Ken Langone Quotes

“The two most powerful things in existence: a kind word and a thoughtful gesture.”

“It wasn't just wealth itself that put me in that position; a lot of it was sheer stubborn curiosity. Whenever I served on a corporate board, I was notorious for asking more questions than any other director on that board. I didn't give a shit if my question showed how stupid I was. A lot of people are scared to ask questions because they don't want people to know how dumb they are. I've never had that problem.”

“Income inequality is a terrible problem in this country, and I don't have a magic solution. I don't know about mandating a higher minimum wage. I do know that nobody can live on $20,000 a year. But I worry that mandating a higher minimum might hurt the people you want to try to help: the more you increase the costs of any factor of production, the more incentive you give owners to figure out a way to change that factor of production.”

“Capitalism is brutal. It's survival of the fittest. What's a successful business? More money coming in than going out. If it's the other way around, you're out of business—simple as that.”

“It wasn't just wealth itself that put me in that position; a lot of it was sheer stubborn curiosity. Whenever I served on a corporate board, I was notorious for asking more questions than any other director on that board. I didn't give a shit if my question showed how stupid I was. A lot of people are scared to ask questions because they don't want people to know how dumb they are. I've never had that problem.”

“Income inequality is a terrible problem in this country, and I don't have a magic solution. I don't know about mandating a higher minimum wage. I do know that nobody can live on $20,000 a year. But I worry that mandating a higher minimum might hurt the people you want to try to help: the more you increase the costs of any factor of production, the more incentive you give owners to figure out a way to change that factor of production.”

“Capitalism is brutal. It's survival of the fittest. What's a successful business? More money coming in than going out. If it's the other way around, you're out of business—simple as that.”

“The two most powerful things in existence: a kind word and a thoughtful gesture.”

“A great person doing a great job will be a great investment.”

“If you gave me six months I couldn't list all my failures.”

“There's nothing quite like a sense of self-worth and a sense of self respect.”

“As a little boy, my first job was delivering newspapers, and then I had a variety of different jobs. I worked in a butcher shop. I worked in a supermarket. I worked in construction. I dug ditches on the Long Island Expressway in 1954, 1955, 1956.”