My father would always say "learn everything you can and whenever you can, because you never know when it'll come in handy." Charles Koch More Quotes by Charles Koch More Quotes From Charles Koch A classical liberal is someone who wants a society that maximizes peace, civility, tolerance, and well-being for everyone. One that opens opportunities for everyone to advance themselves. Charles Koch tolerance want opportunity Most companies want free enterprise in general because that produces better goods and services and makes people's lives better, but they don't want it in their business. They want protection from competition, they want subsidies, they want the government to pick winners and losers, and they want to be picked as winners, and that's what we're opposing, and that's what drives my whole efforts in policy, and in the political arena. Charles Koch effort government people Anytime students shout down a speaker who says something different, this is not good. Charles Koch speakers different students We are on dangerous terrain when government picks winners and losers in the economy by subsidizing favored products and industries. Charles Koch winner loser government I want my legacy to be greater freedom, greater prosperity and a better way of life for my family, our employees and all Americans. And I wish the same for every nation on earth. Charles Koch legacy earth wish The easy way to make money is to get special political privilege. From the beginning of time, business has cozied up to government and gotten restrictions on competition and subsidies and stuff. Charles Koch competition political government Do you want to have your feelings hurt a little bit because you have some negative feedback, or do you want to continue down the disastrous track you're on and have a huge disaster? Talk about a bruised ego. It may ruin your career. Charles Koch track careers hurt That's the first rule for anybody who controls - do no harm. Charles Koch harm firsts But it [crony capitalism] erodes our overall standard of living and stifles entrepreneurs by rewarding the politically favored rather than those who provide what consumers want. Charles Koch erode entrepreneur want A lot of the Republican rhetoric better than the Democrats'. But when they're in office, it's pretty much the same thing. It's serving their supporters, it's corporate welfare, it's cronyism which is so destructive, particularly to the disadvantaged. Charles Koch welfare republican office There are now businesses and entire industries that exist solely as a result of federal patronage. Profiting from government instead of earning profits in the economy, such businesses can continue to succeed even if they are squandering resources and making products that people wouldn't ordinarily buy. Charles Koch government earning people As an engineer, I understood that the natural world operated according to fixed laws. Through my studies, I came to realize that there were, likewise, laws that govern human wellbeing. It seemed to me that these laws are fundamental not only to the wellbeing of societies, but also to the miniature societies of organizations. Indeed, that is what we found when we began to apply these principles systematically at Koch Industries. Through our observation of how they could create prosperity in an organization, I began to systematize my beliefs into Market-Based Management. Charles Koch organization principles law I believe that cronyism is nothing more than welfare for the rich and powerful, and should be abolished. Charles Koch rich powerful believe We strive to hire and retain only those who embrace our MBM® Guiding Principles, which encompass integrity, compliance, value creation, Principled Entrepreneurship, customer focus, knowledge, change, humility, respect and fulfillment. Charles Koch guiding-principles humility integrity The poorest Americans use three time the energy as the percentage of their income as the average American does. This is going to disproportionately hurt the poor. It may make the whole electric grid unstable, depending on how it is enforced. And it does nothing for the climate. Charles Koch use hurt average Most power is power to coerce somebody. We don't have the power to coerce anybody. Charles Koch coerce power Repeatedly asking for government help undermines the foundations of society by destroying initiative and responsibility. It is also a fatal blow to efficiency and corrupts the political process. Charles Koch government responsibility blow So to the best we can, what we do is focus on creating value for others, and how do we do that? We do it by trying to produce products and services that our customers will value more than their alternatives, and not just their alternatives today, but what the alternatives will be in the future. We try to more efficiently use resources than our competitors, and constantly improve in that, and we try to do the best job we can in creating a safe environment, and environmental excellence, and constantly improve at that. Charles Koch safe-environment best-job jobs To end cronyism we must end government's ability to dole out favors and rig the market. Charles Koch favors government ends If there is wrong, you don't say we have to get rid of it gradually. If injustice exists, you need to eliminate it immediately. Charles Koch injustice ifs needs
