Quotes from Eli Broad

Anything I do, I spend a lot of time. I do it with passion and intensity. I want to be in charge.

If people want to criticize me because it sells papers, that's fine. I just don't like it when it's inaccurate.

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.

How absurd that our students tuck their cell phones, BlackBerrys, iPads, and iPods into their backpacks when they enter a classroom and pull out a tattered textbook.

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

Any city in America would like to get a museum built if they didn't have to pay for it.

Museums do not share their collections with other museums unless they get something in exchange. The Metropolitan will deal with the Louvre, but will they send their stuff to Memphis? No.

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.

My family and I have been blessed with good fortune in the world of business. We've created quite a net worth. My children, two boys, have more money than they will ever need, and they aren't empire builders.

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

As the son of a union activist and a lifelong Democrat, I've always thought that privatizing our public schools is not the answer. We must strengthen public schools.

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

Frankly, I'm not sure how far I would get if I attended public school today. It's not just that public schools aren't producing the results we want - it's that we're not giving them what they need to help students achieve at high levels. K-12 education in the United States is deeply antiquated.

I am old enough to remember when America's K-12 public schools were the best in the world. I am a proud graduate of them, and I credit much of my success to what I learned in Detroit Public Schools and at Michigan State University.

If you ask why I do what I do - I want to make a difference. I don't just want to maintain the status quo. I want to help people, to work with institutions or create ones when they don't exist.

I've never been one who enjoys maintaining the status quo. I'm always pushing for new ideas, whether it's in business or philanthropy.

Without a doubt, stem cell research will lead to the dramatic improvement in the human condition and will benefit millions of people.

Collecting is more than just buying objects.

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

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 don't think it makes any sense for an individual to invest in common stocks unless they know the company, work at the company, and so on.

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

Most museums - with all their burdens to pay for exhibitions, administration, and security - really don't have any money really to acquire art, with few exceptions.

There were periods when the art market got overheated, but there is no reason it should appreciate dramatically.