The current Chief Executive Officer of arguably world’s most popular smart-phone brand Apple, Tim Cook is an American industrial engineer and a business executive. Born and raised in Alabama, USA, Tim finished his MBA from Duke University and started working at IBM. After gaining a 12 years experience at IBM, in 1998 he was personally hired by Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. He started with the post of Senior Vice President of Apple and for the next few years, Tim’s decisions made Apple a leader in style, durability and cost effectiveness and as a result, Apple slowly started registering huge profits. In August 2011, Tim was officially made the CEO of Apple prior to Steve Jobs’ death and under his leadership, the company further excelled. Tim is gay and is one of the very few public figures who have openly accepted their sexuality. We have compiled the best of Tim Cook quotes on beliefs, goals, innovation, change, think, teamwork and life taken from his books, interviews, speeches, product launches and articles.
Think about what you're passionate about. I did not learn something early enough: if I could go back, I'd tell the younger me that there's a big difference between loving to work and loving the work.
What all of us have to do is to make sure we are using AI in a way that is for the benefit of humanity, not to the detriment of humanity.
Tim Cook
We didn't make the first mp3, smartphone, or tablet. But you can say we made the first modern mp3, smartphone, and tablet. And I think now we're making the first modern smartwatch.
We generally acquire a company every three to four weeks on average. And so it's a rare month that there's not a company being bought. We typically buy for technology and really great people.
Tim Cook
That has always been the objective of Apple: to do things that really enrich people's lives. That you look back on and you wonder, 'How did I live without this?'
We could build just about anything that you could dream of. But that's not the question. The thing that Beats provides us is a head start. They provide us with incredible people that don't grow on trees.
I have to feel myself doing what's right. If I'm the arbiter of that instead of letting the guy on TV be that or someone who doesn't know me at all, then I think that's a much better way to live.
France has always had a special place for Apple. This is the best place to discover and chat with all musicians, graphic designers, designers, or photographers who use our products. There is such creative energy.
Tim Cook
I see the Mac being a key part of Apple for the long term, and I see growth in the Mac for the long term.
Tim Cook
I think that some people will never buy a computer because I think now we're at the point where the iPad does what some people want to do with their PCs.
We are constantly auditing our supply chain. Making sure that safety standards are - are, you know, are the highest. We're making sure that working conditions are the highest.
There have been people that suggest that we should have a back door. But the reality is if you put a back door in, that back door's for everybody - for good guys and bad guys.
I don't subscribe to the view some people have in the industry that you should purposefully design products that do not last that long. I don't think it is good for anyone.
We shouldn't all be fixated just on what's not available. We should take a step back and look at the total that's available, because there's a mountain of information about us.
Tim Cook
We think the government should be pushing for more encryption. That it's a great thing. You know, it's like the sun and the air and the water.
Market in India is big enough for several brands. For us, it's about innovation, making best product, and making the ecosystem better and better. If we do that well, then more people will switch from Android to iOS.
Tim Cook
I am very bullish on India because of its people, its culture, and the leadership. I love the culture and warmth of people.
We try to continually push ourselves to do more and more, not just on the hardware side but also in terms of developers' tools so they can take advantage of the hardware that's there, in the best way.
Tim Cook
It gives me a lot of energy to talk to developers or meet students in classrooms who are using our technology to help learn faster and better. Watching them pursue their passion.
The North Star has always been the same, which for us, is about making insanely great products that really change the world in some way - enrich people's lives.
Tim Cook
We don't really look at the stock, you know? Because for us, it's about the long term. And so we're very much focused on long-term shareholder value but not the short-term kind of stuff.
Our whole role in life is to give you something you didn't know you wanted. And then once you get it, you can't imagine your life without it. And you can count on Apple doing that.
Price is rarely the most important thing. A cheap product might sell some units. Somebody gets it home and they feel great when they pay the money, but then they get it home and use it and the joy is gone.
Tim Cook
I've always hated litigation, and I continue to hate it.
Tim Cook
You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user.
The worst thing in the world that can happen to you if you're an engineer that has given his life to something is for someone to rip it off and put their name to it.
It turns out that people - in every country in the world, there's a segment of buyer that wants the best product and the best experience. And that's what we're about providing.
A back door is a nonstarter. It means we are all not safe... I don't support a back door for any government, ever.
Tim Cook
Every time I meet Prime Minister Modi and listen to him and then see his actions, including GST, I see bold things that I don't see in any other place. I am super impressed and optimistic.
The most important thing is, Do you have the courage to admit that you're wrong? And do you change? The most important thing to me as a CEO is that we keep the courage.
At one point in time, you had to choose, 'Do you want to do consumer or enterprise?' But the reality today is a bit different: Enterprises are a collection of consumers.
This is Steve's company. This is still Steve's company. It was born that way; it's still that way. And so his spirit, I think, will always be the DNA of this company.
We have to make sure, at Apple, that we stay true to focus, laser focus - we know we can only do great things a few times, only on a few products.
Tim Cook
The way we look at manufacturing is this: the U.S.'s strategy should be to skate where the puck is going, not where it is.
Tim Cook
The kind of investors we seek are long term because that's how we make our decisions.
Tim Cook
While infusing technology with humanity, we are trying to make sure it's used for good and also trying to foresee some of the ways it can be used in a bad way and eliminate those.
If you look at the automobile in many countries, there is a certified pre-owned market for Lexus, BMW, and many other brands. When you buy a high-end smartphone, you can expect the same kind of a situation there.
I think the iPhone is the best consumer product ever. That's what I feel about it. And it's become so integrated and integral to our lives, you wouldn't think about leaving home without it.
We see that in the top problems in the world between haves and have-nots, generally we find that the root cause is education.
Tim Cook
All of us technology companies need to create some tools that help diminish the volume of fake news. We must try to squeeze this without stepping on freedom of speech and of the press, but we must also help the reader.
Tim Cook
Companies that get confused, that think their goal is revenue or stock price or something. You have to focus on the things that lead to those.
National security always matters, obviously. But the reality is that if you have an open door in your software for the good guys, the bad guys get in there, too.
When technological advancement can go up so exponentially, I do think there's a risk of losing sight of the fact that tech should serve humanity, not the other way around.
We're very simple people at Apple. We focus on making the world's best products and enriching people's lives.
Tim Cook
When we launch a product, we're already working on the next one. And possibly even the next, next one.
Tim Cook
Let your joy be in your journey - not in some distant goal.
Tim Cook
I'm excited about Augmented Reality because unlike Virtual Reality, which closes the world out, AR allows individuals to be present in the world but hopefully allows an improvement on what's happening presently.
Tim Cook
It's hard to edit. It's hard to stay focused. And yet, we know we'll only do our best work if we stay focused. And so, you know, the hardest decisions we made are all the things not to work on, frankly.
I think each person, if you're a CEO, the most important thing is to have - to me, is to pick people around you that aren't like you, that complement you. Because you want to build a puzzle; you don't want to stack Chiclets up and have everyone be the same. And so I believe in diversity with a capital D.
We collectively, to get things done, work together as a team. Because the work really happens horizontally in our company, not vertically. Products are horizontal. It takes hardware plus software plus services to make a killer product.
People should have values, so by extension, a company should. And one of the things you do is give back. So how do you give back? We give back through our work in the environment, in running the company on renewable energy. We give back in job creation.
If you look at iPod, iPod wasn't viewed as a success, but today it's viewed as an overnight success. The iPhone was the same way. People were writing about there's no physical keyboard. Obviously nobody would want it.
Tim Cook
For us, the most important thing we can do is raise people up - that is, either by giving the ability to do things they could not otherwise do, allow them to create things they couldn't otherwise create. It's about giving them tools; it is about empowering people.
Tim Cook
You have to find the intersection of doing something you're passionate about and that, at the same time, is in the service of other people. I would argue if you don't find that intersection, you're not going to be very happy.
You know, this iPhone, as a matter of fact, the engine in here is made in America. And not only are the engines in here made in America, but engines are made in America and are exported. The glass on this phone is made in Kentucky. And so we've been working for years on doing more and more in the United States.
If you believe, as we believe, that diversity leads to better products, and we're all about making products that enrich people's lives, then you obviously put a ton of energy behind diversity the same way you would put a ton of energy behind anything else that is truly important.
Virtual reality sort of encloses and immerses the person into an experience that can be really cool but probably has a lower commercial interest over time. Less people will be interested in that, but there are some really cool areas there for education and gaming that we have a lot of interest in.
When Apple looks at what categories to enter, we ask these kinds of questions: What are the primary technologies behind this? What do we bring? Can we make a significant contribution to society with this? If we can't, and if we can't own the key technologies, we don't do it.
Tim Cook
To me, this is the perfect marriage. There's no friction. There's just, we have what they need, they have what we need. And so IBM is in the process, with our help, of designing many different apps for many different verticals.
My view on working with any government in the world is that there are things that you will agree upon and things that you will not. And you don't want to let the things you don't mean that you don't have any interface.
Apple is the only company that can take hardware, software, and services and integrate those into an experience that's an 'aha' for the customer. You can take that and apply to markets that we're not in today.
When you care about people's happiness and productivity, you give them what brings out the best in them and their creativity. And if you give them a choice, they'll say, 'I want an iPhone,' or 'I want a Mac.' We think we can win a lot of corporate decisions at that level.
Tim Cook
I've been thinking about 'The Jetsons' since I was a kid. But occasionally, you want 'The Jetsons' to come to reality. That's what Apple is so great at: Productizing things and bringing them to you so you can be a part of it.
Prior to the App Store, the chances of that happening, of somebody really young forming a company and in a period of no time really becoming a global provider of a game or something else, it really didn't happen. Now there are these success stories popping up everywhere.
It wasn't very long ago when you wouldn't even think about there being health information on the smartphone. There's financial information. There's your conversations; there's business secrets. There's probably more information about you on here than exists in your home.
