Quotes from Stephen A. Schwarzman

We have limited time, and we have to maximize it.

In a financial crisis, only the Fed, as the lender of last resort, might stand between our economy and financial catastrophe. We must leave the Fed with the flexibility to provide liquidity in order to stop a financial panic.

There are no patents in finance.

Paid leave is worth every penny.

Blackstone is not really a business per se. It's a mission to be the best.

In the charitable world, I find myself giving to large projects that I think can make a large-scale impact.

I have no first-strike capability. I never choose to go into battle first. But I won't back down.

Blackstone is a major client of many of the largest banks around the world.

Education around entrepreneurship should start early, at secondary level, and be very robust by college level.

I don't feel like a wealthy person. Other people think of me as a wealthy person, but I don't. I feel the same as when I was a fifth-year associate trying to make partner at Lehman Brothers. I haven't changed.

I like being in warm weather. I find that relaxes me. I like being near water. I like sitting on a beach and sort of hearing the water, watching waves break, looking at the shimmering. I find that really relaxing.

I'm pretty good on my feet. I'm pretty decent at bobbing and weaving, but there's only so long you can bob and weave when you don't have a good base.

My father was very bright. My mother had enormous drive. Put that together, and that's my gene pool.

I'm a consistent little person.

I'm concerned with China growing at double or triple the rate of the West, that there will be tensions. One needs to do something to start addressing misunderstandings and frustration.

As the world has become more predatory and aggressive, my impression is that the investment banking business has moved from being relationship-oriented to being increasingly transaction-oriented.

Preparing youth for employment requires training that is demand-driven to meet the needs of companies and ensure that young people are taught marketable skills.

The Schwarzman Scholars is a program that was designed with Tsinghua University. They asked me to do something in honor of their 100th anniversary.

I'm not feeling undertaxed. Tax reform is an important issue. You have to have an inherent sense of fairness.

Business is usually a team sport. There isn't one great person sitting there directing things. You can't run an effective business like that.

It's a great privilege to be asked to help the country - even if it occasionally comes with some degree of criticism.

I have a saying: There are no brave old people in finance. Because if you're brave, you mostly get destroyed in your 30s and 40s. If you make it to your 50s and 60s and you're still prospering, you have a very good sense of how to avoid problems and when to be conservative or aggressive with your investments.

We're so overregulated as a country that we just crushed our productivity.

You can't grow unless your banking system is expanding and you are extending credit.