"You know, I've got a plan that could rescue Apple. I can't say any more than that it's the perfect product and the perfect strategy for Apple. But nobody there will listen to me."
-- Fortune, Sept. 18, 1995
"Apple has some tremendous assets, but I believe without some attention, the company could, could, could -- I'm searching for the right word -- could, could die."
-- On his return as interim CEO, in Time, Aug. 18, 1997
"Nobody has tried to swallow us since I've been here. I think they are afraid how we would taste."
-- Apple shareholder meeting, April 22, 1998
"Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?"
-- The line he used to lure John Sculley as Apple's CEO, according to Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple, by John Sculley and John Byrne
"We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them."
-- Jobs, on Mac OS X's Aqua user interface (Fortune, Jan. 24, 2000)
"IMac is next year's computer for $1,299, not last year's computer for $999."
-- iMac introduction in Cupertino, Calif., May 6, 1998
"We believe it's the biggest advance in animation since Walt Disney started it all with the release of Snow White 50 years ago."
-- On Toy Story, Fortune, Sept. 18, 1995
"I'm the only person I know that's lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year.... It's very character-building."
-- Apple Confidential 2.0
"Why would I ever want to run Disney? Wouldn't it make more sense just to sell them Pixar and retire?"
-- Fortune, Feb. 23, 2004
"The subscription model of buying music is bankrupt. I think you could make available the Second Coming in a subscription model and it might not be successful."
-- Rolling Stone, Dec. 3, 2003
"The Japanese have hit the shores like dead fish. They're just like dead fish washing up on the shores."
-- Playboy, February 1985
and last but not least....
"What's new is this amazingly efficient distribution system for stolen property called the internet -- and no one's gonna shut down the internet."
-- On how he sold iTMS to the music industry, Rolling Stone, Dec. 3, 2003
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/com.../2006/03/70512