Successful people, particularly entrepreneurs, innovators and business leaders, often have some great advice for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs based on their own experiences. Here is our list of notable quotes that provides insight from individuals representing a cross section of the entrepreneurial and innovation arenas.
Also, included are some inspirational quotes from both inside and outside the business community. This is because if you are an entrepreneur, so much of it is about passion and inspiration.
- “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
– John D. Rockefeller, American business magnate and philanthropist.
- “If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”
– Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker.
- “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
– Walt Disney, American entrepreneur, animator, writer, voice actor and film producer.
- “”I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure– It is: Try to please everbody.”
– Herbert Bayard Swope, a U.S. editor, journalist and intimate of the Algonquin Round Table.
- “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
– Albert Shweitzer, received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of “Reverence for Life
- “If you really look closely most overnight successes took a long time.”
– Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple
- “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
– Thomas Edison, an American inventor and businessman described as America’s greatest inventor.
- “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”
– Henry David Thoreau, American essayist, poet, and philosopher.
- “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”
– Herman Melville, American novelist, short story writer and poet.
- “A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.”
– John D. Rockefeller, American business magnate and philanthropist.
- “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
– Walt Disney, American entrepreneur, animator, writer, voice actor and film producer.
- “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”
– Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company,
- “There is no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them.”
– Seth Godin, American author, and former dot com business executive,
- “Far away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
– Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States,
- “Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”
– Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company,
- “Business opportunities are like buses. There is always another one coming.”
– Richard Branson, British business magnate, investor, author and philanthropist.
- “You only have to do a few things right in life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.”
– Warren Buffett, American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist,
- “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”
– Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company,
- “Ideas are a Dime a Dozen. People Who Implement Them are Priceless”
– Mary Kay Ash, businesswoman and founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics
- “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
– Peter Drucker, Management Consultant and Noted Author
- “Management-the collective effort of intelligence, experience, and imagination”
–Alfred P. Sloan, CEO of General Motors
- “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions”
–Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist
- “I find the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”
–Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. President
- “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
–Margaret Mead, Anthropologist
- “Always deliver more than expected.”
–Larry Page, co-founder of Google
- If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”
–Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn
- “The only way to deliver to the people who are achieving is to not burden them with the people who are not achieving.”
-Wells Fargo Executive on Rigorous, Not Ruthless in Jim Collins’ book “Good to Great”
- “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. “
–Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft
- “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
–Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple
