“In the past, (GM) produced a lot of very excellent vehicles but somehow they didn’t excite anybody.”

We weren’t trying to walk him; he just wouldn’t swing at any bad pitches.

You cannot buy a bad automobile any more from any producer. We have to do more products not because we’re looking at a particular segment, but because it’s a great vehicle.

Going into Indianapolis, playing Indiana, I guess bring it on. It’s what we’ve caught at the end of the year, and we’ve got to try to make the best of it.

Design can be both a manifestation of a company’s design ethic and an outward communication of a company’s design ethic and drive for excellence.

People under 75 need more seasoning

Being able to ‘think out of the box’ presupposes you were able to think in it.

One colossal advantage of being in extra innings is that you can tell it like it is, say what you think, and largely eschew political caution.

Louis Pasteur, the great scientist, said “chance favours the prepared mind”, which is a posh way of saying ‘do your homework’, but it’s an excellent piece of advice.

My influences were mostly gospel. So I was playing my twisted Jewish equivalent of gospel music over his twisted equivalent of rock and roll music. And it was a very excellent marriage.

Success means doing as excellent a job as you can on that particular day. The people I admire most aren’t necessarily the most wonderful athletes.

There’s nothing an artist needs more – even more than excellent tools and stamina – than a deadline.

But fortunately there are also really excellent human beings all over the place, too. So it’s about perception and balance sometimes I think.

An excellent weapon and luck had been on my side.

That was excellent! I mean, it didn’t do anything, but it looked really cool!

An excellent job with a dubious undertaking, which is like saying it would be great if it wasn’t awful.