Quotes from Kenneth Frazier

I don't believe it's appropriate for me or any other CEO to wade into every political dispute. That's not what we're here for.

If I had not been coached well about how to deal with a culture and a set of values that were foreign to my own, I would not have been able to be successful.

I think words have consequences, and I think actions have consequences.

Most of my diversity conversations are had with the majority population, because frankly, those people are the people who have the most influence over everybody's career.

My father, to me, was 10 feet tall.

Competition in our health system is a powerful force of cost-containment.

I would like people to say that Merck continues to be a company that makes a difference in the world.

The way we have looked at pricing at Merck is we've always said we want to be responsible, which means we want to optimize profitability and patient access.

We're an American company; we're proud of being an American company.

While a fundamental responsibility of business leaders is to create value for shareholders, I think businesses also exist to deliver value to society.

Biopharmaceutical research and development efforts have achieved dramatic improvements in global health and longevity, and we are committed to continuing our quest.

We need to work together to fairly assess and improve the long-term economic and health value - and affordability - of all components of the healthcare system, including hospitalizations, drugs, devices, and other interventions, to optimize our health investment decisions.

In a successful health system, the proportion of per-capita health dollars used for home care, outpatient primary care, and preventive services should actually increase, not decrease, relative to those for acute hospital care.

I do worry that as we try to fix this long-term debt and deficit situation that we don't destroy the market incentives for biomedical research. What I fear is the government using its considerable clout to say, 'Here's the price we're setting for your medicines.'

I support tax revenue increases, including the top 2 percent, but only if accompanied by responsible spending limits. The key is balance.

I think if you look at Merck's history, I think Merck has a reputation for having been a reasonable company when it comes to pricing, sort of a leader in that respect.

You either innovate or you become defunct.

Institutions are what allow us to have continuity in civilizations.

I'm a big believer in institutions.

In my house, education was the paramount value. And if you grew up in a neighborhood like mine, you were forced to decide early on what you stood for in life, because there were a lot of peer pressures that could take you the wrong way.

My legacy is that Merck continues to do what Merck has always done, which is to make singular impact on human health and animal health around the world. It's that simple.

I think that size is not the key to innovation. Scale doesn't confirm an innovation advantage.

There's no way we can invent enough stuff for a company of Merck's size.

Your job as a trial attorney is to try to convey to the jury the essence of the people you represent.