I never wanted to retire. I wanted to kind of shift my work pattern so I could stay fresh and invigorated, and use the experience that I had gained in 30 years, but in a slightly different direction.

Choose something you like to do. I know it’s a cliche, and you’ve heard it over and over. But the reason is, you’re going to have to work long and hard to achieve any success. You better like it or life is going to be terrible.

There’s something magical about putting yourself into life. You’ve got to stand up and take responsibility for your own life and you cannot abandon that.

You know, in the beginning when your first payroll comes up and you have to borrow money to meet the payroll, you lose sleep the night before, and you say to yourself real fast, ‘Well, maybe I should keep working a couple more years. It’s sobering.

The one important thing you do as boss is you set the standard. The minute you go in and say ‘we’ll let it go this time,’ you set a new standard, which is lower. So you cannot do that.

My personal philosophy is I’m running a 100-yard dash, and I haven’t reached the end.

You need a very good financial person to keep you honest, and to keep track of income and outgo.

I never wanted to retire. I wanted to kind of shift my work pattern so I could stay fresh and invigorated, and use the experience that I had gained in 30 years, but in a slightly different direction.

If you’re a producer, you always spend too much money because you want that shot – and you’re willing to spend a bundle to get it.

I think I’m so old I’m in. We call it the ‘Tony Bennett Syndrome.’ For some reason, young people think I’m cool.