How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets

by Felix Dennis

(The jets are always rented. If it flies, floats or fornicates, always rent it—it’s cheaper in the long run.)

“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.”

The key, I think, is confidence. Confidence and an unshakable belief it can be done and that you are the one to do it.

The follow-through, the execution, is a thousand times more important than a “great idea.” In fact, if the execution is perfect, it sometimes barely matters what the idea is. If you want to get rich, don’t sit around waiting for inspiration to strike. Just get busy getting rich.

In the words of the art collector and oil billionaire John Paul Getty: “If you can actually count your money, you are not really a rich man.”

Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex. You thought of nothing else if you didn’t have it, and thought of other things if you did.

nearly all the great fortunes acquired by entrepreneurs arose because they had nothing to lose.

Anyone not busy learning is busy dying. For as long as you foster a willingness to learn, you will ward off sclerosis of the brain and hardening of the mental arteries. Curiosity has led many a man and women into the valley of serious wealth.

I employ a great many people smarter than I am.

“Cowards die many times before their deaths: / The valiant never taste of death but once.”

My earnest advice is to get yourself a young and fearless partner with tons of stamina.

Because whoever dies with the most toys doesn’t win. Real winners are people who know their limits and respect them.

After a lifetime of making money and observing better men and women than I fall by the wayside, I am convinced that fear of failing in the eyes of the world is the single biggest impediment to amassing wealth. Trust me on this.

the ability to live with and embrace risk is what sets apart the financial winners and losers in the world.

Those who can never be rich may not want you to become rich.

Too many people want to make a blockbuster movie and live in Beverly Hills. Not enough people want to dig holes.

New or rapidly developing industries, whether glamorous or not, very often provide more opportunities to get rich than established sectors. The three reasons for this are availability of risk capital, ignorance and the power of a rising tide.

usurers who offer you an umbrella when the sun is shining and snatch it away the instant a few rain clouds appear?

The most successful generals or admirals in military history shared one characteristic: they were willing to ignore orders and risk utter disgrace in order to exploit rapidly changing circumstances.

Fortune favors not just the brave but the bold.

Readers didn’t care about the magazine. They cared about the free game in the bag.

If you want to be rich, then watch your rivals closely and never be ashamed to emulate a winning strategy.

Ideas don’t make you rich. The correct execution of ideas does.

There are only six ways of obtaining capital. You can be given or inherit it; you can steal it; you can win it; you can marry it; you can earn it; you can borrow it.

Money talks. Bullshit walks.

“Assumption is the mother of all f***-ups.”

Success is never permanent; failure is never fatal. The only thing that really counts is to never, never, never give up.”

A successful and naturally modest entrepreneur is an object of reverence and respect in the business world.

Talent is the key to sustained growth, and growth is the key to early wealth. You have to identify and hire talent. You can’t skimp on it.

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

With liberation comes the knowledge that nothing is really very important in the lives of men; nothing is as terrifying as the fear itself. And from that, paradoxically, comes self-belief—a belief that anything is possible.

when you stop listening, you stop learning.

Listening is the most powerful weapon after self-belief and persistence you can bring into play as an entrepreneur.

Set the meeting for twenty minutes. Have somebody interrupt you after twenty-five minutes and usher the caller swiftly from your room.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

To become rich you must behave as a predator.

Don’t try to do it all yourself. Delegate and teach others to delegate.

Remember that most predators are lucky most of their lives, unlike their prey.

Whiners and cowards die a hundred times a day. Be a ...

Never fall in love with the deal. A deal is just a deal. There will always be other deals and other opportunities.

The negotiator opposite you is not your new best friend. He is not your partner. He is not your confidant. You have no obligation, outside of ordinary courtesy, to please him or satisfy his demands. He is the enemy.

Choose a rogue element to your advantage and bring it into the negotiation at a late stage. You’ll be amazed at how often this tactic produces results.

Everyone thinks they are a great negotiator, but most of us simply are not.

Ownership is not the most important thing. It is the only thing that counts.

“Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl.”

Not everyone works to get rich. In fact, most people do not. But almost everyone wishes to be respected.

If you want to get rich, then learn to delegate.

Stupid people are easy to hire. The world is full of stupid people.

Better to have the world suspect you a fool than to open your mouth and put the matter beyond doubt,”

If a man or woman heads up one of your companies and has been there too long, consider asking them to create a new division or company for you.