The Donald at The Learning Annex

Of course you A-listers know the saying “If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.” But no one knows it better than Donald Trump. The Donald recently taught Learning Annex members (the largest turnout ever—over 2,000!) how to “Think Big” at a seminar devoted to how to make it in the Big Apple, in which he recounted his successes, failures, and bigtime comeback. “I like thinking big,” says The Donald. “I always have. If you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.”

Some Trumpisms: “In a big way we feel the souls and the spirits of the victims of 9/11. We need to rebuild New York. After all, what’s one billion dollars if I have no way to spend it?” • “All my life I’ve been successful. Then in 1990, the shit hit the fan. I realized I wasn’t focused then, and focus is a funny thing. Banks were going bad, and then there was Marla.” • “Be paranoid, people are vicious, always trying to screw you. As boxers say, ‘you gotta keep your left up.’ The best way to handle them is to get even.” • “It’s easier to finance a building than buy a house.” • “Be passionate! If you love what you do, you’re going to be good at it.” • “You’ve got to like the people you work with. Don’t trust them, but like them.” • “My father’s big ambition in life was to get a big Cadillac. Mine is a 727.” • “You find out about loyalty when you run into trouble. Right now everyone’s kissing my ass. Loyalty is a very hard thing to find.” • “You never know about yourself until you get punched in the face. But you’ve got to have the toughness to take the punches, like athletes. It’s good to know you can handle a lot of abuse.” Finally, how The Donald defines true success: “Success is when you’re happy with yourself.”