John Paul DeJoria

“At least once a year, I meet with a group called the Giving Pledge. It's a group of billionaires - including me, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Ted Turner - who have pledged to give away most of their money to charity. We meet for three days to talk about what we're doing to help make the planet a better place to live.”

“I'm an independent, straight in the middle. I've donated to candidates that I thought would be good that are Republican and Democrats alike.”

“Rail travel for me is the most relaxing, most scenic way to see the country.”

“Vidal Sassoon was the most famous hairstylist in the history of the world.”

“You'd be safe to hold 5% of your assets and savings in gold and silver. Insurance for the future.”

“Yes, everyone deserves to have national health care in a great nation such as ours. We just need to find ways to do it and not be overtaxed.”

“I don't micromanage, but I do care deeply about every product we make. Every one goes through me, and I try most of our products before they go to market, including our John Paul Pet flea and tick shampoo. If I don't like it, it's not coming out.”

“In philanthropy, many of us give a little bit and each year we give more and more to see what actually works and not just throw money out there and see if it's going to work. If the government did the same thing, fabulous.”

“I don't use e-mail or a computer. I would be so inundated that I wouldn't be able to get any work done. Instead, I do everything in person or on the phone.”

“My first job, 9 years old, part-time, was selling Christmas cards door-to-door. Ten years old, my brother and I had paper routes. We delivered a morning paper called the 'L.A. Examiner.' Get up at 4 o'clock, fold your papers, deliver them and get ready for school.”

“Being able to communicate with a loved one that you haven't talked to in a while because of some communication break makes their life and your life in a much better place.”

“I remember once in junior high school, on a Friday, my mom came home from work and said to my brother and I, 'You know, between us, we have only 27 cents, but we have food in the refrigerator, we have our little garden out back, and we're happy, so we are rich.'”

“I like to live well and I feel good about it because I know how much we give back. There's plenty for my family, now let's take care of the rest.”

“Good hairstylists never die. Vidal Sassoon and Paul Mitchell will always live on.”

“Most people would rather sit on a plane for two hours than spend two days on a train, but there's nothing comparable to taking a relaxing rail journey with your family or good friends.”

“I'll never retire. I like what I'm doing.”

“I wanted to do my part to help preserve that golden age of travel... I step aboard The Patron Tequila Express railcar, and I go back in time to the days when a long journey was something fun and very special.”

“When you start with next to nothing, all you've got is a lot of thought, a lot of innovation, figuring new ways to do things without using a lot of money.”

“We are the first to ever publicly advertise we don't test on animals.”

“America is one of the biggest businesses in the world, and the people who run it can't balance their budget. We need business people in there and lobbyists out of there.”