It is in books, poems, paintings which often give us the confidence to take seriously feelings in ourselves that we might otherwise never have thought to acknowledge.
Alain De BottonRead
The central task for a business is to make a profit. The challenge is to make a profit by doing things which are genuinely good for people and good for societies.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A business's primary goal is to be profitable, but it is essential to achieve this by positively impacting people and society.
This quote highlights the dual mission of businesses today: while the fundamental objective is to generate profit, the method of achieving this profit is increasingly scrutinized in terms of its ethical implications. Alain De Botton suggests that businesses have a responsibility to ensure that their operations not only benefit their own bottom line but also contribute positively to society and the well-being of individuals.
Themes
ProfitBusinessEthicsSocietyResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
In a business ethics class to illustrate the importance of ethical profit-making.
More from Alain De Botton
All quotes βTaking architecture seriously therefore makes some singular and strenuous demands upon us...It means conceding that we are inconveniently vulnerable to the colour of our wallpaper and that our sense of purpose may be derailed by an unfortunate bedspread
Alain De BottonRead
The more closely we analyze what we consider 'sexy,' the more clearly we will understand that eroticism is the feeling of excitement we experience at finding another human being who shares our values and our sense of the meaning of existence.
Alain De BottonRead
Good books put a finger on emotions that are deeply our own - but that we could never have described on our own.
Alain De BottonRead
The challenge of modern relationships: how to prove more interesting than the other's smartphone.
Alain De BottonRead
It is the most ambitious and driven among us who are the most sorely in need of having our reckless hopes dampened through immersive dousings in the darkness which religions have explored. This is a particular priority for secular Americans, perhaps the most anxious and disappointed people on earth, for their nation infuses them with the most extreme hopes about what they may be able to achieve in their working lives and relationships.
Alain De BottonRead
Similar quotes
The companies that survive longest are the one's that work out what they uniquely can give to the world-not just growth or money but their excellence, their respect for others, or their ability to make people happy. Some call those things a soul.
Charles HandyRead
We must learn what customers really want, not what they say they want or what we think they should want.
Eric RiesRead
It's not about me, it's about you, the customer. And if I am effective in making what I do about you, and I can enhance you and elevate you, you will support me forever.
Kenneth ColeRead
Brands are all about trust. That trust is built in drops and lost in buckets.
Kevin PlankRead
When you start a company, it's a singular focus. You have the wind at your back.
Howard SchultzRead
Roughly speaking, when you are dealing with business firms operating in a competitive system, you can assume that they're going to act rationally. Why? Because someone in a firm who buys things at $10 and sells them for $8.00 isn't going to last very long in that firm.
Ronald CoaseRead