Eli Broad Quotes

Charity is just writing checks and not being engaged. Philanthropy, to me, is being engaged, not only with your resources but getting people and yourself really involved and doing things that haven't been done before.

Civilizations are not remembered by their business people, their bankers or lawyers. They're remembered by the arts.

Contemporary art challenges us.. it broadens our horizons. It asks us to think beyond the limits of conventional wisdom.

To me, money is a means to do good. I reached a point in my life where I had enjoyed tremendous business success that afforded my family everything we could possibly want. My wife and I then decided that we could use our wealth to make a difference. So we created the Broad Foundations to do four things: to improve urban public education, to support innovative scientific and medical research, to foster art appreciation for audiences worldwide and to support civic initiatives in Los Angeles.

While I am proud of a number of accomplishments, there are real costs to being unreasonable. Long hours. Too little time with family. A near incapacity for, as they say, stopping and smelling the roses.

There is no substitute for knowledge. To this day, I read three newspapers a day. It is impossible to read a paper without being exposed to ideas. And ideas - more than money - are the real currency for success.

If someone can't give me a good reason why you can't do something, I find a way to do it.

Who you spend your life with-much more so than how you choose to spend it-is the most important decision you can make. Do it right. That's the best advice I can give you.

The best move you can make in negotiation is to think of an incentive the other person hasn't even thought of - and then meet it.

Oprah Winfrey's global influence is unparalleled. Not only has her generosity and firm belief that education is the key to a better life benefited countless women and children around the world, but her example has also inspired millions of people to give back in ways big and small.

For businesses to be successful, they need to constantly ask the question: how can we provide value to our customers? At the end of the day, that is what matters.

Research – and using what you learn from it to analyze every situation – is what separates being unreasonable from being irrational.

Art evokes emotion. It doesn't have to be a thing of beauty.

I have always believed that every great city in history needs a vibrant center.

If you have poor management that's not doing the right job, you end up with unions filling the void and... page after page of work rules and thicker and thicker contracts.

The inability to delegate is one of the biggest problems I see with managers at all levels.

Ideas, more than money, are really the currency for success.

Artists rarely do the same thing over and over again. Art is about the new, doing things in a new way.

School boards are, for the most part ,made up of political wannabes who see a board seat as a stepping stone for political office, or well-meaning parents who represent an ethnic group or geography, or have some other narrow interests. Few people on them understand what governance is about.

I've never been one who enjoys maintaining the status quo. I'm always pushing for new ideas, whether it's in business or philanthropy.

No one ever made a million bucks by being cautious or timid or reasonable.

Public education is the key civil rights issue of the 21st century. Our nation's knowledge-based economy demands that we provide young people from all backgrounds and circumstances with the education and skills necessary to become knowledge workers. If we don't, we run the risk of creating an even larger gap between the middle class and the poor. This gap threatens our democracy, our society and the economic future of America.

Museums do not share their collections with other museums unless they get something in exchange. The Metropolitan will deal with the Louvre, but will they send their stuff to Memphis? No.

I learned to embrace risk, as long as it was well thought out and, in a worst-case scenario, I'd still land on my feet.

Without a doubt, stem cell research will lead to the dramatic improvement in the human condition and will benefit millions of people.

I can't think of another enterprise other than being a homeowner that can't have its debt restructured in bankruptcy. Corporations can but a homeowner can't? Now with securitization the homeowner can't go to the owner of the loan and work things out.

I don't think the market can keep going up. In the U.S., we see real estate not going up.. houses are selling at lower prices. You can't have anything going up 10 percent to 20 percent to 30 percent indefinitely.

I'm strong-willed. Architects are strong-willed. You get the best results with a strong client and a strong architect working together.

I am not a patient person. My friends and colleagues will confirm this. But, frankly, we should all feel a little more impatient with the state of public education in America today.

I believe that a newspaper is a great civic asset and that ownership is best in the hands of foundations or wealthy families that want to own it for reasons other than maximizing profits. I also believe newspapers should remain in local hands.

Someone once told me I'm a sore winner, and they're right. I rarely take more than a moment to enjoy a success before I'm moving on and looking for the next challenge.

Time is the most valuable thing you have - and I'm not just talking about the minutes for which you're paid.

A lot of executives act like their time is worth more than anyone else's. But I always respect an employee who guards his or her time, even from me.

Unfortunately, the boards of art institutions tend to be populated with well-meaning supporters of the arts who often lack any business background or appetite for imposing appropriate discipline.

Every artist is unreasonable, because he or she is doing something that hasn't been done before.

Collectors become obsessive and then addicted. You become addicted to art and you can't live without it.

People always say congratulations. When you're a successful bidder it means you're willing to spend more money than anyone else. I'm not sure if that's congratulations or condolences.

I don't see myself as a great discoverer of artists, like Charles Saatchi.

I don't want to be in the film business. I'm not even sure it's a business.

I never play golf because it takes too long, and the business connections it produces can be made just as easily over an early breakfast.

I don't think it makes any sense for an individual to invest in common stocks unless they know the company, work at the company, and so on.

I never stay anywhere — parties , museums, meetings — longer than 3 hours.

I am old enough to remember when America's K-12 public schools were the best in the world. I am a proud graduate of them, and I credit much of my success to what I learned in Detroit Public Schools and at Michigan State University.

The first thing I started collecting was stamps. Until I started discovering girls. That was the end of stamps.

There were periods when the art market got overheated, but there is no reason it should appreciate dramatically.

In high school, I would drive my teachers batty. They would make a statement, and I would say, 'Why is that?' They didn't want to be questioned.

The first dream I had was just to get a college education. I got through college in three years, taking extra classes in summer school.

I think over any period of time, especially if you don't use leverage, it is difficult to continually beat the S&P 500.

How absurd that our students tuck their cell phones, BlackBerrys, iPads, and iPods into their backpacks when they enter a classroom and pull out a tattered textbook.

You always learn lessons in business.