Phil Knight

I still get real nervous when I go in front of more than two people.

Sports is like rock 'n' roll. Both are dominant cultural forces, both speak an international language, and both are all about emotions.

I'm Phil Knight, and I don't believe in advertising.

You can't explain much in 60 seconds, but when you show Michael Jordan, you don't have to. It's that simple.

I don't consider myself enigmatic, but I don't spend a lot of time thinking about my public persona.

At first, we couldn't be establishment, because we didn't have any money. We were guerrilla marketers, and we still are, a little bit. But, as we became No. 1 in our industry, we've had to modify our culture and become a bit more planned.

Up until the time I was 14 years old, I was sure that I was going to be a big-league baseball player. But that dream came to a rude awakening when I got cut from my high school baseball team.

Meeting sports athletes that are the best in the world is a thrill to this day.

Dream audaciously. Have the courage to fail forward. Act with urgency.

We could see that he was a charismatic guy who jumps over the moon and is very competitive, but nobody could have predicted what he would become to our culture.

I was a linear thinker, and according to Zen linear thinking is nothing but a delusion, one of the many that keep us unhappy. Reality is nonlinear, Zen says. No future, no past. All is now.

Play by the rules, but be ferocious.