The Wiley Book of Business Quotations

Where do lively quotes come from? They're sparked by discord, financial concerns, and power struggles, so the competitive world of corporate conflict makes an especially fertile field for pithy perspicacity and business bons mots. Henry Ehrlich has surveyed that field, and compiled more than 5,000 insights and opinions from today's industry moguls. These epigrams are organized in categories, such as Advertising, Asia, Corporate Culture, Hostile Takeovers, Information Superhighway, and Success, and indexed by both name and organization.

You'll find Bernard Fauber, CEO of Kmart, saying, "The sure path to oblivion is to stay where you are," and James Sidell, president of UST Corp., opining that "The [banking] industry has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel." McDonald's Ray Kroc delivers, "What do you do when your competitor's drowning? Get a live hose and stick it in his mouth." Bill Gates is on record as saying, in 1981, that "640K [of computer memory] ought to be enough for anybody," and James W. Johnston, former chairman of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, is in print from 1997 for his pronouncement, "Cigarettes and nicotine clearly do not meet the classic definition of addiction." For those whose consciences are troubled by business ethics, here's Ivan Boesky, arbitrageur extraordinaire, speaking at the UC Berkeley Business School graduation: "Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself."

The Wiley Book of Business Quotations is a great resource for speechwriters and economists, business professionals and sociologists. Whether you're seeking the clever quip to launch your pitch or some supportive quotes to drive home your premise, Erhlich's quotation collection is remarkably easy to use. It's also good for water cooler browsing and retirement gifts, or as a little something for your nieces and nephews when they earn their MBAs. --Stephanie Gold