"The limit to the size of the firm is set where its costs of organizing a transaction become equal to the cost of carrying it out through the market. This determines what the firm buys, produces, and sells. As the concept of transaction costs is not usually used by economists, it is not surprising that an approach which incorporates it will find some difficulty in getting itself accepted. We can best understand this attitude if we consider not the firm but the market."

"In mainstream economic theory, the firm and the market are, for the most part, assumed to exist and are not themselves the subject of investigation. One result has been that the crucial role of the law in determining the activities carried out by the firm and in the market has been largely ignored."

"If you torture the data enough, nature will always confess."

"But a theory is not like an airline or bus timetable. We are not interested simply in the accuracy of its predictions. A theory also serves as a base for thinking. It helps us to understand what is going on by enabling us to organize our thoughts. Faced with a choice between a theory which predicts well but gives us little insight into how the system works and one which gives us this insight but predicts badly, I would choose the latter, and I am inclined to think that most economists would do the same."

"The question always is, will it pay to bring an extra exchange transaction under the organizing authority? At the margin, the costs of organizing within the firm will be equal either to the costs of organizing in another firm or to the costs involved in leaving the transaction to be “organised” by the price mechanism. Business men will be constantly experimenting, controlling more or less, and in this way equilibrium will be maintained. This gives the position of equilibrium for static analysis."

"Why... are there any market transactions at all? Why not all production carried on by one big firm?... First, as a firm gets larger, there may be decreasing returns to the entrepreneur function, that is, the costs of organizing additional transactions within the firm may rise... Second, it may be that as the transactions which are organized increase, the entrepreneur fails to place the factors of production in the uses where their value is greatest, that is, fails to make the best use of the factors of production... Finally, the supply price of one or more of the factors of production may rise, because the "other advantages" of a small firm are greater than those of a large firm."

"Outside the firm, price movements direct production, which is co-ordinated through a series of exchange transactions on the market. Within a firm, these market transactions are eliminated and in place of the complicated market structure with exchange transactions is substituted the entrepreneur-coordinator, who directs production. It is clear that these are alternative methods of coordinating production. Yet, having regard to the fact that, if production is regulated by price movements, production could be carried on without any organization at all might we ask, why is there any organization?"

"If economists wished to study the horse, they wouldn't go and look at horses. They'd sit in their studies and say to themselves, "what would I do if I were a horse?""

"I can't remember [of a good regulation]. Regulation of transport, regulation of agriculture—agriculture is a, zoning is z. You know, you go from a to z, they are all bad. There were so many studies, and the result was quite universal: The effects were bad."

"In my youth it was said that what was too silly to be said may be sung. In modern economics it may be put into mathematics."

"Transaction costs were used in the one case to show that if they are not included in the analysis, the firm has no purpose, while in the other I showed, as I thought, that if transaction costs were not introduced into the analysis, for the range of problems considered, the law had no purpose."

"American institutionalists were not theoretical but anti-theoretical.... Without a theory they had nothing to pass on except a mass of descriptive material waiting for a theory, or a fire."

"In my view, what is wanted in industrial organization is a direct approach to the problem. This would concentrate on what activities firms undertake, and would endeavor to discover the characteristics of the groupings of activities within firms. Which activities tend to be associated and which do not? The answer may well differ for different kinds of firm."

"The traditional approach has tended to obscure the nature of the choice that has to be made. The question is commonly thought of as one in which A inflicts harm on B and what has to be decided is: how should we restrain A? But this is wrong. We are dealing with a problem of a reciprocal nature. To avoid the harm to B would inflict harm on A. The real question that has to be decided is: should A be allowed to harm B or should B be allowed to harm A?"

"All the most powerful speeches ever made point to a better future."

"Give people a convincing reason and they will lay down their very lives."

"When you have been close to death it makes you think about life."

"Connect with all the passions people have -for themselves, their families, their communities and wider world - and they will follow you to the ends of the earth, buy your products and services with pride, and may even be willing to work for you for next to nothing."

"You can have the greatest strategy in the world, but what is the point if no one cares?"

"Business is the "art" of making money by selling things or services people want for more than their cost."

"Mission is at the heart of what you do as a team. Goals are merely steps to its achievement."

"You cannot have strong leadership without passion."

"The key to understanding the future is one word: sustainability."

"The risk of a business being hit by a low probability, high impact event is far higher than most boards realise because the number of potential wild cards is so great."

"To every trend there is a counter-trend. There are a number of pendulums operating and each creates new business opportunities."

"The first one hundred and fifty year old human being could be alive as a baby today."

"Take hold of your future or the future will take hold of you - be futurewise."

"Two thirds of all those who have ever lived to sixty five are alive today and most of them are women."

"In banking or insurance trust is the only thing you have to sell."

"Listen to your customers but don't (always) believe what they say - they know even less about the future than you."

"Institutional blindness is a major threat to the future of all corporations."

"The larger the corporation, the greater the risk that you are flying blind."

"Your company may have a reputation for brilliant leadership, outstanding innovation, clever branding and effective change management, but the business could fail if the world changes and you are unprepared."

"The Six Faces of the FUTURE are: Fast, Urban, Tribal, Universal, Radical and Ethical"

"Never has the future become so rapidly the past."

"Business strategy is the battleplan for a better future."

"Every product and service is sold on the promise of a better future. The purpose of business is to deliver on the promise, and profit is the reward for doing so."

"The future of marketing belongs to honest information, accurate data and clear claims based on truth."

"Life's too short to sell things you don't believe in."

"People will only follow you if they see you're ahead, are convinced you know the route, trust you, and want to get there too."

"The future is about emotion: reactions to events are usually far more important than the events themselves."

"Tribalism is the most powerful force in the world."