150 Motivational Business Quotes For Your Inspiration
Quotes are much more than daily affirmations. This is because they go a long way to give your self-esteem a boost, and compel you to do more than believing.
For those in business, a reason why they started and should continue is vital to progress. Inspirational business quotes are the fuel that keeps the fire burning so that you can get going.
Those in business can testify to the change words of encouragement caused a stirring feeling that edged them on.
Whether that’s from seasoned authors, established business leaders, philosophers, and many more, the fact is such words are that extra bit of motivation that complements courage, and the will to keep going.
Business is great and gives you the chance to express yourself, to put those creative juices to work.
However, it’s much more than money or a steady paycheck. As a businessperson, it’s normal to feel the weight of pressure especially when you’re just starting.
Many people have turned from that or stopped believing in their ability to break even.
Well, if that’s you, these quotes, covering important areas, will cause that stir and help you find new meaning and purpose to get going. Read on!
Quotes on Productivity
These quotes on productivity will ignite the passion in you to get busy with making those dreams into reality.
They are words to help you get the right perspectives as you approach different challenges in life and business. Here are 20 of them!
1) “My general attitude to life is to enjoy every minute of every day. I never do anything with a feeling of, “Oh God, I’ve got to do this today.” – Richard Branson
2) “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.” – Barack Obama
3) “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing” – Walt Disney
4) “Focus on being productive instead of busy.” – Tim Ferriss
5) “My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do.” – Francine Jay
6) “Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night.” – Michael Jordan
7) “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” – Bruce Lee
8) “No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” – Warren Buffett
9) “Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Picasso
10) “If there are nine rabbits on the ground if you want to catch one, just focus on one.” – Jack Ma
11) “Efficiency is doing better what is already being done.” – Peter Drucker
12) “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey
13) “Glory lies in the attempt to reach one’s goal and not in reaching it.” – Mahatma Gandhi
14) “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
15) “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. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs
16) “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” – Albert Einstein
17) “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” – Paul J. Meyer
18) “The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.” – Oprah Winfrey
19) “Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” – Coco Chanel
20) “Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.” – Peter Drucker
Quotes on Time
There’s a lot that can be accomplished. But the fact is time is of the essence. And no, time is not an illusion that goes away after a while. It’s here to stay.
As such, time must be managed well. This way, plans are put in place with a set frame to bring them to fruition.
It’s never too late to learn about how you can use time effectively. Let these quotes on time guide you.
- “Once you have mastered time you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year – and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade!” – Tony Robbins
- “Time is a created thing. To say “I don’t have time” is to say “I don’t want to” – Lao Tzu
- “It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.” – Steve Jobs
- “Never leave ’till tomorrow which you can do today.” – Benjamin Franklin
- “Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” – George Orwell
- “In such seconds of decision entire futures are made.” – Dan Simmons
- “It’s not that we have little time, but more that we waste a good deal of it.” – Seneca
- “There’s only one thing more precious than our time and that’s who we spend it on.” – Leo Christopher
- “You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” – Charles Brixton
- “Change your 24 hours and you will change your life.” – Eric Thomas
- “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” – Charles Darwin
- “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?” – Henry David Thoreau
- “The shorter way to do many things is to only do one thing at a time.” – Mozart
- “Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week.” – Charles Richards
- “Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much can be done if we are always doing.” – Thomas Jefferson
- “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler
- “I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.” – Golda Meir
- “The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.” – Stephen R. Covey
- “Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got.” – Art Buchwald
- “Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever.” – Samuel Smiles
Quotes on Never Giving up
How do you feel after finally getting your hands on a coveted prize, reaching the finish line, or achieving a goal? Great right?
Well, you wouldn’t have gotten there if you’d given up along the way or not waited patiently enough to see it through.
So if the idea of giving up is running through your mind, use these quotes to shut it out immediately.
- “Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.” – Napoleon Hill
- “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali
- “Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.” – James A. Michener
- “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” – Vince Lombardi
- “There is no failure except in no longer trying.” – Elbert Hubbard
- “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie
- “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas Edison
- “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
- “Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton
- “Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett
- “Sometimes adversity is what you need to face to become successful.” – Zig Ziglar
- “Things don’t go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.” – Charlie Jones
- “Don’t give up. There are too many nay-sayers out there who will try to discourage you. Don’t listen to them. The only one who can make you give up is yourself.” – Sidney Sheldon
- “Courage doesn’t always roar, sometimes it’s the quiet voice at the end of the day whispering ‘I will try again tomorrow’.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
- I never lose. I either win or learn. – Nelson Mandela
- “To conquer frustration, one must remain intensely focused on the outcome, not the obstacles.” – T.F. Hodge
- “Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all the facts.” – Jackson Brown, Jr.
- “You should never give up your inner self.” – Clint Eastwood
- “Effort only fully releases its rewards after a person refuses to quit.” – Napoleon Hill
Quotes on Positivity
Being positive about your goals and fulfilling your ambitions is a great step towards success in all areas of your life.
It all begins with the kind of thoughts you have about yourself and your chances of achieving the right results.
If you’re a doubter, let these quotes inspire you.
- “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” – Lyndon B. Johnson
- “I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.” – Walt Disney
- “Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.” – William James
- “Positive thinking is more than just a tagline. It changes the way we behave. And I firmly believe that when I am positive, it not only makes me better, but it also makes those around me better.” – Harvey Mackay
- “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” – Collin Powell
- “Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” – Abraham Lincoln
- “Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.” – Zig Ziglar
- “Affirm the positive, visualize the positive and expect the positive, and your life will change accordingly.” – Remez Sasson
- “It makes a big difference in your life when you stay positive.” – Ellen DeGeneres
- “You have to be positive, and I’m not just talking about athletics, this also applies to life.” – Sheryl Swoopes
- “The less you respond to negative people, the more positive your life will become.” – Paulo Coelho
- “Work hard, stay positive, and get up early. It’s the best part of the day.” – George Allen
- “Optimism is the most important human trait because it allows us to evolve our ideas, to improve our situation, and to hope for a better tomorrow.” – Seth Godin
- “Being positive is like going up a mountain. Being negative is like sliding down a hill. A lot of times, people want to take the easy way out, because it’s basically what they’ve understood throughout their lives .” – Chuck D.
- “Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo
- “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” – Willie Nelson
- “We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” – Vince Lombardi
- “A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, and it sparks extraordinary results.” – Wade Boggs
- “Believe you can, and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
- “We become what we think about.” – Earl Nightingale
Quotes on Success
Success is a term many people would love to identify with frequently.
It’s that feeling and moment where you know you’ve won or achieved something great against all odds. But too many people often down tools when they’re closer to being successful.
Here are quotes on success to guide you.
- “Paying attention to simple little things that most men neglect makes a few men rich.” – Henry Ford
- “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
- “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” – Maya Angelou
- “The next time you feel slightly uncomfortable with the pressure in your life, remember no pressure, no diamonds. Pressure is a part of success.” – Eric Thomas
- “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin
- “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” – Bill Gates
- “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” – Bill Bradley
- “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” – Bobby Unser
- “Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success.” – Virat Kohli
- “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” – Pele
- “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen.” – Wayne Huizenga
- “The secret of success is the constancy of purpose.” – Benjamin Disraeli
- “If you have no critics you’ll likely have no success.” – Malcolm X
- “Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.” – Colin Powell
- “The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say ‘no’ to almost everything.” – Warren Buffett
- “The people who succeed are irrationally passionate about something.” – Naval Ravikant
- “You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity.” – Thomas Wolfe
- “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” – Truman Capote
- “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Alva Edison
Miscellaneous Business Quotes
In business? Here are some of the best motivational business quotes to teach, guide, and uplift your spirit in the darkest of times.
They’ll help you dream and stay in touch with reality all at once.
- “If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to meet it!” – Jonathan Winters
- “Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation.” – Peter Drucker
- “Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.” – Henry Ford
- “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” – Napoleon Hill
- “Identify your problems but give your power and energy to solutions.” – Toni Robbins
- “A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.” – Richard Branson
- “You are not your resume, you are your work.” – Seth Godin
- “If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn
- “Often, the more money you make the more money you spend; that’s why more money doesn’t make you rich – assets make you rich.” – Robert Kiyosaki
- “If you never want to be criticized, for goodness’ sake don’t do anything new.” – Jeff Bezos
- “Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” – Farrah Gray
- “A man should never neglect his family for business.” – Walt Disney
- “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” – Woody Allen
- “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” – Thomas Jefferson
- “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
- “One finds limits by pushing them.” – Hebert Simon
- “My son is now an ‘entrepreneur’. That’s what you’re called when you don’t have a job.” – Ted Turner
- “Business is a combination of War and sport.” – Andre Maurois
- “All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.” – Aristotle
- “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” – Chris Grosser
Some of the Best Business Quotes ever spoken
And finally, these are some of the most inspirational business quotes of the new world.
They have inspired many before us and have the potential to do the same for us.
1) “The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.” —Oscar Wilde
2) “The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate you away from those who are still undecided.” —Casey Stengel
3) “Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.” —Anthony Volodkin, Hype Machine founder
4) “Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop.” —Jeffrey Zeldman, A List Apart Publisher
5) “Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you.” —Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO
6) “Don’t play games that you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them.” —Tony Hsieh, Zappos
7) “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” —Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder
8) “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re right.” —Henry Ford, Ford Motor Company founder
9) “There’re lots of bad reasons to start a company. But there’s only one good, legitimate reason, and I think you know what it is: it’s to change the world.” —Phil Libin, Evernote CEO
10) “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” —Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder
11) “First rule of leadership: everything is your fault.” – A Bug’s Life
12) “Great leadership does not mean running away from reality. Sometimes the hard truths might just demoralize the company, but at other times sharing difficulties can inspire people to take action that will make the situation better.” – John Kotter
13) “If you see a bandwagon, it’s too late.” —James Goldsmith
14) “Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?” —Steve Jobs
15) “The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” — Lilly Tomlin
16) “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” —David Brinkley
17) “Don’t stay in bed unless you can make money in bed.” —George Burns
18) “There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them.” —Seth Godin
19) “The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do.” —Roy L. Smith
20) “People don’t believe what you tell them. They rarely believe what you show them. They often believe what their friends tell them. They always believe what they tell themselves.” —Seth Godin
21) “In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.” —Harold Geneen
22) “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” —Chris Grosser
23) “There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.”—Ray Goforth
24) “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” —Steve Jobs
25) “I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure–It is: Try to please everybody.” —Herbert Bayard Swope
26) “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” —Sam Walton
27) “If you want to kill any idea in the world, get a committee working on it.” —Charles Kettering
28) “One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.” —Arnold H. Glasow
29) “Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them.” —W. Edwards Deming
30) “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” —Henry Ford