I do not like stupidity,” he said. “People pay too much attention to numbers. - Phil Knight

(Romans in the age of the Caesars believed that putting on the right shoe before the left brought prosperity and good luck.)

Driving back to Portland I’d puzzle over my sudden success at selling. I’d been unable to sell encyclopedias, and I’d despised it to boot. I’d been slightly better at selling mutual funds, but I’d felt dead inside. So why was selling shoes so different? Because, I realized, it wasn’t selling. I believed in running. I believed that if people got out and ran a few miles every day, the world would be a better place, and I believed these shoes were better to run in. People, sensing my belief, wanted some of that belief for themselves. Belief, I decided. Belief is irresistible.

He was easy to talk to, and easy not to talk to-equally important qualities in a friend. Essential in a travel companion.