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Quote of the day by Cyrus S Poonawalla: Its meaning, leadership lessons, practical tips, and why kindness remains a business advantage today.
Billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of Serum Institute of India Ltd.“Getting money is not all a man’s business. To cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life ” — Cyrus Soli Poonawalla
Today, Mint's Quote of the day is from Cyrus Soli Poonawalla on cultivating kindness in business. The quote means that life in business is not just about earning money or focusing on financial business. While making a living is important, it’s not the only thing that defines a meaningful life. Cultivating kindness is a valuable part of running a business.
Who is Cyrus S Poonawalla?
Cyrus S. Poonawalla, the son of a horse breeder, founded Serum Institute of India (SII) in 1966 after identifying a shortage of life-saving immuno-biologicals in India. Over the next several decades, he built the company into the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold, while also expanding the wider Poonawalla Group.
A major turning point came when Serum Institute’s global role in vaccine supply made the group even more visible internationally during the Covid-19 era. Cyrus Poonawalla remains Chairman and Managing Director of the Poonawalla Group and Serum Institute, while Adar Poonawalla serves as CEO of Serum Institute.
What does the quote mean?
The quote “Getting money is not all a man’s business. To cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life” has widely been attributed to Cyrus Poonawalla in biographical profiles, but Mint couldn't verify the original interview, speech, or book in which he first said it.
At one level, the quote is a rejection of narrow capitalism. Poonawalla is not dismissing wealth creation; he is arguing that profit, by itself, is an incomplete measure of a life or a business.
In strategic terms, kindness means building enterprises that solve real problems, treat people fairly, and create value beyond the balance sheet. That interpretation fits neatly with the way his group has long framed its mission around affordable vaccines, quality, and broad public-health impact.
The deeper lesson is that kindness is not softness. In leadership, kindness can mean pricing responsibly, investing patiently, protecting trust, and remembering that scale increases moral obligation. For founders and executives, the quote pushes back against the lazy idea that compassion is separate from commercial success. In many industries, especially healthcare, trust is not a side benefit of the business model; it is part of the business model.
That is why the quote matters. Poonawalla’s career suggests that impact compounds when ambition is tied to access. The goal is not merely to build something big, but to build something big that remains useful to ordinary people.
How this quote is tied to current landscape
The quote lands particularly well in today’s business environment because companies are being forced to prove that human values still matter in an AI-shaped economy.
Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey found that younger workers are pursuing money, meaning, and well-being together, and that soft skills such as empathy and leadership are becoming more important as GenAI changes the way people work. In other words, the labour market itself is rewarding leaders who can combine performance with humanity.
Disclaimer: The first draft of the story first appeared in AI
About the Author
Livemint
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