Quotes from Hamish McDonald

Nobody is a permanent friend,nobody is a permanent enemy. Everybody has his own self-interest. Once you recognise that, everybody will be better off.

I am willing to salaam anyone. One thing you won't find in me and that is ego. - Dhirubhai Ambani

Ideas are no one's monopoly - Dhirubhai Ambani

Not long afterwards it all broke out into the open. The spark was an entirely random and unrelated event. At a big function on the evening of 17 November 2004 attended by the 'cream of corporate captains' in Mumbai, Mukesh had introduced a talk on 'Unlocking Innovation' by the visiting chief executive of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, who had been a classmate at Stanford University's School of Business.

Ambani did point to an unfortunate trait in his countrymen. 'You must know that, in this country, people are very jealous.' It was not like in Hong Kong or other East Asian countries, where people applauded each other's success, he claimed. In India success was seen as the prerogative of certain families. But he didn't really mind. 'Jealousy is a mark of respect,' he said.