Yvon Chouinard

Hiring people with diverse backgrounds brings in a flexibility of thought and openness to new ways of doing things, as opposed to…

— Yvon Chouinard

Everything we make pollutes. The most responsible thing we can do is to make each product as well as we know how…

— Yvon Chouinard

My favorite quote about entrepreneurship is that to understand an entrepreneur, you should study a juvenile delinquent. They're both saying: "This sucks…

— Yvon Chouinard

One thing I did not want to change, even if we got serious, work had to be enjoyable on a daily basis.…

— Yvon Chouinard

Is climbing, as a passion and as a sport, better off now than it was in the past? We can do harder…

— Yvon Chouinard

“Patagonia’s image is a human voice. It expresses the joy of people who love the world, who are passionate about their beliefs,…

— Yvon Chouinard

I believe the accepted model of capitalism that demands endless growth deserves the blame for the destruction of nature, and it should…

— Yvon Chouinard

Yeah, leading an examined life, I always say, is a pain in the ass. It adds an element of complexity to business…

— Yvon Chouinard

...it's always been difficult for us to lead an examined life as a corporation. I've always felt like a company has the…

— Yvon Chouinard

What they don't realize is that I'm not in the business to make clothes. I'm not in the business to make more…

— Yvon Chouinard

We grow by letting the customer tell us. So when the customer tells us that they're frustrated, that they just got their…

— Yvon Chouinard

Growth isn't central at all, because I'm trying to run this company as if it's going to be here a hundred years…

— Yvon Chouinard

The rules of the game must be constantly updated to keep up with the expanding technology. Otherwise we overkill the classic climbs…

— Yvon Chouinard

No young kid growing up dreams of someday becoming a businessman. He wants to be a fireman, a sponsored athlete or a…

— Yvon Chouinard

There's no difference between a pessimist who says, "Oh it's hopeless, so don't bother doing anything." and an optimist who says, "Don't…

— Yvon Chouinard

Mainly, my job is to be on the outside and bring ideas into the company and forge change. Most people hate change—it’s…

— Yvon Chouinard

I think risk is important. I don't care if it's a great financial risk or a physical risk. You only get out…

— Yvon Chouinard

Traveling is my form of self-education. Every stream I fish now is not as good as it used to be. Traveling is…

— Yvon Chouinard

I wanted to distance myself from those pasty faced corpses in suits I saw in airline magazine ads. If I was going…

— Yvon Chouinard

Surfing and climbing are both useless sports. You get to be conquistadors of the useless. You climb to the summit and there…

— Yvon Chouinard

I say the last 10 percent of the way to perfection takes so much of your life that it isn't worth the…

— Yvon Chouinard