The concept of fair value accounting is correct and useful, but the application during periods of crisis is problematic. It's another one of those unintended consequences of making a rule that's supposed to be good that turns out the other way.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Every day should be a good day. People fool themselves that they'll be here forever.

I have a saying: There are no brave old people in finance. Because if you're brave, you mostly get destroyed in your 30s and 40s. If you make it to your 50s and 60s and you're still prospering, you have a very good sense of how to avoid problems and when to be conservative or aggressive with your investments.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Men Good Finance

Sleeping at night is not a specialty of entrepreneurs. The entrepreneur who is sleeping soundly, something bad is happening to that person; they just don't know it's happening yet.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Who Us UN

We need to be able to identify and support young people who demonstrate interest and aptitude in entrepreneurship and business creation and give them tools to follow this path throughout their educational experience.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Experience Education Business

Sometimes, success in life is knowing one's limitations.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Time Success Life

Business is usually a team sport. There isn't one great person sitting there directing things. You can't run an effective business like that.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Great Business You

I grew up in a small town outside Philadelphia and went to the local high school, where I ran track all four years.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Years Year Where

I was in an interdisciplinary major - which was a new thing then - which was psychology, sociology, anthropology, and biology, which is really sort of the study of the human being.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Which Thing Thin

Education around entrepreneurship should start early, at secondary level, and be very robust by college level.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Education Art Very

I think people have to read more and learn more about what's going on internationally.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Think Thin T

I always felt uncomfortable with real estate because buildings don't move, and neighborhoods change.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Change Wit Ways

As long as you're excellent, things work out for you.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Work You Work Out

I have no first-strike capability. I never choose to go into battle first. But I won't back down.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Won T Strike

Being reasonably direct about what you're doing, being comfortable, is the best way to do things.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

You Way Things

Today, whenever I'm under pressure to make a decision on a transaction but I don't know what the right one is, I try desperately to postpone it. I'll insist on more information - on doing extra laps around the intellectual parking lot - before committing. I take the same approach with people, too.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Wit Whenever UN

There are no patents in finance.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Finance Tent Ten

There's usually room in the theme parks business for efficiencies on the cost side and new investment, which drives traffic.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Men Business Which

Live life intensely - I've always believed in that.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Life Ways Way

In 2014, Blackstone was the most profitable money manager in the world. I did not anticipate that.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Money Age World

Paid leave is worth every penny.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Worth Very T

I like being in warm weather. I find that relaxes me. I like being near water. I like sitting on a beach and sort of hearing the water, watching waves break, looking at the shimmering. I find that really relaxing.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

I love picking people. I started Blackstone, and we had no people, and now we have with our portfolio companies about 750,000 people all over the world. Everybody who is at a senior level has ultimately been picked by me.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

The language skill in the U.S. for the most part has been awful. Many Americans don't learn any foreign language.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Don't go into something you actually don't know much about, in the hopes that you're going to get really financially successful and rewarded... even though people think you're, like, terrific.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

What I've found in being around political people is they're willing to negotiate their ideology somewhere around 5 percent. They believe that's really stepping out. And it's really hard to do business when you only move 5 percent from your ideology.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

We need sobriety, rationality, and civility in the discussions on the regulation of financial institutions so that the banks can return in a robust manner to their central role in funding the economy.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

As you have more resources in life, it's your obligation to deploy those for the benefit of others.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

I chose to start Schwarzman Scholars because I saw the potential for the world to become focused and unhappy with China, in large part because of the populism that was growing throughout the world.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

One of the rules I've learned is that struggling to try and think your way into making an investment is usually the best way to not have a great outcome.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

We have limited time, and we have to maximize it.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

For future geopolitical stability and global prosperity, we need to build a culture of greater trust and understanding between China, America and the rest of the world.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Dodd-Frank has disproportionately burdened community banks, despite their having no role in the financial crisis.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

My biggest job really is to figure other people out. I need to understand what makes a person tick.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

I don't feel like a wealthy person. Other people think of me as a wealthy person, but I don't. I feel the same as when I was a fifth-year associate trying to make partner at Lehman Brothers. I haven't changed.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

My father was very bright. My mother had enormous drive. Put that together, and that's my gene pool.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

After years of studying French in school, one of my professors said he'd really appreciate it if I didn't take any more French.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

I love things that cost nothing that have great results.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

If I get angry, it's obvious. I don't have to say much.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Ironically, when a bunch of very smart people are sitting around a table for hours trying to figure out whether they should do something, that tends to not necessarily lead to the best results.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

The biggest mistake I've seen people make with their careers is, when they're good, after two or three years - and they happen to be smart - they announce that they're going out to start their own firm.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

In life, you'll often find that having influence and providing sound advice is a good thing, even if it attracts criticism or requires some sacrifice.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

The concept of fair value accounting is correct and useful, but the application during periods of crisis is problematic. It's another one of those unintended consequences of making a rule that's supposed to be good that turns out the other way.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

I'm concerned with China growing at double or triple the rate of the West, that there will be tensions. One needs to do something to start addressing misunderstandings and frustration.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

The library helps lower- and middle-income people - immigrants - get their shot at the American dream.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

I'm not feeling undertaxed. Tax reform is an important issue. You have to have an inherent sense of fairness.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

This country, of course, needs fundamental reform of our financial regulatory system, as I, and many other financial institution executives, have publicly advocated for a considerable period.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

I've always been comfortable with people who run things, whether it was the principal of my high school or the president of the university.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

I've lived through periods of illiquidity before. Asset prices come down. The economy slows or even goes into recession. Then the cycle re-starts. We buy at lower prices with less leverage.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

It's wonderful to learn about new cultures and to be able to travel easily to so many countries.

Stephen A. Schwarzman

I can't micromanage what anybody pays or doesn't pay. But the concept that half of the public isn't involved with the income-tax system is somewhat odd and I'm not saying how much people should do, but we should all be part of the system.

Stephen A. Schwarzman