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Who really said it

If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants

Written by David Ogilvy 1911–1999 · British advertising executive, founder of Ogilvy & Mather
Verified In copyright

Ogilvy set this down in Ogilvy on Advertising (1983), describing a habit: when someone was made head of an office in the Ogilvy & Mather chain, he sent them a Matrioshka doll from Gorky, and this message was folded inside the smallest doll. Wikiquote’s sourced section ↗ transcribes the passage and cites page 47.

Last verified 22 Sep 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

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Verified quote & credit

“If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants” David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising (1983). Verified by Quotle.info.

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by The estate of David Ogilvy and the book’s publisher). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of David Ogilvy — British advertising executive, founder of Ogilvy & Mather. Theme: "If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The source

Work
Ogilvy on Advertising
First published
1983
Quote page
47, per Wikiquote
Form
A note folded inside a Russian nesting doll

When someone is made the head of an office in the Ogilvy & Mather chain, I send him a Matrioshka doll from Gorky. If he has the curiosity to open it, and keep opening it until he comes to the inside of the smallest doll, he finds this message: If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.

As transcribed in Wikiquote’s sourced section ↗, citing Ogilvy on Advertising, page 47. The italics on dwarfs and giants are Ogilvy’s. We could not open the book — the Internet Archive’s copies are lending-restricted — so the page number is Wikiquote’s locator, not one we confirmed.

Wikiquote: sourced David Ogilvy quotations

How we verified this

  • Wikiquote’s sourced section ↗ carries the whole passage — doll, curiosity, message — and cites Ogilvy on Advertising, page 47. The sentence above is the message, verbatim.
  • The book was first published in 1983; the Internet Archive catalogues editions from 1983 and 1985 under Ogilvy on Advertising, all lending-restricted, so we could not read page 47 ourselves.
  • Neither Wikiquote ↗ nor Quote Investigator records any competing claimant, earlier appearance or disputed wording for this line — we searched Quote Investigator for it and it has no article on the quotation.
  • Wikipedia ↗ confirms Ogilvy founded Ogilvy & Mather, the chain of offices the passage is about.
In copyright

Ogilvy on Advertising was first published in 1983 — far too recent for the United States public domain, which currently reaches published works from before 1931. Quoting the sentence with attribution is a different matter from reproducing the book.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

How it travels

The attribution is not contested. What goes missing is the doll.

“Hire people bigger than you are” context stripped

The line is almost always quoted on its own, as a flat hiring rule. In the book it is the message folded inside a Russian nesting doll that Ogilvy mailed to each new office head — the doll is the argument, and the sentence is only its punchline.

The words are Ogilvy’s own, in his own book. Wikiquote’s sourced section ↗ cites Ogilvy on Advertising, page 47.

Context

Why it mattered

Ogilvy founded his agency in New York in 1948 with $6,000 and backing from his brother Francis; by 1963 Ogilvy, Benson & Mather was billing $55m across 19 clients. By the time he wrote Ogilvy on Advertising the firm was a chain of offices, and the problem this passage addresses is what happens to a chain when each link hires defensively.

The delivery is the argument. A manager who does not open the doll never reads the message — Ogilvy says so in the passage, and makes curiosity the entry fee. A manager who does open it has already demonstrated the trait being asked for.

If he has the curiosity to open it, and keep opening it until he comes to the inside of the smallest doll, he finds this message.

Read the full story

Matrioshka dolls — the nested Russian figures — were made at Gorky, now Nizhny Novgorod. Each doll contains a smaller one; Ogilvy’s point is that a company that hires downward does the same thing, one diminishing figure at a time.

A note on our sourcing: this record rests on Wikiquote’s sourced transcription rather than on the book, which we could not open from here. The page number, 47, is Wikiquote’s. Nothing we found contradicts it, and no other author has ever been credited with the line.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Leadership Growth Humility

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Wikiquote: David Ogilvyen.wikiquote.org

The sourced passage, with the citation to Ogilvy on Advertising p. 47
Wikipedia: David Ogilvyen.wikipedia.org

His career and the agency the passage is about
Wikipedia: Ogilvy & Matheren.wikipedia.org

The chain of offices whose new heads received the dolls
Wikipedia: Confessions of an Advertising Manen.wikipedia.org

His earlier and better-known book, for context on how he wrote

The author

About David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy

1911–1999 · British advertising executive, founder of Ogilvy & Mather

David Mackenzie Ogilvy founded his advertising agency in New York in 1948 with $6,000 and financial backing from his brother Francis, then managing director of the London agency Mather & Crowther. By 1963 Ogilvy, Benson & Mather billed $55m across 19 clients, Rolls-Royce among them. Time called him “the most sought-after wizard in today’s advertising industry” in 1962, and he is widely called the father of advertising.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

The primary source (Chicago)

Ogilvy, David. Ogilvy on Advertising. 1983. The quotation appears on page 47 according to Wikiquote’s sourced section; we were unable to open the book to confirm the page.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants’?” Last verified 22 Sep 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/if-each-of-us-hires-people-who-are-smaller-than-we-are-we/

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