There has never been a time when a career in the Penney Company was not a challenge that brought out the best in a man.
I will have no man work for me who has not the capacity to become a partner.
Our very living is selling. We are all salespeople.
I cannot remember a time when the Golden Rule was not my motto and precept, the torch that guided my footsteps.
Business is no longer a matter of profits alone. Profits must come through public confidence, and public confidence is given to any merchant in proportion to the service which he gives to the public.
Success in business does not depend upon genius. Any young man of ordinary intelligence who is normally sound and not afraid to work should succeed in spite of obstacles and handicaps if he plays the game fairly and keeps everlastingly at it.
Selling is our No. 1 job. Never get away from selling a lot of merchandise personally. The more you sell the more you learn.
The problem with the bronco is to get on and stay on. This is the problem with the Golden Rule-to understand and apply.
The thought in my mind was that I must be a good merchant. If I were a good merchant, the rest would probably take care of itself.
Intelligence is the effort to do the best you can at your particular job; the quality that gives dignity to that job, whether it happens to be scrubbing a floor or running a corporation.
Every great business is built on friendship.
No matter what his position or experience in life, there is in everyone more latent than developed ability; far more unused than used power.
Responsibility is always a sign of trust.
Clock watchers never seem to be having a good time.
The friendly smile, the word of greeting, are certainly something fleeting and seemingly insubstantial. You can’t take them with you. But they work for good beyond your power to measure their influence. It is the service we are not obliged to give that people value most.
It is the service we are not obliged to give that people value most.
Success cannot come from standstill men. Methods change and men must change with them.
I learned that all things come to those who wait-provided they hustle while they wait.
Success will always be measured by the extent to which we serve the buying public.
I believe a man is better anchored who has a belief in the Supreme Being.