"I think it's very important that whatever you're trying to make or sell, or teach has to be basically good. A bad product and you know what? You won't be here in ten years"
About this Quote
The blunt punchline - "You won't be here in ten years" - is the real subtext. She is talking about time as the ultimate consumer protection agency. Trends can float a mediocre thing for a season; longevity requires that the underlying object or lesson actually works. Its also a quiet flex from someone who has outlasted countless reinventions of media and retail, from magazines to television to e-commerce. She positions "good" as the only durable moat in a world of easy imitation.
Context matters: Stewart is an entertainer, but also a merchant of authority. After a career that includes peak cultural ubiquity and public scandal, her insistence on basic quality reads as both advice and insurance. Reputation can be bruised, even rebuilt, but it cant be detached from the felt experience of what you put in peoples hands. In an economy obsessed with launch-day hype, she bets on the boring, lethal metric: does it hold up.
Quote Details
| Topic | Business |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Stewart, Martha. (2026, January 16). I think it's very important that whatever you're trying to make or sell, or teach has to be basically good. A bad product and you know what? You won't be here in ten years. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-its-very-important-that-whatever-youre-112471/
Chicago Style
Stewart, Martha. "I think it's very important that whatever you're trying to make or sell, or teach has to be basically good. A bad product and you know what? You won't be here in ten years." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-its-very-important-that-whatever-youre-112471/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I think it's very important that whatever you're trying to make or sell, or teach has to be basically good. A bad product and you know what? You won't be here in ten years." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-think-its-very-important-that-whatever-youre-112471/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.





