Michael Ovitz

“I've always made my decisions based on two factors: intellectual analysis and my gut. And when they meet, that's a go from me. That's when I see the goal.”

“In student government in high school, I learned how to deal with people, and in college I studied Eastern philosophy. I'm also an avid team-sports fan. I think I just blended them all together and came out with a business management philosophy that combines the Eastern ethic with the Western sport concept, basically.”

“Football is the No. 1 sport in America.”

“I believe sometimes I make some mistakes. And I don't think they are life-threatening mistakes.”

“All of us are probably three people. We're probably the person that we think we are, and we're probably the person that you or somebody else perceives us to be, and... frankly, we're probably somewhere in the middle. And I think that it's important that there be a balance with respect to how individuals are - you know, are looked at.”

“The human condition is not perfect. We are not perfect specimens, any of us. We're not robots.”

“I must say that in my early years, I was incredibly aggressive. I was working as hard as I could to build a business, to try to dominate a business. And I probably irritated a lot of people.”

“I'm interested in what's new. I'm interested in change. I'm interested in a different game in life.”

“My whole life has been about risk and reward.”

“When I get on a plane, I don't want a laid-back pilot. I want a pilot who is a control freak, who is paying attention to every single detail of his job.”

“I have never run a public company. I spent my entire life working for a private company.”

“When I was at U.C.L.A., I worked my way through school as a tour guide at Universal Studios, and I came in contact with a lot of people in the agency business.”

“The Internet is the greatest thing that ever happened to the entertainment industry.”

“Hollywood is a small, familial place. Everyone does business with everybody else. The same complications occur in investment banking.”

“I learned my first lesson at the Walt Disney Company about not being able to trust my associates.”

“A lot of drive is innate, self-perpetuated, reinforced energy. As a kid, I could always sell anything I could get my hands on - from newspapers to lemonade to 'TV Guide.' I knew how to make a presentation.”

“I'm not good at being static. I have to be climbing a mountain.”

“The unknown is always interesting.”

“I'm not one to speak about myself. I like to speak about the people around me.”