Brunello Cucinelli

I come from a farming culture, where we valued raw materials above all. ”

I say to my industrialist friends, when you have guests from out of town, I don't care how important they are, you should feed them the essence of Italian culture: spaghetti, bread and olive oil. ”

I think businesses live longer that are on the stock market. ”

If you have a company that doesn't sell its goods or services abroad and focuses only on the domestic market, it will keep paying a price. ”

Italian companies need to re-convert themselves, and such a re-conversion must be toward a better, higher standard. ”

To me, the simplest things can have the highest value. ”

If I give you the right conditions to work, and I put you in a beautiful place, where you feel a little bit better about yourself because you know your work is being used for something greater than producing a profit, maybe you will get more creative; maybe you will want to work more. ”

To sum it all up, the objective of my life has been to give work a moral and economic dignity. ”

I tell my staff, 'Give me your best, and then go home and live your life.' I've never asked anyone to work harder, but I've told plenty that they needed rest. ”

I want to safeguard the value of lunch. For me, it is sacred. My family and I always have lunch and dinner together. And we always sit down. Food does not taste the same if you are standing up! ”