Quotes from S. Truett Cathy


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I'd be resentful if shareholders who don't know the business tried to tell me what to do.


We live in a changing world, but we need to be reminded that the important things have not changed, and the important things will not change if we keep our priorities in proper order.


I'm planning to be here forever, but I know at some point I'll probably have to give it up. If you live to 100, there's a very good chance you'll live forever. Because very few people die after 100.


I see no conflict whatsoever between Christianity and good business practices. People say you can't mix business with religion. I say there's no other way.


I motivate what I see in young people because we employ about forty thousand young people in our various Chick-fil-A units. Some of them come to work because they need to work; others just work because they just like to work. There's nothing wrong with that.


You don't have to be a Christian to work at Chick-fil-A, but we ask you to base your business on biblical principles because they work.


Why would I retire from something I enjoy doing? I can hardly wait to get here.


Why did the chicken cross the road? To prove to the possum that it could be done.


We don't expect every operator to be Christian, but we tell them we do expect them to operate on Christian principles.


The people are more important than the food. We want a person to be as successful as he can be, and it works the other way around, too.


Our decision to close on Sunday was our way of honoring God and of directing our attention to things that mattered more than our business.


It's a silent witness to the Lord when people go into shopping malls, and everyone is bustling, and you see that Chick-fil-A is closed.


If you have debt, you have to worry about it. I would challenge each of you to try to be debt-free.


If it took seven days to make a living with a restaurant, then we needed to be in some other line of work.


I've experienced poverty and plenty, and there's a lesson to be learned when you're brought up in poverty.


I'd like to be remembered as one who kept my priorities in the right order.


In the Great Depression, you bought something if you had the cash to buy it.


I have people say, 'I'll come to work for you for free,' and I tell my employees they have to compete with that.


I have always encouraged my restaurant operators and team members to give back to the local community.


I had a low image of myself because I was brought up in the deep Depression.