Quotes from Ray Kroc

If a corporation has two executives who think alike, one of them is unnecessary" Reply to a student at a management seminar 1973 when asked if all his managers were required to share his conservative view. (Quoted in John F. Love's book "McDonald's behind the golden arches", p87)

the basics have to be stressed over and over. If I had a brick for every time I've repeated the phrase QSC and V (Quality, Service, Cleanliness, and Value), I think I'd probably be able to bridge the Atlantic Ocean with them. And the operators need the stress on fundamentals as much as their managers and crews. This is especially true of a new location. So

One of the things I did differently was to make my milkshakes with a soft product drawn from a tank, instead of hand-dipping ice cream. This changed the layout and gave us more space. One major problem in adapting the California-style building to the Midwestern climate was ventilation. I brought in architectual consultants one after the other in an attempt to solve the problem of exhausting the stale air and replacing it with fresh cool or heated air.

Work is the meat in the hamburger of life. There is an old saying that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I never believed it because, for me, work was play. I got as much pleasure out of it as I did from playing baseball.

A subject of much greater concern to me, however, was the great french-fry flop. I had explained to Ed MacLuckie with great pride the McDonald's secret for making french fries. I showed him how to peel the potatoes, leaving just a bit of the skin to add flavor.

I had memorized the procedure when I watched the McDonald's operation in San Bernardino, and I had done it exactly the same way. I went through the whole thing once more. The result was the same—bland, mushy french fries. They were as good, actually, as the french fries you could buy at other places. But that was not what I wanted.

One of my suppliers told me, "Ray, you know you aren't in the hamburger business at all. You're in the french-fry business. I don't know how the livin' hell you do it, but you've got the best french fries in town, and that's what's selling folks on your place.

I believe that if you hire a man to do a job, you ought to get out of the way and let him do it.

No one of us is more important than the rest of us

I have always believed that each man makes his own happiness and is responsible for his own problems.

The fact that she had no bookkeeping experience bothered me not at all. I knew she would master the technical routines quickly. So I told her I couldn't pay much, but if she was willing to work hard anyhow, I could promise her a bright future. We talked the same language. She did work hard—unbelievably hard—and in less than twenty years she was one of the top women executives in the country, secretary and treasurer of McDonald's Corporation. June

When you're green, your growing. When you're ripe, you rot.

I believe in God, family, and McDonald's. And in the office, that order is reversed.

You're only as good as the people you hire.

Happiness is not a tangible thing, it's a byproduct - a byproduct of achievement.

McDonald's is a people business, and that smile on that counter girl's face when she takes your order is a vital part of our image.

All money means to me is a pride in accomplishment.

Its easy to have principles when you're rich. The important thing is to have principles when you're poor.

If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.

The two most important requirements for major success are: first, being in the right place at the right time, and second, doing something about it.

The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.

The key to success is being in the right place at the right time, recognizing that you are there, and taking action!

I was never much of a reader when I was a boy. Books bored me. I liked action. But I spent a lot of time thinking about things. I'd imagine all kinds of situations and how I would handle them.

I suffer with you. I've never seen such stupid ballplaying in all my life!