Gerry Harvey

“People are out there saying we have to devalue our properties because of the Internet, but it hasn't even come into play!”

“I still have a fear about going broke. I always think about it.”

“You could go out and give a million dollars to a charity tomorrow to help the homeless. You could argue that it is just wasted. They are not putting anything back into the community.”

“We're good at what we do because we're a family - this is in our bloody DNA; this is what we do.”

“The internet thing is what I have the greatest problem with. I don't know if anyone in the media gets the internet thing and Harvey Norman. I think they have some strange interpretation of it that bears no resemblance to what actually happens.”

“If a company in Australia has to pay tax and the other one doesn't, of course it's a disadvantage.”

“There are plenty of people smarter than you by a long way. I just got lucky.”

“I had a trial run with Norman Ross for 21 years, from '61 to '82. I didn't have it in mind to open a chain like Harvey Norman. I opened one shop, but then the next thing you know, I've got another shop and then another shop.”

“I'm probably not your typical business person in many ways. I don't wear a suit. I don't carry a briefcase. I don't wear a tie. I'm fairly casual. I haven't got a big office, and it's in a very ordinary part of town. I'd much prefer to downplay than impress.”

“All I can say to you, if you look after your health, eat the right stuff, do enough exercise, keep your mind active, you might be around when you're 100 having this conversation with someone.”

“If you are a manufacturer, an Internet company doesn't suit you. An Internet company does not display your product; it can't upsell. But we do a better job than any of the opposition.”

“That's not in my nature to run away - I'll stand up and fight.”

“What I think is that we should be helping people so they can reach an even greater potential.”

“Everybody, be they female, whatever your religion, whatever your nationality, you're an individual, and if you perform well, we want you, and if you don't, we don't.”

“There is no Internet business in furniture or bedding. Zero - practically in the world.”

“I've given away tens of millions of dollars over the years - probably to almost every charity in Australia.”

“Kids go to school; we develop them at school. We develop them later on in the workplace so that we get better quality individuals, so that we get less people that are dependent or get into problems.”

“Making decisions quickly isn't for everyone, and I've had my disasters, but overall, it works for me.”

“I would think that most of the online business will be conducted by traditional retailers and that over 90 per cent of the e-retailers will, in fact, all go out of business.”

“Even if you sell the same number of plasma televisions - if you are selling them for 20 or 30 or 40 per cent of the original price, your revenue goes down, and the profit goes with it.”