Claude C. Hopkins Quotes

“A man who has made a success desires to see others make a success. A man who has worked wants to see others work. I am that way. Countless young people now flock to my home, but the welcome ones are those who work, whether young men or young women. A boy having a good time on his father's money has always been offensive to me. So, to a degree, a young woman.”

“Advertising is much like war, minus the venom.”

“If a thing is useful they call it work, if useless they call it play. One is as hard as the other. One can be just as much a game as the other. In both there is rivalry. There’s a struggle to excel the rest. All the difference I see lies in attitude of mind.”

“Never be led in new paths by the blind.”

“None but those who regard advertising as some magic dreamland will ever try to sell without sampling.”

“Picture what others wish to be, not what they may be now.”

“The advertising man who spares the midnight oil will not get very far.”

“We cannot go after thousands of men until we learn how to win one.”

“When I find what seems to be the right course I always wish to keep it. There may be another way to success, even to greater success. But the chances are against it. The ways to great success in any line are not numerous. When a certain method has proved itself profitable I hesitate to drop it, until I have found and proved a better method by some local tests. The best way found to sell a product to thousands is probably the best way to sell other thousands.”

“A man coined to superlative must expect that his every statement will be taken with some caution.”

“Address the people you seek, and them only.”

“Advertising pictures should not be eccentric. Don’t treat your subject lightly. Don’t lessen respect for your self or your article by any attempt at frivolity. People do not patronize a clown. There are two things about which men should not joke. One is business, one is home. An eccentric picture may do you serious damage. One may gain attention by wearing a fools cap. But he would ruin his selling prospects.”

“Almost any questions can be answered, cheaply, quickly and finally, by a test campaign. And that’s the way to answer them – not by arguments around a table.”

“Changing people’s habits is very expensive.”

“Do nothing to merely interest, assume or attract. This is not your province. Do only that wins the people you are after in the cheapest possible way.”

“Don't think of people in the mass. This gives you a blurred view.”

“Every reader of your ad is interested, else he would not be a reader. You are dealing with someone willing to listen. Then do your level best. That reader, if you lose him now, May never again be a reader.”

“Fine writing is a distinct disadvantage. So is unique literary style. They take attention from the subject.”

“Genius is the art of taking pains.”

“Impressive claims are made far more impressive by making them exact.”

“In the same way it is found that an offer limited to a certain class of people is far more effective than a general offer.”

“Literary qualifications have no more to do with it than oratory has with salesmanship. One must be able to express himself briefly, clearly, and convincingly, just as a salesman must.”

“No generality has any weight whatever. It is like saying “how do you do?” When you have no intention of inquiring about one’s health. But specific claims when made in print are taken at their value.”

“People are like sheep. They cannot judge values, nor can you and I. We judge things largely by others’ impressions, by popular favour. We go with the crowd. So the most effective thing I have ever found in advertising is the trend of the crowd. That is a factor not to be overlooked.”

“People don’t buy from clowns.”

“People will not be bored. They may listen politely at a dinner table to boasts and personalities, life history, etc. But in print, they choose their own companions, their own subjects. They were to be amused or benefitted.”

“Platitudes and generalities roll of the human understanding like water from a duck.”

“Remember the people you address are selfish, as we all are. They care nothing about your interests or profit. They seek service for themselves. Ignoring this fact is a common mistake and a costly mistake in advertising.”

“Scientific advertising has altered many old plans and conceptions. It has proved many long-established methods to be folly.”

“The best ads ask no one to buy. That is useless. Often they do not quote a price. They do not say that dealers handle the product. The ads are based entirely on service. They offer wanted information.”