Time & Perspective Quote by Richard Branson

Branson sells disruption for a living, but he anchors his origin story in something almost defiantly unglamorous: a warm, militant family bond. The first line is engineered as credentialing. Before the Virgin brand, before balloon flights and boardroom swagger, he positions himself as someone formed by unbroken emotional security. That continuity matters: it implies risk-taking isn’t recklessness, it’s confidence backed by a safety net. “I cannot remember a moment” isn’t just sentiment; it’s a narrative device that turns family love into infrastructure, as constant as gravity.

Then he spikes the tenderness with a flash of extremity: “would have killed for each other.” It’s hyperbole, but carefully chosen hyperbole. In a business culture that worships “killer instinct,” Branson relocates aggression from the marketplace to the hearth. The subtext is loyalty as a competitive advantage: the willingness to go all-in for your people, to protect the tribe, to take hits without flinching. It also quietly reframes his public persona. The genial billionaire becomes, underneath, someone who thinks in terms of absolute commitment.

The tag line, “and we still are,” does present-tense work. It resists the common memoir move where childhood love is something you outgrow or mourn. Branson insists it’s active, durable, intact. Contextually, it fits the Virgin mythology: family-like corporate culture, charismatic leadership, the idea that his empire runs on relationships rather than spreadsheets. The intent is clear: make emotional loyalty feel like the real engine behind the brand’s audacity.