People are not an interruption of our business. People are our business.

Attributed, c. 1971, in Suzy Platt (ed.) Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989), p. 253, no. 1,345. Last sentence also in Mary Blount White, Letters from Harry and Helen (New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1917), ch. 28, p. 119. See also: "Quote Origin: The Customer is Not an Interruption in Our Work; He Is the Purpose of It", Quote Investigator (August 2, 2012)