Phil Knight Quotes

• Dream audaciously. Have the courage to fail forward. Act with urgency.

  Phil Knight

  Dream, Failing, Urgency

  57 Copy quote

• There comes a time in every life when the past recedes and the future opens. It's that moment when you turn to face the unknown. Some will turn back to what they already know. Some will walk straight ahead into uncertainty. I can't tell you which one is right. But I can tell you which one is more fun.

  Phil Knight

  Fun, Past, Faces

  101 Copy quote

• Play by the rules, but be ferocious.

  Phil Knight

  Knights, Play, Growing

  69 Copy quote

• Dare to take chances, lest you leave your talent buried in the ground.

  Phil Knight

  Chance, Talent, Buried

  Phil Knight (2017). “Shoe Dog: Young Readers Edition”, p.270, Simon and Schuster

  41 Copy quote

• Make history or be a part of it.

  Phil Knight

  Action

  41 Copy quote

• It's alright to be Goliath but always act like David.

  Phil Knight

  Leadership, Goliath, Business Leadership

  63 Copy quote

• A brand is something that has a clear-cut identity among consumers, which a company creates by sending out a clear, consistent message over a period of years until it achieves a critical mass of marketing.

  Phil Knight

  Cutting, Knights, Years

  39 Copy quote

• Nike is a marketing-oriented company, and the product is our most important marketing tool.

  Phil Knight

  Nike, Business, Knights

  "High-Performance Marketing: An Interview with Nike’s Phil Knight". Interview with Geraldine E. Willigan, hbr.org.

  38 Copy quote

• Sports is like rock 'n' roll. Both are dominant cultural forces, both speak an international language, and both are all about emotions.

  Phil Knight

  Sports, Rocks, Rock N Roll

  43 Copy quote

• We used to think that everything started in the lab. Now we realize that everything spins off the consumer.

  Phil Knight

  Thinking, Knights, Labs

  "High-Performance Marketing: An Interview with Nike’s Phil Knight". Interview with Geraldine E. Willigan, hbr.org. July-August 1992.

  36 Copy quote

• There is an immutable conflict at work in life and in business, a constant battle between peace and chaos. Neither can be mastered, but both can be influenced. How you go about that is the key to success.

  Phil Knight

  Life, Change, Success

  30 Copy quote

• You can't explain much in 60 seconds, but when you show Michael Jordan, you don't have to. It's that simple.

  Phil Knight

  Simple, Jordan, Shows

  "High-Performance Marketing: An Interview with Nike's Phil Knight" by Phil KnightGeraldine E. Willigan, hbr.org. July 1, 1992.

  20 Copy quote

• The trouble in America is not that we are making too many mistakes, but that we are making too few.

  Phil Knight

  Inspirational, Business, Mistake

  28 Copy quote

• Meeting sports athletes that are the best in the world is a thrill to this day.

  Phil Knight

  Sports, Athlete, Thrill

  38 Copy quote

• Perception can be changed

  Phil Knight

  Perception, Changed

  12 Copy quote

• We wanted Nike to be the world's best sports and fitness company. Once you say that, you have a focus. You don't end up making wing tips or sponsoring the next Rolling Stones world tour.

  Phil Knight

  Sports, Nike, Knights

  23 Copy quote

• My job is to listen to ideas, maybe cook up a few of my own, and make decisions based on what's good for the shareholders and for the company.

  Phil Knight

  Jobs, Ideas, Decision

  18 Copy quote

• It is possible to tell a customer "no", and have the customer thank you for doing it

  Phil Knight

  Customers

  19 Copy quote

• It doesn't matter how many people you offend, as long as you're getting your message to your consumers. I say to those people who do not want to offend anybody: You are going to have a very, very difficult time having meaningful advertising.

  Phil Knight

  Meaningful, Knights, Long

  9 Copy quote

• Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are really part of a very big advertising program, and the fact that they make so much money is because the markets have dictated that they get that money, and the fact that they endorse our products allows us to sell more products and create more jobs.

  Phil Knight

  Money, Jobs, Woods

  14 Copy quote

• Up until the time I was 14 years old, I was sure that I was going to be a big-league baseball player. But that dream came to a rude awakening when I got cut from my high school baseball team.

  Phil Knight

  Baseball, Dream, Team

  12 Copy quote

• I still get real nervous when I go in front of more than two people.

  Phil Knight

  Real, Two, People

  12 Copy quote

• Now we understand that the most important thing we do is market the product. We've come around to saying that Nike is a marketing-oriented company, and the product is our most important marketing tool.

  Phil Knight

  Nike, Marketing, Important

  "High-Performance Marketing". Interview with Geraldine E. Willigan, hbr.org. July/August 1992.

  14 Copy quote

• I'm Phil Knight, and I don't believe in advertising.

  Phil Knight

  Believe, Knights, Advertising

  16 Copy quote

• I truly believe the American consumer doesn’t want to buy products made under abusive conditions.

  Phil Knight

  Believe, Want, Made

  "How Nike shed its sweatshop image to dominate the shoe industry" by Ashley Lutz, www.businessinsider.com. June 6, 2015.

  11 Copy quote

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