In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story.

What we want to be is something completely new. There is no physical analog for what Amazon.com is becoming.

I strongly believe that missionaries make better products. They care more. For a missionary, it’s not just about the business.

There has to be a business, and the business has to make sense, but that’s not why you do it. You do it because you have something meaningful that motivates you.

A company shouldn’t get addicted to being shiny because shiny doesn’t last.

The common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’ That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is ‘why not?’.

In business, what’s dangerous is not to evolve.

I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person.

I like treating things as if they’re small, you know Amazon even though it is a large company, I want it to have the heart and spirit of a small one.

Companies are rarely criticized for the things that they failed to try. But they are, many times, criticized for things they tried and failed at.

Everything you are comes from your choices.

You can work long, hard, or smart, but at Amazon.com you can’t choose two out of three.

We can't be in survival mode. We have to be in growth mode.

One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don't choose your passions; your passions choose you.

I told all of our original investors that they would lose their money for sure.

Life's too short to hang out with people who aren't resourceful.

If you never want to be criticized, for goodness sake don't do anything new.

If you are going to do large-scale invention, you have to be willing to do three things: You must be willing to fail; you have to be willing to think long term; and you have to be willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time.

Focusing on the customer makes a company more resilient.