John Mackey Quotes

You have to understand: the narrative that people have about business and capitalism is that they are fundamentally selfish, greedy, and exploitative. Of course, I don't agree with that narrative.

Most people think companies are basically evil. They get a bad rap. And I think that's somewhat correct.

Taking on corporate greed is an environmental concern.

I think you can say a lot of evil behavior by companies is short-term optimization.

Turning corporations loose and letting the profit motive run amok is not a prescription for a more livable world.

I just have a serious problem with business for business' sake: this bottom-dollar mentality. I have a serious problem with evil.

Large corporations, of course, are blinded by greed. The laws under which they operate require it - their shareholders would revolt at anything less.

Getting back to the point, a guy like Jerry, he deals with the business, and he doesn't see it as being evil or ugly, it's what you have to do, and I mean I know there's some really ugly parts to it and parts which drive me nuts, but not in the same way as music business.

Yes, you are running businesses, and yes, we understand and accept that, but surely there must be a level beyond which profit from news is simply indecent.

Do business managers have a commitment to anything more than the success of their company and to making money? It would be hard to say that they do. Indeed, many business leaders deny that there is any conflict between self-interest and the interests of all.

Is it possible to run a big industrial corporation in a benevolent fashion? We see these days that even the hippest companies hide some rotten practices to make their profit margins work.

Sometimes I'd say what's bad for the country is good for my business, unfortunately.

I have very mixed feelings about big corporations. Oftentimes, they're more troublesome than not.

I suppose we are what we are, and we use the evidence to confirm what we believe.

And these [pharmaceutical] companies are still threatening to sue. And it's like, you know, do you not have a conscience? Do you not want the world to be a better place? You're still making a profit. How much more of a profit do you want to make?

I have not changed my position. It is the same exact thing. We can not let crazed, insane businessmen who put their bottom line ahead of the planet - And I'm talking about Rex Tillerson.

Sir, I here enter my solemn protest against a low and calculating avarice entering this hall of legislation. It is only fit for shops and counting houses.

As a psychopathic creature, the corporation can neither recognize nor act upon moral reasons to refrain from harming others.

I want to give businessmen an honorable place but they make crooks out of themselves.

It's human nature to make the complex manageable and determine things that fit your conclusions. That's bias.

Some shareholders believe it is all about price and a few people's pockets.

We have to put an end to the culture of selfishness and corruption that allows greedy Wall Street banks and executives to rip off working people without any consequences.

You hear entertainers all the time, saying, 'If I couldn't get paid for this, I'd do it for free.' When's the last time you ever heard a business person say, 'If I couldn't get paid for being chairman of British Petroleum, I'd do it for free'?

You're fighting a losing battle if you expect the people who own the studios to make moral choices.

It's not a long-term business model to take advantage of your consumers in ways that are not sustainable.