William Feather quote: “I like business because it is competitive.”

“I like business because it rewards deeds and not words.”

William Feather (1889–1981) Publisher, Author

"Why I Like Business" in Manitowoc Herald-Times (21 July 1927), p. 3 http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/8420770/
Context: I like business because it is competitive. Business keeps books. The books are the score cards. Profit is the measure of accomplishment, not the ideal measure, but the most practical that can be devised.
I like business because it compels earnestness. Amateurs and dilettantes are shoved out. Once in you must fight for survival or be carried to the sidelines.
I like business because it requires courage. Cowards do not get to first base.
I like business because It demands faith. Faith in human nature, faith in one's self, faith in one's customers, faith in one's employees.
I like business because it is the essence of life. Dreams are good, poetical fancies are good, but bread must be baked today, trains must move today, bills must be collected today, payrolls met today. Business feeds, clothes and houses man.
I like business because it rewards deeds and not words.
I like business because it does not neglect today's task while it is thinking about tomorrow.
I like business because it undertakes to please, not to reform.
I like business because it is orderly.
I like business because it is bold in enterprise.
I like business because it is honestly selfish, thereby avoiding the hypocrisy and sentimentality of the unselfish attitude.
I like business because it is promptly penalized for its mistakes, shiftlessness and inefficiency.
I like business because its philosophy works.
I like business because each day is a fresh, adventure.

“My business strategy is either to be geographically focused with lots of businesses or you can be a global player in selected businesses. Since I chose the route of being global, that is where I am going. You have to be competitive. It’s a matter of choice.”

Sukanto Tanoto (1949) Indonesian businessman

Globe Asia Interview, Sep, 2015. http://www.inside-rge.com/Sukanto-Tanoto-Resource-King-GlobeAsia
2015

“Most lobbying is pro-business, in the sense that it promotes the interests of existing businesses, not pro-market in the sense of fostering truly free and open competition.”

Luigi Zingales (1963) Professor at University of Chicago

"Capitalism After the Crisis" http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/capitalism-after-the-crisis, National Affairs, issue 1 (Fall 2009), retrieved on 2012-10-17

“Woman's determined competition with man in the business world is breaking down some of the best traditions”

Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Serbian American inventor

Mr. Tesla Explains Why He Will Never Marry (1924)

“One of the biggest lies in capitalism is that companies like competition. They don't. Nobody likes competition.”

Eliot Spitzer (1959) 54th Governor of New York

[William D. Cohan, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-01/how-wall-street-scams-counties-into-bankruptcy.html, How Wall Street Scams Counties into Bankruptcy, Bloomberg L.P., July 1, 2012, 2012-10-15]

“I would just like to challenge the idea that it is necessary to have a lot of women, or a particular number, on a board. Business is very, very competitive and you should take the performance of women in another competitive area, which is sport where [men] have no strength advantage. Chess, bridge, poker - women come absolutely nowhere. I think that just has to be borne in mind.”

Stuart Wheeler (1935) British businessman and politician

As quoted in The Independent, Thursday 15 August 2013 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ukip-faces-renewed-accusations-of-sexism-as-stuart-wheeler-claims-women-are-not-as-competitive-as-men-8763570.html
See Victoria Coren for a reply.