Quotes from Jon Huntsman, Sr.

As a senior in high school with no money working several jobs, I was sent to a wonderful school on the East Coast by a wonderful Jewish man. I've never forgotten that. I've sent over 5,000 young people to school around the world in memory of him because he was so gracious to me.

I was honored to start a small business and to borrow an enormous amount of money and to build piece upon piece, place upon place, building upon building and product upon product, throughout the United States and eventually Europe and facilities around the world.

If someone said, 'Jon, we need $250 million a year from now and we can make a dramatic breakthrough for ovarian cancer,' I'd have $250 million in two months. You just work day and night if the cause in your heart is justified.

As a young man, I was a navy officer in Vietnam. I made $320 a month and would always give away $50 a month to a family I felt that was in greater need than me, in addition to my tithing to my church. I've just always felt in my heart, coming from a very humble background, that there are plenty of people who need a break in life.

If people are going to give, they're going to give. And it doesn't matter if you give a dollar or five dollars or a hundred dollars or a million dollars; it's all according to your ability.

All I'm saying is that, you know, whether we're worth a billion, whether we're worth a million, whether we're worth $1,000, it's what's in your heart. You know, $100 a month from somebody or $50 a year for people who may be in a less economic bracket, that's as important to the Lord.

All men and women need a roof over their heads and need to be fed and have proper health care. I don't know that I believed that, or even understood that, in the early days.

Sometimes in life, we try to do our very best to help others, and in the process, it brings some anguish to us. But we can't ever let that stop us. We can't ever be stopped from helping others and allowing them to have some sense of happiness and joy in their life.

When I bought companies, it was done on trust, on a one-on-one basis, and with the intention of taking care of employees. Today, it's about who can bid the highest. There's no personal interest. It's a different world and one that an entrepreneur like me doesn't like much.

All I can say is Mike Lee is an embarrassment to the state of Utah. He's been a tremendous embarrassment to our family, to our state, to our country to have him as a U.S. senator.

Everyone has always underestimated a company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. The New York boys thought they could take me on, that nobody out here has any knowledge or wisdom.

Integrity is critical to our lives - and to our dreams of achievement. We must remember that without integrity, nothing else matters and that with integrity, nothing else matters.

True entrepreneurs have to really forego almost everything; they have to put it all on the line.