The War On Drugs Has Gone On For About Forty-five, Fifty Years - And It's Been A Complete Failure. If You Had A Business That Was Failing So Badly, You Would Change Course. And It's Just Incredible That Governments Continue Along The Same Course.

-Richard Branson

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The War On Drugs

Richard Branson

Topic

War

Years

Government

More From Richard Branson

I Have Always Lived My Life By Making Lists: Lists Of People To Call, Lists Of Ideas, Lists Of Companies To Set Up, Lists Of People Who Can Make Things Happen. Each Day I Work Through These Lists, And That Sequence Of Calls Propels Me Forward.

Ideas

People

Each Day

To Succeed In Business You Need To Be Original, But You Also Need To Understand What Your Customers Want.

Needs

Want

Succeed

If You Want To Stand Out From The Crowd, Give People A Reason Not To Forget You

People

Giving

Crowds

Most People Assume That A Record Shop's Success Lies In Selling Records. In Fact, Virgin's Success Both In Mail Order And The Record Shops Lay In Skill At Buying Records.

Lying

Order

Skills

We Need Government And Business To Work Together For The Benefit Of Everyone. It Should No Longer Be Just About Typical "corporate Social Responsibility" Where The "responsibility" Bit Is Usually The Realm Of A Small Team Buried In A Basement Office - Now It Should Be About Every Single Person In A Business Taking Responsibility To Make A Difference In Everything They Do, At Work And In Their Personal Lives.

Team

Responsibility

Government

One Thing Is Certain In Business: You Will Make Mistakes. When You Are Pushing The Boundaries, Mistakes Are Inevitable-how You React Is Important.

Mistake

Important

Pushing

If We Can Just Get Young People To Do The Same As Their Fathers Did, That Is, Wear Condoms

Father

People

Condom

Whether You Are Launching A Start-up Or Leading An Established Company, You Should Start Establishing Your Social Media Presence If You Haven’t Already.

Media

Social

Should

Good People Have Always Been At The Heart Of The Virgin Business, And That's Largely Because We Have Tried To Keep Our Business Small, And Our Management Teams Tight-knit. I Feel That Small, Compact Companies, Are Better Run. That Is Partly Because People Feel More Connected In Small Companies.

Running

Team

Heart

With All My Employees, I Listen To Them, Trust In Them, Believe In Them, Respect Them And Let Them Have A Go! I Never Believe I Know Better Than They Do And Have Been Fortunate Over The Years To Build Up A Very Strong Management Team Whom I Can Trust And Take Advice From.

Strong

Team

Believe

Commitment Is Not Letting People Down. That's Very Important In Life.

Commitment

People

Important

Perhaps, Therefore, It Is Odd That If There Is Any One Phrase That Is Guaranteed To Set Me Off It's When Someone Says To Me, 'ok, Fine. You're The Boss!' What Irks Me Is That In 90% Of Such Instances What That Person Is Really Saying Is, 'ok, Then, I Don't Agree With You, But I'll Roll Over And Do It Because You're Telling Me To. But If It Doesn't Work Out I'll Be The First To Remind Everyone That It Wasn't My Idea.'

Ideas

Work Out

Boss

Business Is What Concerns Us. If You Care About Something Enough To Do Something About It, You're In Business

Care

Enough

Concern

The Way You Treat Your Employees Is The Way They Will Treat Your Customers

Way

Employee Appreciation

Treats

I Will Work Day And Night To Avoid Failure, But If I Can't, I'll Pick Myself Up The Next Day. The Most Important Thing For Entrepreneurs Is Not To Be Put Off By Failure.

Night

Next Day

Entrepreneur

I Think It's Important We Continue To Find New Ways For Start-up Businesses To Get Access To Funding, Mentorship And Business Advice.

Thinking

Advice

Important

I Am A Great Believer That You Need Passion And Energy To Create A Truly Successful Business.

Passion

Successful

Energy

Luck Is When Determination Meets Opportunity

Determination

Opportunity

Luck

Success Comes From Listening To Your Customer.

Listening

Customers

Talent Comes From Experience And Failure

Self Improvement

Improvement

Talent

Of Course An Individual Can Make A Huge Difference But It Is When Those Individuals Come Together With Like-minded Souls That They Can Change The World For Ever And Importantly For The Better.

Differences

Soul

Together

Screw It, Just Do It!

Inspirational

Screws

Just Do It

I Know Enough To Know That No Man Is An Island.

Men

Islands

People

My Very First Venture Was A National Student Magazine To Try To Campaign Against The [vietnam] War. And So I Wanted To Be An Editor. I Wanted To Bring The Magazine Out. And In Order For The Magazine To Survive I Had To Worry About The Printing And The Paper Manufacturing And The Distribution. And, You Know, I Had To Try To, At The End Of The Year, Have More Money Coming In Than Going Out.

War

Order

Years

The Risk Is Worth It. Mike Would Have Been The First To Say That.

Risk

Firsts

Mike

Don't Think About Making Money, Think About Making A Difference, Spot Where Others Are Doing It Badly And Do It Better

Thinking

Differences

Self Improvement

The Most Important Thing For Entrepreneurs Is Not To Be Put Off By Failure.

Entrepreneur

Important

Important Things

I Have No Secret. There Are No Rules To Follow In Business. I Just Work Hard And, As I Always Have Done, Believe I Can Do It. Most Of All, Though, I Try To Have Fun.

Fun

Business

Work

If You Take Care Of Your Workers They'll Take Care Of Your Business.

Care

Take Care

Workers

If You Look After Your Staff, They'll Look After Your Customers. It's That Simple.

Leadership

Simple

Looks

If You're Looking To Become An Entrepreneur Then Don't Waste Your Time Going To University Or Business School - Just Get On And Do It.

School

Entrepreneur

Waste

What's The Most Critical Factor In Any Business Decision You'll Ever Have To Make? Basically, It Boils Down To This Question: If This All Crashes, Will It Bring The Whole House Tumbling Down Like A Pack Of Cards? One Business Matra Remains Embedded In My Brain - Protect The Downside.

Tumbling Down

House

Decision

If People Aren't Calling You Crazy, You Aren't Thinking Big Enough.

Inspirational

Success

Crazy

You're Offering A Great Service. People Are Tuning In. So Continue To Find Great People, Continue To Do What You're Doing. And Do It Better Than Your Rivals. I Know That's Easier Said Than Done.

Offering

People

Done

Play Fair, Be Prepared For Others To Play Dirty, And Don't Let Them Drag You Into The Mud.

Dirty

Play

Mud

Run Lean; Avoid Unnecessary Expenses.

Running

Survival

Unnecessary

Entrepreneurship Is About Turning What Excites You In Life Into Capital, So That You Can Do More Of It And Move Forward With It.

Inspirational

Powerful

Business

I Myself Have Invested In Uber And Hailo, I Think They Offer Great Alternatives To Disrupt Markets That Have Remained Unchanged For Many Years.

Thinking

Years

Uber

So I've Seen Life As One Long Learning Process. And If I See - You Know, If I Fly On Somebody Else's Airline And Find The Experience Is Not A Pleasant One, Which It Wasn't In - 21 Years Ago, Then I'd Think, Well, You Know, Maybe I Can Create The Kind Of Airline That I'd Like To Fly On.

Thinking

Years

Long

Fun Is One Of The Most Important - And Underrated - Ingredients In Any Successful Venture. If You're Not Having Fun, Then It's Probably Time To Call It Quits And Try Something Else.

Fun

Successful

Important

I Was Trouble - And Always In Trouble. Aged Eight I Still Couldn't Read. In Fact, I Was Dyslexic And Short-sighted. Despite Sitting At The Front Of The Class, I Couldn't Read The Blackboard. Only After A Couple Of Terms Did Anyone Think To Have My Eyes Tested. Even When I Could See, The Letters And Numbers Made No Sense At All.

Couple

Eye

Thinking

Most "necessary Evils" Are Far More Evil Than Necessary.

Business

Evil

Necessary Evil

It Is Only By Being Bold That You Get Anywhere. If You Are A Risk-taker, Then The Art Is To Protect The Downside.

Art

Risk

Protect

People Who Think And Say We More Often Than I Are A Lot More Likely To Succeed.

Thinking

People

Succeed

Throughout My Business Life I Have Always Tried To Keep On Top Of Costs And Protect The Downside Risk As Much Possible. The Virgin Group Has Survived Only Because We Have Always Kept Tight Control Of Our Cash. But, Likewise, I Also Know That Sometimes It Is Essential To Break These Rules And Spend Lavishly.

Risk

Groups

Essentials

I Definitely Go On Gut Instinct But It Has Always Had The Back Up Of Research And Information.

Research

Goes On

Information

Virgin, Is How Good You Are With People. If You're - If You're Good With People And You've Got - You Know, And You Really Care, Genuinely Care About People Then I'm Sure We Could Find A Job For You At Virgin. I Think, You Know, That, You Know, That The Companies That Look After Their People Are The Companies That Do Really Well. I'm Sure We'd Like A Few Other Attributes, But That Would Be The Most Important One.

Jobs

Thinking

People

Drive, Determination, Passion And Hard Work Are All Free And More Valuable Than A Pot Of Cash.

Determination

Hard Work

Passion

The Time To Go Into A New Business Is When It’s Badly Run By Others.

Running

Powerful

Innovation

What's The Quickest Way To Become A Millionaire? Borrow Fivers Off Everyone You Meet.

Money

Way

Millionaire

Brave People Don't Live Forever, But Cautious People Don't Live At All.

People

Brave

Forever

Lead By Listening - To Be A Good Leader You Have To Be A Great Listener.

Leader

Listening

Good Listener

Being An Entrepreneur Simply Means Being Someone Who Wants To Make A Difference To Other People's Lives.

Mean

Differences

People

I Love Creating Things, And As An Entrepreneur, I've Taken On Quite A Lot Of Major Corporations And Done Well. Capitalism Is The Only System That Works, But It Has Its Flaws; For One, It Brings Great Wealth To Only A Few People. That Wealth Obviously Brings Extreme Responsibility.

Taken

Responsibility

People

I Have Always Believed That Business Should Be A Force For Good.

Should

Force

Always Believe

Right Now I'm Just Delighted To Be Alive And To Have Had A Nice Long Bath.

Nice

Long

Alive

It's So Graceful To Be Blown By The Wind, To Go Where The Wind Takes You. Just Drifting Over Beautiful Rivers In A Balloon Is Perfect.

Beautiful

Adventure

Wind

To Achieve Consistently Terrific Customer Service, You Must Hire Wonderful People Who Believe In Your Company's Goals, Habitually Do Better Than The Norm And Who Will Love Their Jobs; Make Sure That Their Ideas And Opinions Are Heard And Respected; Then Give Them The Freedom To Help And Solve Problems For Your Customers. Rather Than Providing Rules Or Scripts, You Should Ask Them To Treat The Customer As They Themselves Would Like To Be Treated - Which Is Surely The Highest Standard.

Jobs

Believe

Ideas

If Family Or Friends Are Unwell Or Ill - It's Perhaps The Only Thing That Really Can Make One Feel Vulnerable.

Vulnerable

Ill

Feels

The Key Is To Set Realistic Customer Expectations, And Then Not To Just Meet Them, But To Exceed Them - Preferably In Unexpected And Helpful Ways.

Keys

Loyal Customers

Expectations

Tough Times Are Inevitable In Life And In Business. But How You Compose Yourself During Those Times Defines Your Spirit And Will Define Your Future.

Tough Times

Spirit

Your Future

I Want Virgin To Be As Well-known Around The World As Coca-cola.

World

Want

Well Known

If People Are Crazy Enough To Dare, Impossible Things Happen.

Crazy

Impossible Things

People

I Set Up This Magazine Called Student When I Was 16, And I Didn't Do It To Make Money - I Did It Because I Wanted To Edit A Magazine. There Wasn't A National Magazine Run By Students, For Students. I Didn't Like The Way I Was Being Taught At School. I Didn't Like What Was Going On In The World, And I Wanted To Put It Right.

Running

Business

School

I Think Entrepreneurship Is Our Natural State--a Big Adult Word That Probably Boils Down To Something Much More Obvious Like Playfulness.

Powerful

Thinking

Adults

I Think That Marijuana Should Be Legalized. I Think The Only Reason It Isn't Legal Is Because Politicians Who Smoked It When They Were Young Men Or Young Women Just Don't Have The Courage When They Become Politicians To Legalize It.

Marijuana

Men

Thinking

For A Successful Entrepreneur It Can Mean Extreme Wealth. But With Extreme Wealth Comes Extreme Responsibility. And The Responsibility For Me Is To Invest In Creating New Businesses, Create Jobs, Employ People, And To Put Money Aside To Tackle Issues Where We Can Make A Difference.

Jobs

Mean

Responsibility

You Know I Think If The People Who Work For A Business Are Proud Of The Business They Work For, They'll Work That Much Harder, And Therefore, I Think Turning Your Business Into A Real Force For Good Is Good Business Sense As Well.

Real

Thinking

People

We Believe That Within Five Years, 96 Percent Of British Consumers Will Have Access To The Internet, Whether It Be Through A Personal Computer, A Set-top Box Or A Mobile Phone.

Believe

Phones

Years

Setting Customer Expectations At A Level That Is Aligned With Consistently Deliverable Levels Of Customer Service Requires That Your Whole Staff, From Product Development To Marketing, Works In Harmony With Your Brand Image.

Educational

Expectations

Inspire

I Am Impressed With Just The Enthusiasm For Life And The Fact That Some Of These People Are In Their 80's, Even 90's, And They're Absolutely Determined To Get Out There And Make A Difference.

Life

Differences

People

I Think It's Quite Great To Set Yourself A Big Challenge And Then You've Got Another Reason For Keeping Fit.

Thinking

Challenges

Fit

I Just Kind Of Dive In If I Think I Can Create Something That Will Make A Difference And Then Try To Get The Numbers To Stack Up After The Event. So Most Of The Things I've Done I Would Not Have Done If I'd Have Asked The Accountants To Look At Them Before.

Thinking

Numbers

Differences

A Business Can Be Started With Very Little Money.

Littles

Little Money

I Am No Stranger To Healthy Competition-wor King Hard And Playing Hard

Kings

Competition

Healthy

There Are No Quick Wins In Business - It Takes Years To Become An Overnight Success.

Winning

Years

Overnight Success

Be Creative. Innovate Consistently On The Little Things That The Big Companies Ignore. Little Things Often Make Big Differences In Business.

Differences

Creative

Survival

When Employees Tell You About Their Good Ideas For The Business, Don't Limit Your Response To Asking Questions, Taking Notes And Following Up. If You Can, Ask Those People To Lead Their Projects And Take Responsibility For Them. From Those Experiences, They Will Then Have Built The Confidence To Take On More And You Can Take A Further Step Back.

Responsibility

Asking Questions

Ideas

I Just Like To Enjoy Life And Push Myself. Of Course, There Is Method To My Madness. When You Are Entering Into A New Industry, For Example, It Helps To Do Something To Get Your Name On The Front Pages.

Names

Enjoy Life

Challenges

And Ever Since Then [i] Have Set Up Businesses Basically Out Of Frustration. I Mean, I Set Up Virgin Atlantic With One Second-hand 747 Because I Hated The Experience Of Flying On Other People's Airlines. And I Thought, You Know, I Could Try To Create The Kind Of Airline That I'd Like To Fly On. And People Liked It.

Mean

Frustration

Hands

A Company Is People … Employees Want To Know… Am I Being Listened To Or Am I A Cog In The Wheel? People Really Need To Feel Wanted.

People

Cogs

Needs

Having Colleagues Nearby, Whether At The Beach Or In A Crypt, Means The Ideas Are Always Flowing

Beach

Business

Mean

About 40 Percent Of My Time Is Spent On Social Issues And Building New Organizations, More For The Benefit Of The Climate Or Health Issues.

Organization

Issues

Benefits

Failing Can Provide Invaluable Lessons And Making Mistakes And Experiencing Setbacks Is Part Of The Dna Of Every Successful Entrepreneur.

Mistake

Successful

Dna

Happiness Is The Secret Ingredient For Successful Businesses. If You Have A Happy Company It Will Be Invincible.

Inspirational

Business

Successful

It's Clear That It Is In The Best Interest Of Business To Be Part Of The Conservation, Along With Governments And Civil Society.

Government

Conservation

Interest

As We Drifted To Earth I Sat Up On The Glass Roof Of The Capsule, Watching The Beauty Of The Golden Dawn As It Broke Over The Desert. This Was A Day I Never Thought I'd See And The Rising Sun And Growing Warmth Of The Day Seemed Very Precious. It Made Me Aware That Hard-won Things Are More Valuable Than Those That Come Too Easily. It Reminded Me To Always Enjoy The Moment.

Life

Glasses

Sun

Smiling Can Be A Competitive Advantage. It Makes Everyone Feel Better And Every Situation Brighter.

Feel Better

Advantage

Situation

In The '80's My Gut Feeling Was That Airlines Were Crap. I Hated Spending Time On Planes. I Thought We Could Create The Kind Of Airline I'd Like. So We Got A Secondhand 747 And Gave It A Go.

Feelings

Aviation

Kind

Seek Out Strategic Alliances; They Are Essential To Growth And Provide Resistance To Bigger Competition.

Competition

Growth

Survival

I Just Wanted To Create Things That I Could Be Proud Of. Money Was Just An Evil Byproduct To Pay The Bills At The End Of The Year.

Years

Evil

Proud

Just Watching Israel Bombarding Palestine And Palestine Sending One Or Two Little Rockets Over To Israel - It's Just Too Sad For Words.

Israel

Two

Littles

You Can Never Go Too Far Wrong By Thinking Like A Customer Who’s New To The Business.

Thinking

Customers

So I Became A Publisher By Mistake - Well, Not Quite By Mistake, Because I Wanted To Be An Editor But I Had To Make Sure The Magazine Would Survive. The Point Is This: Most Businesses Fail, So If You're Going To Succeed, It Has To Be About More Than Making Money.

Mistake

Editors

Succeed

An Exceptional Company Is The One That Gets All The Little Details Right.

Details

Littles

Exceptional

All In All, The Internet Is A Force For Good, Providing Young Entrepreneurs With Access To An Incredible Wealth Of Information, Has Changed The Way We See The World And Is Also A Great Source Of Innovation And Entrepreneurial Opportunities.

Opportunity

Young Entrepreneurs

Innovation

With Space Travel, [it's] No Different. You Know, In 1990 I Read The Name Virgin Galactic Airways. Loved The Name. And Set Out To Try To Find An Engineer Or Rocket Scientist In The World Who Could Build A Safe, Reusable Rocket That Could Take People To And From Space And We Could Start A Whole New Era Of Commercial Space Travel.

Names

Space

People

Through The Right People Focusing On The Right Things, We Can, In Time, Get On Top Of A Lot If Not Most Of The Problems Of This World. And That's What A Number Of Us Are Trying To Do.

Numbers

People

Trying

Travel The World And Meet People. I've Been Fortunate Enough To See So Much Of The World, And Being Able To Do So Has Brought Me So Many Wonderful Friends And Experiences. There Is No Better Way To Learn Than Exploring New Places.

People

World

Wonderful

Values Cannot Be Speedily Forgotten If It Is Inconvenient Or Commercially Expedient. Values Have To Have Meaning And Longevity; Otherwise They Are Valueless. You Cannot Embrace Innovation Up To A Point Or Only Sometimes. Branding Demands Commitment; Commitment To Continual Re-invention; Striking Cords With People To Stir Their Emotions; And Commitment To Imagination. It Is Easy To Be Cynical About Such Things, Much Harder To Be Successful.

Commitment

Successful

Imagination

The Key To Generating Loyalty And Rising Above The General Noise Seems To Be All About Creating An Authentic Voice.

Loyalty

Keys

Voice

Publicity Is Absolutely Critical. A Good Pr Story Is Infinitely More Effective Than A Front Page Ad.

Communication

Stories

Pages

India Is An Incredibly Vibrant Market, Which Virgin Already, Through Virgin Atlantic, Has The Pleasure Of Working In. I Am Delighted That Virgin Comics Will Not Only Help To Launch The Indian Comic Market And Spin It Into The West, But Will Develop New And Exciting Talent.

India

West

Helping

I’ve Always Had A Soft Spot For Dreamers – Not Those Who Waste Their Time Thinking ‘what If’ But The Ones Who Look To The Sky And Say ‘why Can’t I Shoot For The Moon?’

Moon

Thinking

Sky

It Can Be A Challenge Not To Let Failure, Or Negativity From Others, Prevent You From Going After What You Believe In And What In Your Gut You Know Can Work. However It Is Important To Face These Challenges Head On And Give Them A Go And Importantly Don't Beat Yourself Up If You Fail - Just Pick Yourself Up, Learn As Much As You Can From The Experience And Get On With The Next Challenge.

Believe

Giving

Negativity

I Have Always Believed That The Only Way To Cope With A Cash Crisis Is Not To Contract But To Try To Expand Out Of It.

Trying

Cash

Way

So Unlike Having To Convert, You Know, All The Cars' Or All The Lorries' Petrol Stations, Once You've Actually Got The Clean Fuels, It's Relatively Easy To, You Know, Get It To The Airplanes.

Airplane

Car

Fuel

When I Was 15, I Left School To Start A Magazine, And It Became A Success Because I Wouldn't Take No For An Answer. I Remember Banging On James Baldwin's Door To Ask For An Interview When He Came To England. Then I Got Jean-paul Sartre's Home Phone Number And Asked Him To Contribute. If I'd Been 30, He Might Have Said No, But I Was A 15-year-old With Passion And He Was Charmed. Making Money Was Always Just A Side Product Of Having A Good Time And Creating Things Nobody'd Seen Before.

Success

Passion

Home

I've Been Very Lucky. I Come From A Very Close Family. I'm Also In A Relationship That's Been Really Good. Lasted A Long Time. We've Got Wonderful Kids From That Relationship, And They've Had The Benefit Of Being Together. It's Fantastic To Have That Sort Of Togetherness. It's A Rarity These Days.

Kids

Long

Together

You Never Know With These Things When You're Trying Something New What Can Happen. This Is All Experimental.

Trying Something New

Happens

Knows

I Like To Set Myself A New Adventure Challenge At Least Once Or Twice A Year Because I Love That Side Of My Life. I Love Getting Fit And Training For It.

Adventure

Years

Challenges

My Biggest Motivation? Just To Keep Challenging Myself. I See Life Almost Like One Long University Education That I Never Had - Everyday I'm Learning Something New.

Success

Motivation

Self Confidence

Every Great Movement In The World Starts With A Tiny Group Of People Who Simply Refuse To Accept A Situation.

People

Groups

Movement

If You Want To Be A Millionaire, Start With A Billion Dollars And Launch A New Airline.

Entrepreneur

Dollars

Want

Every Risk Is Worth Taking As Long As It's For A Good Cause, And Contributes To A Good Life.

Good Life

Long

Risk

Every Success Story Is A Tale Of Constant Adaption, Revision And Change.

Change

Stories

Revision

Our Model Is To Develop Each Business Separately With Its Own Shareholder And Management - This Way We Can Concentrate On The Job In Hand, Rather Than Be Part Of Some Enormous And Faceless Conglomerate.

Jobs

Business

Hands

I Just Love Life. I Mean, You Know, I Love Every Second Of It. I Love People.

Love Life

Mean

People

We Experiment Endlessly, With New Products, New Methods, New Companies And New Marketing. A Successful Business The Emphasis Is On Experiment And Development, Ideas Are The Lifeblood Of Business.

Successful

Ideas

Marketing

Believe In Yourself And Back Yourself To Come Out On Top. A Fulfilling Career Is Waiting For Those Brave Enough To Find It.

Powerful

Believe

Careers

Whatever You And Your Team Decide Your New Brand Will Stand For, Deliver On That Promise. That's The Only Way You'll Ever Control Your Brand. And Beware: Brands Always Mean Something. If You Don't Define What The Brand Means, Your Competitors Will.

Team

Mean

Promise

I Think I've Learned That If You Have A House, You End Up Living In The Kitchen, So If You Have One Big Kitchen And Then Enough Bedrooms For Your Family, That's About All You Need For A Home.

Home

Thinking

House

Fortunately We're Not A Public Company - We're A Private Group Of Companies, And I Can Do What I Want.

Groups

Want

Company

Global Warming Is Another Big Area That We Need To Get On Top Of. And Diseases In Africa, Which We're Also Working On And Seeing If We Can Make A Difference On. And There Are Lots Of Issues That Governments Seem To Be Blind About.

Differences

Issues

Government

We're Introducing Separate Rooms With Double Beds In All Of Our Planes So People Can Actually Go With Their Partner And Have A Proper Night's Sleep...

Sleep

Night

People

Enjoy Life - You Only Get One.

Enjoy Life

Enjoy

Take A Chance - It's The Best Way To Test Yourself, Have Fund And Push Boundaries.

Inspirational

Business

Having Fun

Taking Bold Climate Action Now Has The Potential To Unleash The Full Power Of Business And At The Same Time Lift Millions Of People Out Of Poverty. We're The First Generation To Recognize This And The Last Generation That Will Have This Opportunity.

Opportunity

Climate Action

People

I Love Eating Meat, But I Love Our Planet Even More. So I Will Join This Campaign And Stop Eating Meat At Least One Day A Week.

One Day

Energy

Meat

It's Obviously Incredibly Important To Keep The Body Fit In Order To Keep The Mind Fit, And Be Able To Find Time For Friends.

Order

Mind

Important

If You Are A New Startup Company, Try Not To Arouse The Interest Or Suspicion Of Your Competition; Especially If They Are A Bigger Company. They Can Crush You While You Are Still In Your Startup Phase. Lie Low While Still Strengthening Your Bottom Line.

Crush

Lying

Competition

If You Don't Succeed At First, There's No Need For The F Word (failure). Pick Yourself Up And Try, Try Again.

Inspirational

Business

Trying

Every Single Astronaut Who Has Come Back From Space Comes Back Determined To Do More To Protect It.

Space

Determined

Astronaut

Two Heads Are Definitely Better Than One And By Sourcing Ideas From Each Other, You Have A Better Chance Of Coming Up With A Strategy That Will Allow Your Business To Overcome A Setback Or Challenge.

Team

Ideas

Two

To Be A Real Entrepreneur You Always Have To Be Looking Forward. The Moment You Rest On Your Laurels Is The Moment Your Competition Overtakes You.

Real

Entrepreneur

Competition

Anyone Who Makes An Effort At Whatever They Hope To Accomplish Can, And Will, Seriously Improve Their Chances Of Succeeding.

Success

Effort

Succeed

I Was Fortunate Enough, After Many Visits To Many Wonderful, Weird People To Come Across Burt Rutan, Who Is A Genius In The Mojave Desert. And Spaceshipone Was Born And Had Three Flights Into Space That Won Something Called The X Prize. And From There, We're Building Spaceshiptwo, Which Is ... A Beautiful Spaceship That Is Very, Very, Very Nearly Completed And Will Be Ready From About Next Christmas Onwards To Start Taking People Into Space.

Beautiful

Space

People

I Drink About 30 Cups Of Tea A Day. I'm A Complete Tea Addict.

Tea

Cups

Drink

I Am Prepared To Try Anything Once.

Fun

Adventure

Trying

We Need A New Way Of Doing Business To Get Out Of The Present Crisis ... Absolute Greed Has Come Close To Bankrupting The World. Thanks To The Crisis That Certain Businesses Have Dumped On Everyone A Lot Of People Are Going To Suffer On A Global Scale. All Of Us Must Learn. It Is All The More Important That Those Business Leaders That Are Left Standing Try To Be A Force For Good.

People

Greed

Leader

Look, If You Can Indulge In Your Passion, Life Will Be Far More Interesting Than If You're Just Working. You'll Work Harder At It, And You'll Know More About It. But First You Must Go Out And Educate Yourself On Whatever It Is That You've Decided To Do - Know More About Kite-surfing Than Anyone Else. That's Where The Work Comes In. But If You're Doing Things You're Passionate About, That Will Come Naturally.

Hard Work

Passion

Indulge In

A Setback Is Never A Bad Experience, Just Another One Of Life’s Lessons.

Lessons

Bad Experiences

Setback

As Much As You Need A Strong Personality To Build A Business From Scratch, You Also Must Understand The Art Of Delegation.

Art

Strong

Personality

Spend More Time Smiling Than Frowning And More Time Praising Than Criticizing.

Frowning

Praise

More Time

Past Failures Unlock Future Successes

Past

Past Failures

Future Success

If You Find Yourself Stuck In The Middle There Is Only One Way To Go, Forward.

Finding Yourself

Way

Middle

In Syria, If [bashar Al-] Assad Had Just Been A Statesman And Handed Over The Reigns In Time, Syria Would Not Be Heading Down The Nightmare That It Is Today.

Reign

Als

Today

Most Of Our Businesses Do Succeed, But If Something Completely Fails, Then As Long As We Bow Out Gracefully And Pay Off All Our Debts, And Nobody Gets Hurt, Then I Don't Think People Disrespect Virgin For Trying. The Public Appreciates Someone Having A Go; It Appreciates The Attempt. Who's Been A Success In Life Who Hasn't Failed?

Hurt

Thinking

Long

Records Are Made To Be Broken. It Is In Man's Nature To Continue To Strive To Do Just That.

Life

Change

Men

I Think A Lot Of Becoming An Entrepreneur Is Something Which People Have To Learn Just From Getting Out There And Giving It A Go, And Having To Learn The Art Of Survival.

Art

Thinking

People

Dream Big And You Will Be Presented With The Opportunity To Lead The World On An Incredible Adventure.

Dream

Adventure

Opportunity

The First Thing To Look For When Searching For A Great Employee Is Somebody With A Personality That Fits With Your Company Culture. Most Skills Can Be Learned, But It Is Difficult To Train People On Their Personality.

Fun

Caring

Helping Others

Well, I Think That There's A Very Thin Dividing Line Between Success And Failure. And I Think If You Start A Business Without Financial Backing, You're Likely To Go The Wrong Side Of That Dividing Line.

Thinking

Lines

Sides

Government And Business Must Come Together On The Interlinked Issues Of Conservation, Economic Development And Renewable Energy. There Are Literally Thousands Of Businesses, Many In The Tourism Industry, That Depend On An Intact Marine Environment For Their Long-term Survival.

Marine

Government

Issues

Of Course, A Lot Of Businesses Want To Reach Students, So I Funded The Magazine By Selling Advertising. I Sold Something Like $8,000 Worth Of Advertising For The First Edition, And That Was In 1966. I Printed Up 50,000 Copies, And I Didn't Even Have To Charge For Them On The Newsstand Because My Costs Were Already Covered.

Purpose

Cost

Magazines

A Company Is Simply A Group Of People. And As A Leader Of People, You Have To Be A Great Listener, You Have To Be A Great Motivator, You Have To Be Very Good At Praising And Looking For The Best In People. People Are No Different From Flowers. If You Water Flowers, They Flourish. If You Praise People, They Flourish. That's A Critical Attribute Of A Leader.

Flower

People

Water

You Don't Learn To Walk By Following Rules. You Learn By Doing, And By Falling Over.

Inspirational

Success

Encouraging

If You Aim Higher Than You Expect, You Could Reach Higher Than You Dreamed.

Aim High

Aim

Higher

We're Going Where No One Has Gone Before. There's No Model To Follow, Nothing To Copy. That Is What Makes This So Exciting.

Fun

Adventure

Gone

The Earth Cannot Wait 60 Years. I Want A Future For My Children And My Children's Children. The Clock Is Ticking.

Children

Clock Is Ticking

Years

Too Many Companies Want Their Brands To Reflect Some Idealised, Perfected Image Of Themselves. As A Consequence, Their Brands Acquire No Texture, No Character And No Public Trust.

Business

Character

Texture

I've Had To Create Companies That I Believe In 100%. These Are Companies I Feel Will Make A Genuine Difference. Then I Have To Be Willing To Find The Time Myself To Talk About Them, Promote Them And Market Them. I Don't Want To Spend My Life Doing Something That I'm Not Proud Of.

Believe

Differences

Purpose

Two Bricklayers Work Side By Side. The First Lays Bricks. The Second Builds Magnificent Cathedrals. Think Small Vs. Think Big.

Thinking

Two

Firsts

For A Successful Entrepreneur It Can Mean Extreme Wealth. But With Extreme Wealth Comes Extreme Responsibility.

Business

Mean

Responsibility

Train People Well Enough So They Can Leave, Treat Them Well Enough So They Don't Want To.

Inspirational

Leadership

Monday

We Hope To Create Thousands Of Astronauts Over The Next Few Years And Bring Alive Their Dream Of Seeing The Majestic Beauty Of Our Planet From Above, The Stars In All Their Glory And The Amazing Sensations Of Weightlessness And Space Flight.

Dream

Stars

Future

Look, I Think That When We Started Virgin Atlantic 30 Years Ago, We Had One 747 Competing With The Airlines That Had An Average Of 300 Planes Each. Every Single One Of Those Have Gone Bankrupt Because They Didn't Have Customer Service. They Had Might, But They Didn't Have Customer Service, So Customer Service Is Everything In The End.

Thinking

Average

Years

I Am Passionate About Many Things But Conserving Our Planet And Its Species Is A High Priority Of Mine.

Priorities

Passionate

Planets

Have Fun Do Good And The Money Will Come

Fun

Having Fun

If You Spot An Opportunity And Are Really Excited By It, Throw Yourself Into It With Everything You've Got.

Inspirational

Motivational

Encouragement

The Most Breathtaking Thing About Being In Space Is Actually Looking Back At The Earth.

Space

Earth

Breathtaking

Starting A Business Is A Huge Amount Of Hard Work... You Had Better Enjoy It.

Hard Work

Starting

Enjoy

Please Don’t Get Hung Up On This Question Of Whether You Need To Have Experience In An Industry Before You Launch Your Startup.

Needs

Please

Hung

I Have Always Looked On My Businesses Not Just As Money-making Machines, But As Adventures That Can, I Hope, Make People Better Off.

Adventure

People

Machines

Making Money Never Was My Incentive. I Just Want To Fight Big Companies.

Fighting

Incentives

Want

I Never Went Into Business Just To Make Money - But I Found That If I Have Fun, The Money Will Come. I Often Ask Myself, Is My Work Fun And Does It Make Me Happy? I Believe That The Answer To That Is More Important Than Fame Or Fortune. If It Stops Being Fun, I Ask Why? If I Can't Fix It, I Stop Doing It.

Success

Fun

Believe

If A Chairman Of A Company Visits Seattle, That Chairman Should Take All The Staff Out In The Evening And Have A Few Drinks Together, Talk Together And Party Together And Not Be Embarrassed About The Staff Seeing The Weaker Side Of You.

Party

Together

Evening

I Find It Very Difficult To Think Of Mistakes; Not That I Don't Make Any But Because I Was Brought Up To Look Only At The Good Things In Life ... As For What Lost The Most Money, Probably Virgin Cola. It Is Still No 1 In Bangladesh Though.

Business

Mistake

Thinking

Everybody Has A Camera On Their Phone These Days, Everybody Wants A Selfie Or A Picture, And The Moment One Person Starts Taking A Picture Everybody Congregates Around So I've Become Quite A Fast Walker. I Don't Like Saying, "no," To People But By Walking Fast One Might Be Able To Avoid The First Photo.

Phones

People

Cameras

We Don't Actually Plan To Launch New Businesses Over The Next Few Years, But We Are Planning To Take The Ones We Have Into New Territories.

Years

Territory

I May Be A Businessman In That I Set Up And Run Companies For Profit, But When I Try To Plan Ahead And Dream Up New Products And New Companies, I'm An Idealist.

Leadership

Running

Dream

Money Is For Making Things Happen.

Money

Happens

Things Happen

"i Think The Most Important Thing Is That In The Last Seven Days We've Just Had The Greatest Adventure Of Our Lifetimes." "i'm Inquisitive ... And I Love A New Challenge... And If I Feel That We Can Do It Better Than It's Been Done By Other People, We'll Have A Go."

Fun

Adventure

Thinking

Capitalism Has Never Stood Back And Examined Itself Properly. I Think Everybody Knows That Capitalism Is The Only Thing That Works, But Is The Current Form Of Capitalism The Best Way Of It Working?

Thinking

Way

Form

I Think Business Needs To Have A Heart And To Have A Heart A Company Must Be More Than Just A Moneymaking Machine.

Heart

Thinking

Needs

I Never Get The Accountants In Before I Start Up A Business. It's Done On Gut Feeling, Especially If I Can See That They Are Taking The Mickey Out Of The Consumer.

Success

Business

Feelings

When We Start A New Venture, We Base It On Hard Research And Analysis. Typically, We Review The Industry And Put Ourselves In Our Customer's Shoes To See What We Could Do Better.

Business

Shoes

New Ventures

When You Are Making A Decision About How Best To Serve Your Customers, Your Own Experience Is Often A Better Guide Than A More Sophisticated Analysis Of The Market.

Decision

Analysis

Sophisticated

We Have A Business That Some People Feel Pollutes, And I Happen To Agree With Them. ... And So On The Basis Of Trying To Do Good And, You Know, Hopefully Turn A Profit, What We Did Was We Pledged That We'd Put All The Profits From Our Airline Business Into Trying To Develop Clean Fuels.

Airline Business

People

Trying

First Of All, If You're Setting Up A New Company, You Want To Try To Find A Brand That Can Work On A Global Basis.

Trying

Firsts

Want

Well, I'm Somebody Who Is Just Living ...living Life, And If I Get Frustrated By Something, Then I Like To Try To Put It Right.

Live Life

Frustrated

Trying

...making Profits Is Important Because It Keeps All Our People In Jobs And, You Know, It Keeps What We - What We've Created Going, But, You Know, What We're - What I Get My - What I'm Proud About Doing Is Creating Companies Which We're Really Proud Of, You Know, Which We Can Really Be Proud Of And A Byproduct Of That Hopefully Will Be That They'll Be Profitable And Be Able To Pay The Bills.

Jobs

Business

Creating

If You Are Glass Half Empty Type Of Person, Maybe You Just Haven’t Been Holding The Right Glass

Glasses

Half

Empty

I Felt Uneasy About Making The Rapid Decisions I Have Always Made, And Wondered Whether Every Decision Should Be Formally Ratified And Minuted At A Board Meeting.

Decision

Boards

Made

To Be Successful, You Have To Be Out There, You Have To Hit The Ground Running, And If You Have A Good Team Around You And More Than A Fair Share Of Luck, You Might Make Something Happen. But You Certainly Can't Guarantee It Just By Following Someone Else's Formula.

Running

Business

Team

It Is The Satisfaction Of Doing It For Yourself And Motivating Others To Work With You In Bringing It About. It Is About The Fun, Innovation, Creativity With The Rewards Being Far Greater Than Purely Financial.

Success

Fun

Creativity

Kitesurfing Is One Of The Greatest Sports In The World. I Highly Recommend This To Anyone Who Has Access To The Ocean. There Is Nothing More Freeing Than Being Out There And Kitesurfing. When My Schedule Permits, It's The First Thing I Do In The Morning, Before I Have Breakfast. Tennis Is Also Fun, Especially Against Someone Far Better At The Sport Than I Am.

Sports

Morning

Fun

Education Doesn't Just Take Place In Stuffy Classrooms And University Buildings, It Can Happen Everywhere, Every Day To Every Person.

Inspirational

Business

Classroom

I Think Because I Have Great Difficulty Saying The Word, 'no,' Almost Every Day's A Different Adventure.

Adventure

Thinking

Different

If You Get Into Entrepreneurshi P Driven By Profit, You Are A Lot More Likely To Fail. The Entrepreneurs Who Succeed Usually Want To Make A Difference To People’s Lives, Not Just Their Own Bank Balances. The Desire To Change Things For The Better Is The Motivation For Taking Risks And Pursuing Seemingly Impossible Business Ideas.

Motivation

Ideas

Differences

Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.

2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.

2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.

2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.

3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.

3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.

3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.

4. Proper Usage of Quotes

4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.

4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.

4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).

5. Common Mistakes to Avoid

5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.

5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.

5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.

6. Quotes in Different Contexts

6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.

6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.

6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.

7. Punctuation and Formatting

Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:

Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.

Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.

Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.

8. Ethical Considerations

Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes

Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.

Conclusion

Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.

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