I believe that capitalism is the one thing in this world that's brought people out of poverty.
— Rick Harrison
I'm not that cool; I'm just a bookworm.
What's normal life for the majority people of America, the liberal press thinks is like, 'Oh my gosh.' We don't live in that little, weird, bizarre vacuum of San Francisco.
I only sleep about four or five hours a night. I read all night long.
I'm one of those guys who believes in next to zero government. They just screw everything up.
I want my kids, my grandkids to have a great life.
You have some cities that are saying that if you have a man who feels like he's a woman, he can use the women's restroom. I guarantee you that will be taken advantage of by some very bad men who want to go into a bathroom where there's young ladies. That will happen if you pass a law like that.
Once, an unkempt, elderly woman came into the pawn shop. She appeared homeless, and she insisted on seeing every piece of expensive jewelry in the store. Just when I was feeling impatient, the woman pointed at the most expensive piece of jewelry and said, 'I'll take that one.' Then she proceeded to pull $4,000 out of her sock to pay for it.
The people who pawn stuff never want to be on the show. And the reason behind that, I find out, is when people are pawning something, it's - they're getting a loan. They have to admit they're broke. For some reason or the other, something has happened, or they're financially irresponsible.
Most people don't realize how regulated the pawn industry is, especially where I'm at in Nevada.
Pawn shops have been around for thousands of years - they were the number one form of consumer credit up until the 1950s, but we were vilified by Hollywood. We were easy people to vilify.
There's only so much stuff you can buy. I have to retail the stuff. Stuff that's really really weird - it's cool, but who are you going to sell it to? I do collect some stuff. In the end, I have to run a business.
People come from all over the world to be on the show, and it still works because of all the interesting items coming in.
I was a businessman for a long time before I was a celebrity.
Socialism doesn't work. A big government doesn't work.
I was a really sick kid. I developed epilepsy when I was eight years old, and I would have violent seizures, and I would - literally, I couldn't get out of bed.
We talk nonstop about what needs to be changed, and everyone has excuses for why the changes can't happen. I believe we must change our educational system first to get the changes moving forward. I'm happy to be a voice and get in front of an audience who can help by making education a priority.
I'm a Trump guy.
The best part of my business is working with my family, and the worst part of my business is working with my family.
Some politicians are in so long they completely lose touch with reality.
I asked for a horse for Christmas, and I got one! It's an adult horse. I didn't want a 5-year-old, which is a teenager for horses. It has a beautiful gait. It's the Cadillac of horses.
Most people don't realize the amount of tax forms the small business guy has to go through.
There's just no way I could deal with politics.
When you endorse a Republican, everyone sort of frowns on you. I don't know why, but hey.
I tell everyone that works for me not to look down on people. If you're nice to people and take a minute to talk with them, it's good for business whether or not they buy anything. Just because they don't look like they have money doesn't mean they're poor.
Las Vegas is a crazy, crazy town at times, so there's a lot of high-end things I get.
I tell people, 'I'm the only business in the world where I don't pick my merchandise.'
It's the weird stuff that makes great television.
That's the beautiful thing about my show... It's truly different every week. We get to pick and choose. Every morning, the girl from production comes to me with 100 different items, and I go, 'Fake, fake, fake, fake... that's cool.'
When you come across something, and its quality is just outrageous, that's probably something of value. It's been that way for hundreds and hundreds of years - the really, really expensive stuff is also really, really high quality.
Being a middle-class family back in the 1970s meant we only had one TV... and it wasn't in your room... so when I was 8 years old, I began developing a passion for reading history, and it's never stopped.
My father was an amazing guy. Twenty years in the Navy, great father.
I'm just a normal guy and blue-collar historian, and people keep tuning in.
My dad had always bought and sold gold and other stuff. In '81, he went broke because of real estate, so he moved us to Vegas and opened a small second-hand store. We always wanted a pawn license because there's a lot more money in that.
I read science books, chemistry books, history books. I read that stuff for fun.
There's a reason why, when Reagan became president, he started getting rid of regulations, and we had a booming economy.
There's a gazillion different business license fees. And just keeping up with all the regulations - it just doesn't stop.
The weird thing about the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop is that people come on vacation, and they bring stuff here to sell. They come here to see what we'll give them for it. Mostly, it's people from out of town.
In my store, I don't do anything political. There are no signs up, and I'm not pushing anyone.
Never fall in love with something when you're negotiating a price. Never decide you're going to buy something because you can't live without it. Negotiating to buy an item shouldn't be an emotional process.
In the '90s, I went on eBay to buy some paddle tires for my four-wheeler ATV and couldn't find any. When I did find a manufacturer that sold them, I bought 20,000 and had no problem reselling them. So the next time you get mad when you can't find an item, realize there's a market waiting to be explored.
It's like a golden rule in the pawn business: never cash a government check.
I got the Pawnbroker of the Year award. They said I did more for the pawn business in one year than their media team, in 30 years, has been able to do.
I can't work 12 hours a day, every day for too long before it burns out.
My older brother used to punch me all the time because I was a nerd.
When you're the boss, you have no one else to turn to.
The Obama administration made it illegal for me to loan any money to anyone in the military. I have one compliance guy just for a pawn shop. It's everything from Homeland Security, FBI, the local police department, IRS - all these regulations I have to keep an eye on constantly, and it's just overwhelming for a small business.
My dad was in the Navy; he was in Vietnam. My mom was trying to sell real estate on the side. We didn't have a lot of money.
Everyone likes to learn history. They just don't like to hear it from a professor looking at notes. They like to hear it like it's from their uncle, and that's how I explain history.
