Quotes from Felix Dennis

It is not that pearls fetch a high price because men have dived for them. On the contrary, men dive for them because they fetch a high price.

In all negotiations of difficulty, a man may not look to sow and reap at once; but must prepare business, and so ripen it by degrees. Thank

But I will not give them a share. Not one. Not for love. Nor for loyalty. Not to be fair. Because capitalism isn't fair. Life isn't fair. The lottery of what genes we are born with isn't fair. The moon and the stars and the gas clouds of Alpha Centauri aren't fair.

If you haven't much skill, or much wit, or much talent, or much luck, and yet you insist on owning more than your fair share of any start-up or acquisition, then you can become rich. If you take what you're given, you will probably not get rich. Years

Motive makes a fine horse when tamed by understanding and bridled by wisdom.

But hey! If you want to be rich, sometimes you have to sup with the devil. And nobody cares, least of all 'analysts', how long or how short your spoon is.

at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid.

If you never have a single great idea in your life, but become skilled in executing the great ideas of others, you can succeed beyond your wildest dreams. Seek them out and make them work. They do not have to be your ideas. Execution is all in this regard.

this is the first lesson in the power of focus. Keep your eye on the ball if you wish to get rich. And do not forget which ball. It's the one marked 'The Money is Here.' TIMING

Do not seek a replica of yourself to delegate to, or to promote. Watch out for this, it is a common error with people setting out to build a company.

It is a mature business, and few fortunes are made in mature industries, unless you are lucky enough to create a monopoly in one. I was luckier than I knew. So

The history of all human ideas is a history of irresponsible dreams, of obstinacy, and of error. — SIR KARL POPPER, CONJECTURES AND REFUTATIONS The

Self-imposed misery is a kind of madness. The cure is to get

There were some smart young boys and girls there, and they grew used to my peripatetic absences. In the interim, they would 'delegate' the work to themselves and often keep those responsibilities when I returned. Yes, I think that was how it happened. It

Even young children know what you get when you pay peanuts. Monkeys!

I never could believe that Providence had sent a few men into the world, ready booted and spurred to ride, and millions ready saddled and bridled to be ridden.

Absentee landlords never prosper. I am not absent. But I am not exactly toiling with the troops side by side, every minute of every day.

And just what is the most precious thing in life that riches can supply? Easy. For me, it's Time. Time. Time to read and write poetry if I want to. Or to write a book if it takes my fancy. Time to travel on the slightest whim, to walk in the woods, to think, to commission art, to read, to drink, to hang out with friends and loved ones … to do just about anything really, as long as it does not involve day after grinding day making money in an office or a factory for somebody else.

If you want to get rich, then learn to delegate. Don't learn to pretend to delegate. Delegation is not only a powerful tool, it is the only way to maximise and truly incentivise your most precious asset – the people who work for you. Real delegation can help make you rich. But only if you work at it.

Few things in life are certain except death and being taxed.

Being rich is fine, and at the very least is better than being poor. But it shouldn't be the be-all and end-all of your life, or anyone's life.

the ability to sell, which is usually nothing more than a talent for hype and keeping a straight face as you demand a fifty times markup from potential buyers who wouldn't know a Damien Hirst from a pickled sardine.

Time frittered away attending to tasks easily achieved but relatively inessential to your ultimate goal is wasted—a criminal waste of a precious resource.

Time wasted can never be recaptured. Time spent recharging your batteries and maintaining your physical and mental health is not wasted. It is a necessity.