Everyone needs some inspiration every now and again. Words of sympathy and advice from important historical and cultural figures — not to mention the most influential business leaders of our time — might be exactly what you need to work harder and find success in your career.
Whether you are actively pursuing an MBA degree online or you are trying to work your way up the career ladder the hard way, you can benefit from the following quotes from some of history’s best business professionals:
On Diligence
“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” — Vince Lombardi
”Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” — Thomas Edison
“I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” — Madame C.J. Walker
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” — Albert Einstein
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius
“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” — Estee Lauder
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” — Vidal Sassoon
On Positivity
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” — Mark Twain
“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 Schweitzer
“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it. — Greg Anderson
“Focus on making yourself better, not on thinking that you are better.” — Bodhi Sanders
“Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it.” — William Durant
“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill
“Play by the rules, but be ferocious.” — Phil Knight
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” — Maya Angelou
“Don’t be evil.” — Larry Page
On Risk
“Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself.” — Oprah Winfrey
“There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them.” — Seth Godin
“I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.” — G.K. Chesterton
“Almost everything worthwhile carries with it some sort of risk, whether it’s starting a new business, whether it’s leaving home, whether it’s getting married, or whether it’s flying into space.” — Chris Hadfield
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” — Anais Nin
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired and success achieved.” — Helen Keller
On Failure
“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” — Bill Gates
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” — Warren Buffett
“The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake- you can’t learn anything from being perfect.” — Adam Osborne
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” — Robert F. Kennedy
“The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.” — Barack Obama
“Failure defeats losers, failure inspires winners.” — Robert T. Kiyosaki
“Dude, sucking at something is the first step towards being sort-of good at something.” — Jake the Dog
Inspiration and motivation can come from anywhere, even one of these quotes. As long as you keep your head down and your heart open, you should find success in your life and in your business career.
