I’ve seen posts about “motivational” business quotes in the past, but I’ve always preferred “inspirational” quotations. The difference between motivation and inspiration is huge. I can only motivate myself for short periods of time; I can find myself inspired for weeks and/or months at a time. Maybe even years.
So, in the interest of inspiring you to new heights of business success, here are 101 sayings about business that I find inspirational.
Warren Buffett Quotes
I know I’m not alone in my admiration for Warren Buffett. Let’s face it. He’s the greatest investor in the world, so he must know something about business. These quotes from Buffett demonstrate just how much he knows.
- “Rule #1. Never lose money. Rule #2. Don’t forget Rule #1.”
- “Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre.”
- “I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will.”
- “I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars — I look for 1-foot bars that I can step over.”
- “Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”
- “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.”
- “We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”
- “The business schools reward difficult, complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective.”
- “Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.”
- “I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.”
Benjamin Franklin Quotations
Ben Franklin is the father of the American self-help movement. If you’ve never read his autobiography, then you should rush out and read it now. It’s one of the best American books ever written, especially as it relates to success in business and in life.
- “Diligence is the mother of good luck.”
- “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”
- “Lost time is never found again.”
- “It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man.”
- “Up, sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.”
- “When confronted with two courses of action I jot down on a piece of paper all the arguments in favor of each one-then on the opposite side I write the arguments against each one. Then by weighing the arguments pro and con and canceling them out, one against the other, I take the course indicated by what remains.”
- “Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.”
- “Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all things easy.”
- “The way to wealth is as plain as the way to market. It depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality; that is, waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality nothing will do; with them, everything.”
- “Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.”
Stephen Covey Quotes
I’m also an unabashed fan of Stephen Covey. You’ve probably heard of him; he wrote the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, among others. Here are some of his thoughts on business that inspire me.
- “Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.”
- “The bottom line is, when people are crystal clear about the most important priorities of the organization and team they work with and prioritized their work around those top priorities, not only are they many times more productive, they discover they have the time they need to have a whole life.”
- “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
- “Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”
- “You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. The enemy of the “best” is often the “good.”
- “But until a person can say deeply and honestly, ‘I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday,’ that person cannot say, ‘I choose otherwise.'”
- “We are free to choose our actions, . . . but we are not free to choose the consequences of these actions.”
- “If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control – myself.”
- “Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic”
- “Ineffective people live day after day with unused potential.”
Napoleon Hill on Business Success
Napoleon Hill is the author of Think and Grow Rich, which is one of the business success books that seems to have stood the test of time. His insights into how to succeed in business are still relevant.
- “A goal is a dream with a deadline.”
- “Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”
- “First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.”
- “Procrastination is the bad habit of putting of until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.”
- “There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.”
- “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”
- “Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you ready or not, to put this plan into action.”
- “Reduce your plan to writing. The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.”
- “Money without brains is always dangerous.”
- “No man can succeed in a line of endeavor which he does not like.”
Dale Carnegie
Another old-school success guru who was a contemporary of Napoleon Hill’s, Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. Some of the most successful businesspeople I know have taken the Dale Carnegie Course.
- “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”
- “If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
- “The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way.”
- “Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.”
- “Today is life-the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.”
- “Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours.”
- “Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.”
- “The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.”
- “The ideas I stand for are not mine. I borrowed them from Socrates. I swiped them from Chesterfield. I stole them from Jesus. And I put them in a book. If you don’t like their rules, whose would you use?”
- “First ask yourself: What is the worst that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.”
Business Quotes from the Movies
Anyone who’s known me for any length of time knows that I’m a big fan of the silver screen. Some films have some interesting and inspirational things to say about business, too. Here are some of my favorites:
- “The loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room.” – American Gangster (2007)
- “It’s no trick to make a lot of money. If all you want to do is make a lot of money.” – Citizen Kane (1941)
- “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.” – Wall Street (1987)
- “What’s worth doing is worth doing for money” – Wall Street (1987)
- “If there’s one thing I learned in prison it’s that money is not the prime commodity in our lives. Time is.” – Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
- “An element of conflict in any discussion is a very good thing. It shows everybody’s taking part and nobody’s left out. I like that.” – Harvey (1950)
- “A 25% slice of something big is better than 100% slice of nothing.” – The Hustler (1949)
- “The number one killer of all people is retirement.” – Kill Bill (2004)
- “If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise don’t even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives, jobs. And maybe your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery, isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance. Of how much you really want to do it. And you’ll do it, despite rejection in the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine.” – Factotum (2005)
- “I know what I have to do now, I’ve got to keep breathing because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?” Cast Away (2000)
Sports Quotations
Sports has become a powerful metaphor for business success, and indeed, you can find a lot of motivation from quotations from the world of athletes.
- “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” – Matt Biondi
- “It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” – Bear Bryant
- “During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.” – Mickey Mantle
- “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” – Babe Ruth
- “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
- “If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?” – Vince Lombardi
- “Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” – Vince Lombardi
- “Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.” – Vince Lombardi
- “Fans don’t boo nobodies.” – Reggie Jackson
- “Nobody roots for Goliath.” – Wilt Chamberlain
Tom Peters
Tom Peters is best known for the book he co-wrote with Robert H. Waterman, Jr., In Search of Excellence. I enjoyed his books from the 1990s and the 2000s more than that one, though–it seemed a little dry. He’s had a lot of cool things to say about business, though. Here are some of my favorites:
- “Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing… layout, processes, and procedures.”
- “The magic formula that successful businesses have discovered is to treat customers like guests and employees like people.”
- “Good managers have a bias for action.”
- “The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.”
- “In Search of Excellence – even the title – is a reminder that business isn’t dry, dreary, boring, or by the numbers. Life at work can be cool – and work that’s cool isn’t confined to Tiger Woods, Yo-Yo Ma, or Tom Hanks. It’s available to all of us and any of us.”
- “Today brands are everything, and all kinds of products and services – from accounting firms to sneaker makers to restaurants – are figuring out how to transcend the narrow boundaries of their categories and become a brand surrounded by a Tommy Hilfiger-like buzz.”
- “One simply cannot pay tribute to Stephen Covey without saying at the outset that he was a lovely human being.”
- “Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me, Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”
- “The top athletes are consummate pros who work obsessively at their craft. Approach yours the same way.”
- “I don’t read many business books. I read good fiction. Business is about people, so my favorite business books are anything by Dickens.”
Jim Rohn Quotes
Jim Rohn was one of Anthony Robbins’ mentors. I liked Rohn better, although I enjoyed walking on burning coals at Unleash the Power Within. Here are a few of Rohn’s best quotes:
- “Either you run the day or the day runs you.”
- “Humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease”
- “Some things you have to do every day. Eating seven apples on Saturday night instead of one a day just isn’t going to get the job done.”
- “The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them.”
- “You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills.”
- “Happiness is not an accident. Nor is it something you wish for. Happiness is something you design.”
- “To become financially independent you must turn part of your income into capital; turn capital into enterprise; turn enterprise into profit; turn profit into investment; and turn investment into financial independence.”
- “If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”
- “Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.”
- “Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure.”
11 Random Business Quotes from Interesting People
The following are just a grab-bag of quotes from interesting people. These didn’t fit into the other categories.
- “The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.” – Philip Fisher
- “If investing is entertaining, if you’re having fun, you’re probably not making any money. Good investing is boring.” – George Soros
- “Investing without research is like playing stud poker and never looking at the cards.” – Peter Lynch
- “If you don’t have integrity, you have nothing. You can’t buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing.” – Henry Kravis
- “If you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, it’s too large.” – Jeff Bezos
- “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
- “Nothing works better than just improving your product.” – Joel Spolsky
- “Anything that is measured and watched improves.” – Bob Parsons
- “If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business.” – Ray Kroc
- “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell
- “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” – Mark Twain
Do you have a favorite business quote or quotation that you’d like to share? Please comment.
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