Alan Sugar

The entrepreneurial instinct is in you. You can't learn it, you can't buy it, you can't put it in a bottle. It's just there and it comes out.

Well, it's not hard to be number one entertaining Jew. Some of them are quite bleeding bloody miserable, really.

I am tired of hustling.

You've got to admire Sir Richard Branson. He is a completely different style of businessman to me, but you have got to admire what he has achieved.

I get angry when people bring derisory actions against me.

Money is all right but once you have it you learn it's not the be all and end all.

I have principles and I am not going to be forced to compromise them.

There is a lot of luck in football. Following England is like following Wycombe Wanders or Leyton Orient. You hope for the best and hope you are lucky.

The only people whose opinions I worry about are my wife, my children, and my employees.

When I was a kid, a policeman was someone you looked up to and respected.

A good leader is not necessarily the most popular person in their business but the best ones are liked because they are respected for their clarity and vision.

My mother was a housewife. My father was a garment worker.

Youngsters have got to stop thinking about becoming the next Zuckerberg. It's a trillion-to-one chance. What they need is mater and pater to say, 'Get a job, son.'

I never experienced any feelings of closeness and caring from my parents.

Not everybody needs to go to university; they can get out and start working straight away.

Among some of the youngsters, I think reality TV has installed that culture into them and inspired a few of them into wanting to be 'TV celebrities.'

I have always been an honest trader. I come from a school of traders where there was honour in the deal. No contracts, just a handshake and that's it, done. That's the way I prefer to do business but it's not always possible these days, sadly.

There's too much of a culture that exists out there, what I call an expectancy culture, of things being provided.

Once you decide to work for yourself, you never go back to work for somebody else.

My main regret about my years in football was keeping my mouth shut like a little mouse, not daring to speak out because I was told you left the managers to get on with the job and that the chairman must never interfere with the manager's decisions or the performance of his team.

You can't stop people printing what they want to print.

I don't make enemies, it's just I'm not afraid to speak my mind, which can sometimes mean people don't like what I am saying.

I don't like paying 50 per cent of tax.

In America, everybody thinks they're an entrepreneur. That's the problem. It's not a title that anybody should call oneself.

Dont try to blame the rest of the world. The blame only lies with you. Recognize that immediately.

I believe employment regulations for women, whereby the prospective employer is not able to inquire about the interviewee's status regarding children, childcare, or indeed their intention of becoming a parent, are counterproductive.

Why work when you can fill out a few forms and get paid for doing nothing?

If you lock me in the room with a piano teacher for a year I might be able to knock out a rendition of 'Roll Out The Barrel,' but will I ever be a concert pianist? No.