--- title: 5 Life Lessons From the Founder of J.C. Penney description: James Cash Penney's golden rule for ups and downs of life. canonical: https://time.com/4244925/jc-penney-life-lesson/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-04T13:00:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:16.428Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 5 Life Lessons From the Founder of J.C. Penney og:description: James Cash Penney's golden rule for ups and downs of life og:url: https://time.com/4244925/jc-penney-life-lesson/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79eac7a161a909fb/69887feaab6d7748606a8ae9/james-cash-penney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3559 og:image:height: 2002 og:image:alt: A portrait of James Cash Penney, founder of the JC Penney department store chain, on June 5, 1952 in Columbia, Mo. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5 Life Lessons From the Founder of J.C. Penney twitter:description: James Cash Penney's golden rule for ups and downs of life twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79eac7a161a909fb/69887feaab6d7748606a8ae9/james-cash-penney.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5 Life Lessons From the Founder of J.C. Penney > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=d2b6e46d-68c4-4884-91a4-e1b38a69a3cc&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Jorge Ramos on Challenging Authority [Watch (HLS stream): Jorge Ramos on Challenging Authority](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cxrdxe8Z.m3u8) (4:15)  _Published 2015-04-16. "What we’re seeing right now is the Latinization of the United States and it’s a huge process that is well under way" says says Ramos who is a news anchor with the Univision network._ by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Mar 4, 2016 1:00 PM UTC  A portrait of James Cash Penney, founder of the JC Penney department store chain, on June 5, 1952 in Columbia, Mo. A portrait of James Cash Penney, founder of the JC Penney department store chain, on June 5, 1952 in Columbia, Mo. Underwood Archives/Getty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Mar 4, 2016 1:00 PM UTC --- > “” --- Many are unaware that the department store J.C. Penney was originally the work of a man named, appropriately, **James Cash Penney**. Penney was raised in Missouri by a father who doubled as a preacher and a farmer. After a career full of turbulence, James became manager of a _Golden Rule s_tore in Evanston, Wyoming. The stores traded in dry goods — grain, flour, beans; anything that wouldn’t spoil. After a few years of success, Penney was offered his own store in Kemmerer, Wyoming, and took his shot. Penney turned the venture into a great success, and by 1913 had ownership of 34 Golden Rule stores which were renamed **J.C. Penney**. He’d go on to expand the chain into a dominant national department store chain that continues on today, albeit in a less prosperous form. In 1949, Penney published a very slim book called [_My Experience with the Golden Rule_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1258335026/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1258335026&linkCode=as2&tag=noisefreeinve-20&linkId=MI6B5WKUO56CB443) _—_ it didn’t describe in detail his retail experience, but instead his thoughts on the Rule itself. The little volume has some beautiful passages worth sharing. He speaks with a bit of a Southern Baptist tone, but whether you are a spiritual person or not, the lessons hold. ### **On the Teachings of Life** He starts with a refrain which echoes our [favorite from Joseph Tussman](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2016/02/joseph-tussman/): --- > “” --- ### **On The Challenge of Ethical Principles** --- > “” --- ### **On the Value of Having One’s Principles Tested** Penney proceeds to tell the story of his father forcing him to start earning his own money if he wants new clothes. Upon earning a small amount, he buys a pig and uses the earnings from the first pig to bankroll the purchase of many more, until he’s got about a dozen. It’s then that his father tells him he must get rid of the pigs due to complaints, even though James would have to take a loss on the sale. --- > “” --- ### **On Holding Fast to Ethics When You’re Riding High** Penney spends some time discussing his relationship with employees and his hope to develop them to their highest purpose. His basic idea is that _“…to hire a man and literally leave him as is, is the beginning of a degree of human dissatisfaction that can go to any length.”_ And then he returns to the Golden Rule: --- > “” --- ### **On Advice to Young Men in Finding Their Purpose and Career** Penney closes with an admonition that the purpose of life is to find the calling to which you can devote your time and energy and feel fulfilled. As he makes clear, devoting your energy to something which you care about and feel fulfilled by is the highest purpose you can achieve: --- > “” --- **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2016/02/james-cash-penney-and-the-golden-rule/)**_._** _You do want to get smarter, don’t you? Connect with Farnam Street on_ [_Facebook_](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/fbtime) _and_ [_Twitter_](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/ttime) _for more insight._ **Join over 70,000+ readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] There's a new rule in american politics, and the new rule is that no one can make it to the white house without the Latino vote, no one. It is not enough just to say a few words in spanish, [ FOREIGN ] I like you. Me gustas. No, it's not enough. The next President of the United States is gonna have to talk to us over here in this newsroom. Because without this newsroom, and we are talking directly to Latinos, no one really can make it to the White House. Immigrant rights are human rights. One of the most difficult things for anyone in the world to be is an immigrant. And it is even more difficult to be an undocumented immigrant in the United States. [ FOREIGN ] We have 11, maybe 12 million people who are living right now, as we speak, in fear. People who are being persecuted. People who leave in the morning. And they don't know if they're gonna see their kids because they might be arrested and deported. I think it is incredibly important to speak for immigrants in this country because they are being mistreated. When I was growing up, I had no idea that I was gonna become a journalist because my father wanted me to be. A doctor, an attorney, an architect, or an engineer. And of course he was wrong. I rebelled against him, I challenged him. And that's part of being a journalist, that you are rebelling against someone. One of the greatest things about journalism is that you can be a rebel all your life. Journalism is one of those professions that allows you to. To be present in the world, and that's fantastic. So, at the end, I was right and my dad was wrong. Something that had defined my life is the simple fact that I am an immigrant, an immigrant fortunately, as, as we can see, with a voice. Simply because I have a paper that says I'm a US citizen or that I had a visa. And as an immigrant with a voice, I think part of my responsibility is to speak for other immigrants who don't have a voice. It is incredible that sometimes. You grow. You find strength in opposing those who you know are wrong. So I got to thank the very authoritarian Mexican government and my first bosses in Mexico City who were so intolerant and against freedom of speech that allow me to, to live Mexico. Oriana Fallaci was a big influence in my life. The Italian journalist who covered many wars and who confronted hundreds of politicians during her life. She thought that an interview was a war and that, in a war. Sometimes the interviewee would win and sometimes the interviewer would win. And she would always fight and question and challenge those who were in power. Then why did you deport 2 million people? Jorge the, the we're not, we're not gonna. For six years you. No. You destroyed many families. Jorge. That you deported [ UNKNOWN ]. I, I, I, you called me deported. [ CROSSTALK ] I did not. The, the, but let me say this Jorge. I had to confront him with the promise that he broke and I had to confront him with the fact that because of him, thousands of Latino families were broken. When you are talking with those who are in power, I think you have to take the attitude that that might be your last interview. If you don't ask that question, no one else will ask it. What we are seeing right now is the Latinization of the United States, and it's a huge process that is well under way. In which more tortillas are being sold than bagels, in which more salsa is being sold than ketchup. And in which Spanish. It's so important that every single candidate will have to talk to us, or otherwise they won't be able to make it to the casa blanca. [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4244925/jc-penney-life-lesson/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4244925/jc-penney-life-lesson/"},"headline":"5 Life Lessons From the Founder of J.C. 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