Top 99 Quotes & Sayings by Eli Broad - Page 2

People would rather have art or gold instead of paper money.

Collecting is more than just buying objects.

I believe in the democratization of the arts. What do I mean by that? I think museums, with some exceptions, have a responsibility to educate a much broader public.

If you have poor management that's not doing the right job, you end up with unions filling the void and... page after page of work rules and thicker and thicker contracts.

I never play golf because it takes too long, and the business connections it produces can be made just as easily over an early breakfast.

Managers are responsible for setting workplace policies under which teachers can succeed. Managers are responsible for negotiating contracts that create the conditions under which teachers can succeed.

The unions no longer control the education agenda of the Democratic Party.

I'm naturally curious, and I read four newspapers a day.

People think it's strange how briskly I move through museums. Sure, I could stand in front of each piece and stare at it for a good long time. But that's not me.

I never stay anywhere - parties, museums, meetings - longer than three hours.

For businesses to be successful, they need to constantly ask the question: 'How can we provide value to our customers?' At the end of the day, that is what matters.

Every artist is unreasonable, because he or she is doing something that hasn't been done before.

Teach For America provides one of the most critical pipelines for bringing new talent into public education.

School boards are, for the most part,made up of political wannabes who see a board seat as a stepping stone for political office, or well-meaning parents who represent an ethnic group or geography, or have some other narrow interests. Few people on them understand what governance is about.

In high school, I would drive my teachers batty. They would make a statement, and I would say, 'Why is that?' They didn't want to be questioned.

I think the opera is one of the great cultural jewels of Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, the boards of art institutions tend to be populated with well-meaning supporters of the arts who often lack any business background or appetite for imposing appropriate discipline.

What artists think about the world is often different from how we businessmen see it, and I find that an enriching experience.

To me, money is a means to do good. I reached a point in my life where I had enjoyed tremendous business success that afforded my family everything we could possibly want. My wife and I then decided that we could use our wealth to make a difference. So we created the Broad Foundations to do four things: to improve urban public education, to support innovative scientific and medical research, to foster art appreciation for audiences worldwide and to support civic initiatives in Los Angeles.

I never stay anywhere — parties , museums, meetings — longer than 3 hours.

I learned to embrace risk, as long as it was well thought out and, in a worst-case scenario, I'd still land on my feet.

No one ever made a million bucks by being cautious or timid or reasonable.

I can imagine no more important contribution to our country's future than a long-term commitment to improving urban K-12 public schools.

People always say congratulations. When you're a successful bidder it means you're willing to spend more money than anyone else. I'm not sure if that's congratulations or condolences.

There is no substitute for knowledge. To this day, I read three newspapers a day. It is impossible to read a paper without being exposed to ideas. And ideas - more than money - are the real currency for success.

Collectors become obsessive and then addicted. You become addicted to art and you can't live without it.

For businesses to be successful, they need to constantly ask the question: how can we provide value to our customers? At the end of the day, that is what matters.

Ideas, more than money, are really the currency for success.

One, Andrew Carnegie said, ‘He who dies with wealth dies in shame.’ And someone once said, ‘He who gives while he lives also knows where it goes.’

If someone can't give me a good reason why you can't do something, I find a way to do it.

I am not a patient person. My friends and colleagues will confirm this. But, frankly, we should all feel a little more impatient with the state of public education in America today.

Public education is the key civil rights issue of the 21st century. Our nation's knowledge-based economy demands that we provide young people from all backgrounds and circumstances with the education and skills necessary to become knowledge workers. If we don't, we run the risk of creating an even larger gap between the middle class and the poor. This gap threatens our democracy, our society and the economic future of America.

Contemporary art challenges us.. it broadens our horizons. It asks us to think beyond the limits of conventional wisdom.

I don't think the market can keep going up. In the U.S., we see real estate not going up.. houses are selling at lower prices. You can't have anything going up 10 percent to 20 percent to 30 percent indefinitely.

While I am proud of a number of accomplishments, there are real costs to being unreasonable. Long hours. Too little time with family. A near incapacity for, as they say, stopping and smelling the roses.

Who you spend your life with-much more so than how you choose to spend it-is the most important decision you can make. Do it right. That's the best advice I can give you.

At a time when all the other builders were selling homes with basements but without carports, we would sell homes without basements and with carports. This allowed us to provide a more appealing product at a lower price. In other words, we felt we would be giving customers greater value.

Research – and using what you learn from it to analyze every situation – is what separates being unreasonable from being irrational.

School boards are, for the most part ,made up of political wannabes who see a board seat as a stepping stone for political office, or well-meaning parents who represent an ethnic group or geography, or have some other narrow interests. Few people on them understand what governance is about.