If I hadn't been fair, I would never have made the $6 billion in real estate deals that I did. I mean, if you're not fair, people don't want to deal with you.
I had been a basketball fan growing up, and I felt that if we brought in the proper coach, and we played basketball the old fashioned way - where defense is paramount and offense involved movement off the ball and movement of the ball - we could build a winning team, and Chicago would respond to that.
Baseball is a poorly run business.
Sometimes you pay a premium to get what you want.
I know I could have a better public image if I were less open, if I ducked more issues and didn't speak out. But it's not my nature.
People say you make your own luck; I don't think that's the case, but maybe you contribute to your luck by recognizing it and taking advantage of it.
I just put people together. I just identified jobs that have to be filled. And then I have to go out and find the right people and make sure they talk to each other. So I'm the beneficiary of good things that other people do. I get credit for that. If they don't do a good job, I get the blame for it.
I only had one player in my 33 years of sports that couldn't be traded. He wore No. 23 - and 45 when he played baseball.
I admire honesty more than any other trait.
You get into sports with the idea that you want to win. If you aren't trying to win, what's the point in being involved? Once you do get involved, you realize the team draws so much from the community, and it would be nothing without the support of it. You've got to give back. It needs to be a two-way street.
