Eli Broad
Los Angeles is such a great meritocracy. Where can someone with my background - don't have the right family background, the right religion, the right provenance or whatever you want to call it - I come here and I'm accepted. The city's been good to me. And I want to give back.
The first thing I started collecting was stamps. Until I started discovering girls. That was the end of stamps.
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.
Any city in America would like to get a museum built if they didn't have to pay for it.
As the son of a union activist and a lifelong Democrat, I've always thought that privatizing our public schools is not the answer. We must strengthen public schools.
It's critical that states improve how teachers are trained, recruited, evaluated, compensated, advanced, and retained.
The biggest barrier we've seen to student progress is this: School policies and practices often prevent good teachers from doing great work and even dissuade some talented Americans from entering the profession. This needs to change.
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.
It's hard to explain your emotions when you see a work of art.
Twombly, frankly, was an acquired taste. I was not in love with Twombly the first time I saw one of his paintings.
I think over any period of time, especially if you don't use leverage, it is difficult to continually beat the S&P 500.
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.
A real collector does not sell.
There were periods when the art market got overheated, but there is no reason it should appreciate dramatically.
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.
You always learn lessons in business.
I've got a big ego, I admit it; I'm ego-driven.
In America, what you've accomplished financially is a measurement, whether you like it or not.
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.
My family and I have been blessed with good fortune in the world of business. We've created quite a net worth. My children, two boys, have more money than they will ever need, and they aren't empire builders.
Being a Midwesterner, I know that many of the middle-class manufacturing jobs that had been at the heart of our economy are either gone or going, and they're not coming back.
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 never stay anywhere - parties, museums, meetings - longer than three hours.
To me, unconventional thinking is approaching a problem and asking, 'Why not? Why can't something be done?' If someone can't give me a good reason why you can't do something, I find a way to do it.
I'm naturally curious, and I read four newspapers a day.
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.
What artists think about the world is often different from how we businessmen see it, and I find that an enriching experience.
Contemporary art challenges us.. it broadens our horizons. It asks us to think beyond the limits of conventional wisdom.Collection: Art
Ideas, more than money, are really the currency for success.Collection: Ideas
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.Collection: Successful
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.Collection: Giving
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.Collection: Success
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.Collection: Wisdom
If someone can't give me a good reason why you can't do something, I find a way to do it.Collection: Giving
Collectors become obsessive and then addicted. You become addicted to art and you can't live without it.Collection: Art
No one ever made a million bucks by being cautious or timid or reasonable.Collection: Bucks
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.Collection: Appreciation
Research – and using what you learn from it to analyze every situation – is what separates being unreasonable from being irrational.Collection: Research
I can imagine no more important contribution to our country's future than a long-term commitment to improving urban K-12 public schools.Collection: Country
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.Collection: School
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.Collection: Real
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.Collection: Learning
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.Collection: Positive
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.Collection: Running
I never stay anywhere — parties , museums, meetings — longer than 3 hours.Collection: Party
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.Collection: Patient Person
One, Andrew Carnegie said, ‘He who dies with wealth dies in shame.’ And someone once said, ‘He who gives while he lives also knows where it goes.’Collection: Giving
At a time when all the other builders were selling homes with basements but without carports, we would sell homes without basements and with carports. This allowed us to provide a more appealing product at a lower price. In other words, we felt we would be giving customers greater value.Collection: Home