Ralph Lauren

“I had a very nice life. I was a very good kid. I had nice friends. I played in the school yard. I was nice to my parents; they were nice to me. They were loving parents - they were always there.”

“I went to my boss, and I said, 'Look, I'd like to design these ties because I think they could be new.' He said, 'The world isn't ready for Ralph Lauren.' I never forgot that because... I thought that was a compliment.”

“I have had a lot of good things happen, but I've also had a lot of terrible things happen.”

“When you don't do something anymore, all of a sudden everyone treasures it.”

“I'm a fan of people that have quality, that do what they do, and that are not into the showbiz.”

“The clothes that I design and everything I've done is about life and how people live and how they want to live and how they dream they'll live. That's what I do.”

“When you put on something that you really like, you feel like you are that person or the person you want to be.”

“People ask how can a Jewish kid from the Bronx do preppy clothes? Does it have to do with class and money? It has to do with dreams.”

“I never said to myself, 'I'm going to be the greatest.' I just wanted to do my own thing.”

“It's all possible and I'm living proof.”

“I try to make things that are fresh and different, even if they are inspired by classic things.”

“I love the challenge of new ideas.”

“I was very influenced by movies; I was very influenced by a world that had a sense of dream.”

“I believe in God. I believe in doing the right thing. I believe in helping people if I can.”

“I'm a big fan of Woody Allen. I used to love the fact that he wrote his own screenplay and acted in the movie.”

“As a kid, I wore a lot of my older brothers' hand-me-downs.”

“It's the kind of clothes that mothers and daughters can wear, in terms of concept... It's not about age. It's about taste, and it's about lifestyle. I believe women of all ages can wear anything.”

“I want my clothes, my stores, everything I design to have that feeling of being natural and easy. And that takes effort, but you try not to have it show.”

“My thing was always about individuality and about creating a world - because you don't just wear clothes, you live a life. You have style. You project who you are.”

“A lot of hard work is hidden behind nice things.”