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

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.

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.

You must find something that you deeply love and are passionate about and are willing to sacrifice a lot to achieve.

When companies fail, or fail to grow, it’s almost always because they don’t invest in the people, the systems, and the processes they need.

My mother taught me something at a young age – she said ‘you are the company you keep.’ To define yourself by some label or some level of resources – that’s pretty shallow.

Risk more than others think safe.

Only seven years ago we made a treaty by which we were assured that the buffalo country should be left to us forever. Now they threaten to take that from us also.

Our country has often stood like a solid rock in the face of common danger, and there is a deep underlying unity which runs like a golden thread through all our seeming diversity.

I want to tell you that if the Great Spirit had chosen anyone to be the chief of this country, it is myself.

It breaks my heart to know so many children in our country do not have access to education.

If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren’t people from Holland called Holes?

I listened to a lot of what my grandparents listened to: George Jones, Johnny Cash – a lot of old country singers. Patsy Cline.

Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.

My grandpa was a country singer, and I started learning guitar from him, just at the kitchen table when I was younger, and I got really into it.