I've always believed in the saying that "there is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit." Charles Koch More Quotes by Charles Koch More Quotes From Charles Koch I don't believe in a plumb line. I believe in the exchange of ideas. Charles Koch lines believe ideas I love to try to understand first principles and be guided by that. But then, enrich them, because they won't last forever, just like everybody thought Newton had all the answers. And you probably read that, in the last of the 19th century, Harvard and others were discouraging people from going into physics because we have all the answers. And right after that, of course - we have - all this stuff is thrown out the window. And now we have whole new answers. Charles Koch forever trying people A market system is not a profit system, it's a profit-and-loss system. Charles Koch profit-and-loss profit loss My father announced early on that he didn't want his sons to be "country club bums." And for a number of reasons, I bore the brunt of that - I have an older brother and two younger brothers. So he had me work in all my spare time. I started out picking dandelions, shoveling stalls, milking cows, building a fence - whatever dirty job was out there. That's a big deal, because you learn things working that you don't learn in school. Charles Koch brother jobs country First word [of my father] when I arrived [as a CEO] is, 'Son, i hope your first deal is a loser, otherwise, you'll think you're a lot smarter than you are.' But he had tremendous values, tremendous integrity, humility, work ethic and terrific thirst for knowledge. Charles Koch humility integrity father For business to survive over a long period, it needs to be contributing to society and people's well-being. Otherwise, who's going to want it? Otherwise you end up like Enron or some of these other companies. Charles Koch long people needs The reason we tend to support Republicans is they're taking us toward the cliff at only 70 miles per hour miles an hour and the Democrats are taking us 100 miles an hour. Charles Koch cliffs republican support The way - the principle way that human beings had gotten out of extreme poverty is free trade. Charles Koch poverty principles way Both my parents were a tremendous influence on me. My father's influence came from - he decided well, probably before we were born that as he put it, 'I'm not going to have any kids who are country club bums.' Charles Koch country father kids I have been a libertarian in my past but now I consider myself a classical liberal. Charles Koch my-past libertarian past We try to reward people according to the value they create, value they create in society and for the company. Charles Koch rewards trying people I get a lot of death threats. But the way I look at it, I feel I have a moral obligation to do the best I can to make the country better for everybody, and that threatens certain people because they're going to have much less power. I want the power to go back to people making decisions over their own lives rather than some experts making it. Charles Koch decision country people We have the best leaders and the most depth of leadership we've ever had. If I get hit by a truck, maybe it would get me out of the way and it would go better. Charles Koch depth leader way In general, an asset should be sold when it has greater value to a buyer. This happens when a buyer has a complimentary business or capability that would enable them to do more with that business. Many businesses we have exited were not failures, but had simply reached a point in their life cycle where they no longer provided a core capability or served as a platform for growth. Charles Koch buyers growth business Many businesses with unpopular products or inefficient production find it much easier to curry the favor of a few influential politicians or a government agency than to compete in the open market. Charles Koch agency government business No centralized government, no matter how big, how smart or how powerful, can effectively and efficiently control much of society in a beneficial way. On the contrary, big governments are inherently inefficient and harmful. Charles Koch smart government powerful Far too many businesses have been all too eager to lobby for maintaining and increasing subsidies and mandates paid by taxpayers and consumers. Charles Koch subsidies taxpayers maintaining Any of the social changes in American history are because people thought there was injustice. We have to show that this corporate welfare and cronyism is unjust - and that it's not only rigging the system so people get wealthy who don't deserve to get wealthy. Charles Koch thought deserve history people The best way to make money is to have more economic freedom, which is why we are one of the very few large companies that are consistently for it. Charles Koch best freedom money way You pass a program and get people dependent on it, making it brutal to get rid of. The key is not letting it get started. Charles Koch key get you people
