"Profitability is a shallow goal if it doesn't have a real purpose, and the purpose has to be share the profits with others."

"Europe has always represented a major strategic opportunity to achieve our goal of creating and building an enduring global brand."

"You can't build any kind of organization if you're not going to surround yourself with people who have experience and skill base beyond your own."

"Cutting prices or putting things on sale is not sustainable business strategy."

"We live in an age where everything is based on the short term."

"You must find something that you deeply love and are passionate about and are willing to sacrifice a lot to achieve."

"Often, organizations need bold, grand gestures to galvanize people towards a new mission or refocus their attention."

"We sell tea in Starbucks, but I think the experience is very different. I think coffee is something that is quick - it's transactional. I think tea is more Zen-like. It requires a different environment."

"A great business has to have a conscience. You have to know who you are and who you are not."

"China traditionally has been a tea-drinking country but we turned them into coffee drinkers."

"Customers have different need states and life experiences."

"Starbucks is not an advertiser; people think we are a great marketing company, but in fact we spend very little money on marketing and more money on training our people than advertising."

"We need to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers. That is my new battle cry. Live and breathe Starbucks the way our customers do."

"Certainly the caffeine in coffee, whether it's Starbucks or generic coffee, is somewhat of a stimulant. But if you drink it in moderation, which I think four or five cups a day is, you're fine."

"We can't wait for Washington. Business leaders are going to have to galvanize their own constituencies and do everything they can to demonstrate confidence in the economy, and I think that can be contagious."

"There's an energy and excitement when you're building a company. You have so much tail wind. You're planting new seeds. But it's also scary, because there's no safety net."

"I think there is probably no better person to aspire to emulate than Steve Jobs and what he has done at Apple in terms of his leadership, his innovation, not settling for mediocrity."

"Expect more than others think possible."

"I do feel, in a sense, the rules of engagement for citizenship has changed, and we must encourage other people to speak up and to take action."

"Pouring espresso is an art, one that requires the barista to care about the quality of the beverage."

"I'm in a different position than most CEO's. I'm a founder. I'm not a hired CEO. Now, I can be fired by the board, but most CEO's are hired by the board."

"I think if you're an entrepreneur, you've got to dream big and then dream bigger."

"I never wanted to be on any billionaires list. I never define myself by net worth. I always try to define myself by my values."

"The hardest thing about being a leader is demonstrating or showing vulnerability... When the leader demonstrates vulnerability and sensibility and brings people together, the team wins."

"With a population of more than 600 million people, an emerging middle class that is driving strong consumption, and a robust and resilient economy, Southeast Asia presents a compelling growth opportunity for Starbucks."

"Social and digital media is a bullet train, and that bullet train is not coming home."

"I was taken by the power that savoring a simple cup of coffee can have to connect people and create community."

"Starbucks is in my blood. It is such a part of me that letting it unravel simply was not an option."

"In life, you can blame a lot of people and you can wallow in self-pity, or you can pick yourself up and say, 'Listen, I have to be responsible for myself.'"

"You walk into a retail store, whatever it is, and if there's a sense of entertainment and excitement and electricity, you wanna be there."

"The challenge of the retail business is the human condition."

"Great companies that build an enduring brand have an emotional relationship with customers that has no barrier. And that emotional relationship is on the most important characteristic, which is trust."

"Starbucks has a role and a meaningful relationship with people that is not only about the coffee."

"I can't imagine a day without coffee. I can't imagine!"

"Starbucks represents something beyond a cup of coffee."

"When you're surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible."

"Infusing work with purpose and meaning, however, is a two-way street. Yes, love what you do, but your company should love you back."

"Her tecr be sizi bir sonrakine hazırlar. Bir sonrakinin ne olacağını hi bilemezsiniz."

"Large or small, our actions forge our futures, hopefully inspiring others along the way."

"Companies should not have a singular view of profitability. There needs to be a balance between commerce and social responsibility... The companies that are authentic about it will wind up as the companies that make more money."

"I think we are living in a time where the consumer has lots of choices, whether it's coffee, newspapers or whatever it is. And there is parity in the market place, and as a result of that, the consumer is beginning to make decisions, not just on what things cost and the convenience of it."

"I was born on the other side of the tracks, in public housing in Brooklyn, New York. My dad never made more than $20,000 a year, and I grew up in a family that lost health insurance. So I was scarred at a young age with understanding what it was like to watch my parents lose access to the American dream."

...whenever there is inspiration...and enthusiasm...there is a creative empowerment that goes far beyond what a mere person is capable of.

"On balance, I am a supporter of the minimum wage going up. We've got to be very careful what we wish for because some employers - and there could be a lot of them - will be scared away from hiring new people or creating incremental hours for part-time people as a result of that wage going up."

"I am concerned about any attrition in customer traffic at Starbucks, but I don't want to use the economy, commodity prices or consumer confidence as an excuse. We must maintain a value proposition to our customers as well as differentiate the Starbucks Experience. That is the key."

"I think people will walk into the Starbucks store and overnight recognize the significant difference between what Starbucks represents day-in and day-out and all the other coffee companies that have been serving coffee in India for so many years."

"Many companies today are reducing hours of full-time people to get under the minimum so they don't have to pay health care costs. I just shake my head because that's not going to build long-term value and trust with your people."

"We woke up one day, and all the sudden Starbucks was in the middle of this political crossfire between the people who want to bring a gun into Starbucks and the people who want to prevent it. It is a very difficult, fragile situation."

"I tried to build a company my father would have been proud to work for, that he would have looked back on and said, 'That's the company that honoured me, even though I don't have an education'. I wanted to build a company that had a conscience."

"I believe life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It's seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It's seeing what other people don't see And pursuing that vision."