skill base beyond your own.

Be bold, but be fair. Don’t give in. If others around you have integrity, too, you can prevail.

The artist does not have to suffer to show suffering.

I don’t think music can be held. I don’t think artists can be put into boxes or places. It’s all about creating and making the best music you can.

The great artist is a slave to his ideals.

I don’t judge too much as long as it’s good. As long as it’s good music and good artistry, I’m with it.

Guilt is cancer. Guilt will confine you, torture you, destroy you as an artist. It’s a black wall. It’s a thief.

Here in England, everyone’s a pop star, innit, whereas in America they believe in the term artist.

When you become an artist you’re working away from home for so much time. You really see what the use of time means to you once you’re an artist and you travel so much.

The artist cannot look to others to validate his efforts or his calling. If you don’t believe me, ask Van Gogh, who produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life.