Dose of Motivation: 52 Inspirational Quotes About Success by Influential CEOs

Resilience and persistence

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” – Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Reflection prompt: What choices help protect your reputation today?

“Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” – Coco Chanel, late founder of Chanel

Takeaway: Push forward despite uncertainty.

“I’ve learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success.” – Jack Welch, late CEO and Chairman of General Electric

Reflection prompt: Consider a mistake that led to substantial learning.

“There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.” – Jason Fried, Co-Founder and CEO of 37signals

Reflection prompt: What can a smaller scale enable creatively?

“Work like hell. I mean, you just have to put in 80- to 100-hour weeks every week. If other people are putting in 40-hour workweeks and you’re putting in 100-hour workweeks … you know that you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.”
– Elon Musk, Co-Founder of SpaceX, Co-Founder and CEO of Tesla Motors and owner of X (formerly Twitter)

Takeaway: Intense work ethic accelerates achievement.

“Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.” – Drew Houston, Co-Founder and CEO of Dropbox

Reflection prompt: How can you shift your focus to learning from mistakes, rather than fearing them?

“Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.” – Howard Schultz, Chairman Emeritus of Starbucks

Takeaway: Evaluate where you might stretch beyond your comfort zone.

“I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.” – John D. Rockefeller, late Founder and CEO of Standard Oil Company

Reflection prompt: What helps you persist when faced with obstacles?

“A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them and strong enough to correct them.” – John C. Maxwell, Founder of Maxwell Leadership

Reflection prompt: What was a recent mistake and how did you correct it?

“Stay self-funded as long as possible.” – Garrett Camp, Founder of Expa and Uber and co-founder of StumbleUpon

Takeaway: Consider how your funding choices impact ownership and control.

“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” – Mary Kay Ash, late Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

Reflection prompt: Where could a limiting belief be holding you back?

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t – you’re right.” – Henry Ford, late Founder of Ford Motor Company

Takeaway: Challenge negative thoughts and set ambitious intentions.

“I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one.” – Bill Gates, Co-Founder of Microsoft Corporation

Reflection prompt: How do your habits support your professional growth?

Leadership and vision

“The heart and soul of a company is creativity and innovation.” – Robert Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company

Reflection prompt: How do you encourage creativity at work?

“The most important thing is to be able to think big, dream big and know how to translate these dreams into reality.” – Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba

Reflection prompt: List three actionable steps toward a big goal.

“The question I ask myself like almost every day is, ‘Am I doing the most important thing I could be doing?’ … Unless I feel like I’m working on the most important problem that I can help with, then I’m not going to feel good about how I’m spending my time. And that’s what this company is.” – Mark Zuckerberg, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Meta Platforms

Takeaway: High-impact focus leads to business transformation.

“Balance suggests a perfect equilibrium. There is no such thing. That is a false expectation. … There are going to be priorities and dimensions of your life, how you integrate them is how you find true happiness.” – Denise Morrison, former President and CEO of Campbell Soup Company

Reflection prompt: How do you integrate work and life for personal satisfaction?

“Leaders get out in front and stay there by raising the standards by which they judge themselves – and by which they are willing to be judged.” – Frederick W. Smith, Founder and Executive Chairman of FedEx

Takeaway: Set and communicate clear, high standards.

“No man can be successful, unless he first loves his work.” – David Sarnoff, late CEO of RCA

Reflection prompt: What parts of your work inspire and energize you?

“It’s not about having a specific set time; both personal and professional lives are 24/7. It’s simply more about making the right allocation to each one and recognizing that it’s going to be different every single day.” – Ellen Kullman, former CEO of DuPont and current Board Member at Goldman Sachs

Reflection prompt: How can adaptability improve your daily routines?

“You don’t need to be a genius or a visionary, or even a college graduate for that matter, to be successful. You just need framework and a dream.” – Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell

Reflection prompt: What framework supports your business ambitions?

Innovation and growth

“The most important thing I’ve learned since becoming CEO is context. It’s how your company fits in with the world and how you respond to it.” – Jeffrey Immelt, former Chairman & CEO of General Electric

Takeaway: Study your competitors and market trends.

“Disruption occurs when someone listens more carefully to customers, or better anticipates what the customers might want before they even realize it themselves. Most companies are disrupted because they lack the will and courage to disrupt themselves first.” – Walt Bettinger, CEO and current Co-Chairman, Board of Directors of Charles Schwab

Reflection prompt: What is your strategy for self-disruption?

“If you were filling your own job today, would you rehire yourself? Are you the best person for the role now, rather than when you first got the job? If you’re no longer the best person, what are you going to do about it?” – Katrina Lake, founder and CEO of Stitch Fix

Reflection prompt: What skill gaps should you address?

“A positive reputation is built by behaving consistently with sound principles, creating real value, achieving compliance excellence and living up to commitments.” – Charles Koch, Co-CEO of Koch Industries

Reflection prompt: What commitment can you double down on today?

“You have to be very nimble and very open-minded. Your success is going to be very dependent on how you adapt.” – Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO of Yelp

Takeaway: Agility and open-mindedness fuel success.

“It’s not about how to get started; it’s about how to get noticed.” – Steve Case, former CEO of America Online

Reflection prompt: What sets your product or service apart?

“Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and your integrity is worth more than your career.” – Ryan Freitas, Co-Founder of About.me and Managing Director and Head of Design at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Takeaway: Integrity builds lasting business foundations.

“Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.” – Anthony Volodkin, Founder of Hype Machine

Reflection prompt: What products or services could be improved?

“If you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, it’s too large.” – Jeff Bezos, Founder and Chairman of Amazon

Reflection prompt: Is your team size optimal for agility?

“Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop.” – Jeffrey Zeldman, Founder of “A List Apart” magazine and Executive Creative Director at Automattic

Reflection prompt: Are your ideas relevant and in demand?

“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” – Thomas Edison, late Founder of Edison General Electric Company

Takeaway: Plan to prototype your next big idea.

“Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect.” – Jack Dorsey, Co-Founder and former CEO of Twitter (now X)

Reflection prompt: Which details are most critical for your business?

“The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.” – Ingvar Kamprad, late Founder of IKEA

Reflection prompt: What will you improve tomorrow?

“Always look for the fool in the deal. If you don’t find one, it’s you.” – Mark Cuban, Stakeholder and former owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Co-Owner of 2929 Entertainment

Reflection prompt: What due diligence do you perform before making deals?

“Fail often so you can succeed sooner.” – Tom Kelley, Founder and Chairman of D4V and Partner of Ideo

Takeaway: Fast failure accelerates learning.

“Nothing works better than just improving your product.” – Joel Spolsky, Co-Founder of Stack Overflow, Trello, HASH and Fog Creek Software (now Glitch)

Reflection prompt: What’s one improvement you could launch this month?

“Get big quietly so you don’t tip off potential competitors.” – Chris Dixon, Co-Founder of Hunch

Takeaway: Strategic growth can require discretion.

“An entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a want to create.” – David Karp, Founder of Tumblr

Reflection prompt: What does your entrepreneurial vision look like?

>> Read More: Check out these 10 Jim Rohn quotes or these 62 inspiring quotes from trailblazing women for more insights like these.

Mindset and habits

“Any time is a good time to start a company.” – Ron Conway, Founder and Managing Partner of SV Angel

Takeaway: List one step you can take this week.

“Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ballpark. Aim for the company of immortals.” – David Ogilvy, late Founder of Ogilvy & Mather

Reflection prompt: What’s your big goal?

“I always did something that I was a little not ready to do. I think that is how you grow. When there’s a moment of ‘Wow, I’m not so sure that I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, it’s then that you have a breakthrough. Sometimes that’s a sign that something really great is about to happen. You’re about to grow and learn a lot more about yourself.” – Marissa Mayer, former President and CEO of Yahoo and CEO and founder of Sunshine

Takeaway: Growth comes from pushing boundaries.

“Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it, the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me.” – Arianna Huffington, Founder and CEO of Thrive Global and Founder of The Huffington Post

Reflection prompt: How can you practice boldness this month?

“Timing, perseverance and 10 years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.” – Biz Stone, Co-Founder of Twitter (now X)

Takeaway: Consistency creates results.

“The only thing worse than starting something and failing … is not starting something.” – Seth Godin, Founder of Squidoo and Yoyodyne

Reflection prompt: What project would you start if failure wasn’t a concern?

“Anything that is measured and watched improves.” – Bob Parsons, Founder of GoDaddy and CEO and Founder of Parsons Xtreme Golf

Takeaway: Identify a new metric to monitor.

“The secret to successful hiring is this: Look for the people who want to change the world.” – Marc Benioff, Chair, CEO and Founder of Salesforce

Reflection prompt: What core value do you seek in new hires?

“Data beats emotions.” – Sean Rad, Co-Founder and Tinder

Reflection prompt: Are you measuring your progress effectively?

“If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” – Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder of LinkedIn and Microsoft Board Member

Reflection prompt: Is perfectionism keeping you from launching?

“When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for everyone telling you you’re nuts.” – Larry Ellison, Co-Founder, Chairman and CTO of Oracle

Reflection prompt: What innovation will you pursue regardless of others’ opinions?

“Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.” – Sara Blakely, Founder of SPANX

Reflection prompt: What is one thing you’re willing to learn?

“Don’t take too much advice. Most people who have a lot of advice to give with a few exceptions generalize whatever they did. Don’t over-analyze everything. I myself have been guilty of over-thinking problems. Just build things and find out if they work.” – Ben Silbermann, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of PinterestTakeaway: Action brings clarity.

Amanda Clark and Sean Peek contributed to this article.