75 Most Inspirational Quotes

One of my favorite things to do when I have a few free minutes is to quickly browse the web for some quick reading. This often leads me onto reading long lists of quotes, proverbs or sayings.

To say reading these can be addictive is an understatement and often my 5 minute break turns into a half an hour (or more…) of reading these awesome little thought provoking pieces.

So below I’ve put together 75 of my favorite quotes. I think these are particularly useful for us entrepreneurs and I hope they serve you as well as they have done me.

Enjoy!

Proverbs for the Entrepreneur

  1. “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Chinese Proverb [tweet it]
  2. “Building a castle is difficult. Defending and maintaining it is harder still.” Asian Proverb [tweet it]
  3. “Don’t stand by the water and long for fish; go home and weave a net.” Chinese Proverb [tweet it]
  4. “Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.” Chinese Proverb [tweet it]
  5. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Chinese Proverb [tweet it]
  6. “Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” Japanese Proverb [tweet it]
  7. “Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Confucius [tweet it]
  8. “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.” Chinese Proverb [tweet it]
  9. “If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people.” Chinese Proverb [tweet it]
  10. “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” Chinese Proverb [tweet it]


Motivate Yourself for Success

  1. “You should always stay hungry. Stay hungry, so you can eat.” Syed Balkhi [tweet it]
  2. “Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I’m not there, I go to work.” Robert Orben [tweet it]
  3. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Peter Drucker [tweet it]
  4. “Everything started as nothing.” Ben Weissenstein [tweet it]
  5. “You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills.” Jim Rohn [tweet it]
  6. “Not a single person whose name is worth remembering lived a life of ease.” Ryan P. Allis [tweet it]
  7. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Thomas Edison [tweet it]
  8. “If you think that you are going to love something, give it a try. You’re going to kick yourself in the butt for the rest of your life if you don’t.” Joe Penna [tweet it]
  9. “Start today, not tomorrow. If anything, you should have started yesterday.” Emil Motycka [tweet it]
  10. “Make it happen now, not tomorrow. Tomorrow is a loser’s excuse.” Andrew Fashion [tweet it]
  11. “If you start with nothing and end up with nothing, there’s nothing lost.” Michael Dunlop [tweet it]
  12. “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 [tweet it]
  13. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. – Vidal Sassoon [tweet it]
  14. Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. – Maya Angelou [tweet it]
  15. Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill [tweet it]
  16. You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win. – Zig Ziglar [tweet it]
  17. Try, try, try, and keep on trying is the rule that must be followed to become an expert in anything. – W. Clement Stone [tweet it]
  18. Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. – Jim Rohn [tweet it]
  19. You take on the responsibility for making your dream a reality. – Les Brown


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Failure

  1. “The biggest failure you can have in life is not trying at all.” Emil Motycka [tweet it]
  2. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas Edison [tweet it]
  3. “Failure defeats losers, failure inspires winners.” Robert T. Kiyosaki [tweet it]
  4. “I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.” George Burns [tweet it]
  5. “The biggest failure you can have in life is not trying at all.” Emil Motycka [tweet it]
  6. “Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life.” John F. Kennedy [tweet it]
  7. The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake – you can’t learn anything from being perfect. – Adam Osborne [tweet it]
  8. 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 [tweet it]
  9. I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. – Bill Cosby [tweet it]
  10. Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are asking, What’s in it for me? – Brian Tracy [tweet it]









Pearls of Wisdom

  1. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Wayne Gretzky [tweet it]
  2. “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.” Grace Hopper [tweet it]
  3. “A ship in harbor is safe. But that’s now what ships are built for.” William Shedd [tweet it]
  4. “I’m not a businessman. I’m a business, man.” Jay-Z [tweet it]
  5. “One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.” Mooie [tweet it]
  6. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle [tweet it]
  7. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” Mark Twain [tweet it]
  8. “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” Lucius Annaeus Seneca [tweet it]
  9. “Do not wait to strike until the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” William B. Sprague [tweet it]
  10. “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” Bertrand Russell [tweet it]
  11. Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice. – Peter Drucker [tweet it]
  12. Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you. – Mark Cuban [tweet it]
  13. Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will. – Zig Ziglar [tweet it]
  14. If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share. – W. Clement Stone [tweet it]
  15. The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same. – Colin R. Davis [tweet it]
  16. The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch. – Jim Rohn [tweet it]
  17. Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know. – Jim Rohn [tweet it]
  18. If you are going to ask yourself life-changing questions, be sure to do something with the answers. – Bo Bennett [tweet it]
  19. Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit. – Napoleon Hill






 [tweet it]









It’s all about the Money

  1. “Lend your friend $20. If he doesn’t pay you back then he’s not your friend. Money well spent.” Ted Nicolas [tweet it]
  2. “After a certain point, money is meaningless. It ceases to be the goal. The game is what counts.” Aristotle [tweet it]
  3. “If you’re not learning while you’re earning, you’re cheating yourself out of the better portion of your compensation.” Napoleon Hill [tweet it]
  4. “I don’t pay good wages because I have a lot of money; I have a lot of money because I pay good wages.” Robert Bosch [tweet it]
  5. “I treat business a bit like a computer game. I count money as points. I’m doing really well: making lots of money and lots of points.” Michael Dunlop [tweet it]
  6. “Formal education will make you a living. Self education will make you a fortune.” Jim Rohn [tweet it]
  7. “All of my friends were doing babysitting jobs. I wanted money without the job.” Adam Horwitz [tweet it]
  8. “Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there.” Will Smith [tweet it]



Funny Quotes

  1. “My son is now an ‘entrepreneur’. That’s what you’re called when you don’t have a job.” Ted Turner [tweet it]
  2. “I used to sell furniture for a living. The trouble was, it was my own.” Les Dawson [tweet it]
  3. “Ever notice how it’s a penny for your thoughts, yet you put in your two-cents? Someone is making a penny on the deal.” Steven Wright [tweet it]
  4. “By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.” Robert Frost [tweet it]
  5. “Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity.” Karl (maybe Groucho) Marx [tweet it]
  6. “I didn’t go to college, but if I did, I would’ve taken all my tests at a restaurant, ’cause ‘The customer is always right.’” Mitch Hedberg [tweet it]
  7. Entrepreneurship is the last refuge of the trouble making individual. – Natalie Clifford Barney [tweet it]
  8. If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough. – Mario Andretti [tweet it]

So that’s it guys – 75 of the Most Inspirational Quotes known to man! Can you pick your favorite from the list or is there one that I’ve left out?

If you like the quotes then pick your favorite and tweet it, or just tweet my personal [favorite] 🙂

27 Comments

  1. Ade

    Well done on coming up with all these quotes….must have been quite time consuming getting them together. Do you keep a swipe file of quotes ? I think rereading motivating quotes and phrases from time to time can help you refocus or renew your efforts….especially if you have been doing it tough. The Stephen Wright quote is funny.

    • Noel

      Thanks Ade, ya it took a long time to put it together and I’ve saved all those quotes on my HD for future reference. What I was thinking about doing was printing off 4 – 5 of my favorites and put them on the wall in my workspace to keep me motivated. Anything to keep me from distraction 🙂
      Cheers,
      – Noel.

  2. Hi Noel,
    Thanks for the quotes. Some old classics there and some I’ve not seen before. Like the funnies.
    Not sure if I have been motivated or distracted. 🙂
    Cheers
    Roger

    • Noel

      Hey Roger,
      Ya the funnies are pretty cool, I agree the old classics have stood the test of time!
      Glad you enjoyed them!
      – Noel.

  3. Hey Noel,

    Nice post man, thanks for the hard work of finding and putting all of those quotes in one place 🙂

    Hope to hear more from you 🙂
    Daniel Carton

    • Noel

      No worries Daniel, I really enjoyed reading some of these so it made sense to share them here on the blog.
      Hope all is well with you,
      – Noel.

  4. Hey Noel,

    That’s a lot! I like about half of them! 🙂 Here’s a couple I like:

    “If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good.”

    “I used to have a vivid imagination as a child. Now, I have a vivid reality.”

    Best wishes with everything you are doing Noel, the site looks great! 🙂 Is it pop up domination that comes up when your site loads?? 🙂

    Clare x

    • Noel

      Hi Claire,
      I like your picks, especially the second one. Very nice indeed!
      Thanks for the good wishes, much appreciated 😉 The pop up is something I made in Aweber, when you’re designing the web form (the optin box) you can choose different options. There’s a few there like Pop-ups, Slide-outs, Fade-ins etc. I just made it in there and added in the images which form the background of it and everything else you see when it “pops-up” 🙂
      Cheers,
      – Noel.

  5. Hey Noel

    Sorry for the delay in leaving a comment, just got back from Nice. Was watching four of my Stamford Tri Club members compete in Ironman Nice. It consisted of a 3.8km swim / 180km bike ride / 42km run. I am pleased to say they all finished 🙂

    “Work smart not Hard” hope you like my quote 😉

    Thanks for sharing your great diverse list of quotes
    Paul

    • Noel

      Hi Paul,
      Welcome back! Hope you enjoyed the trip and the weather was good (it’s been like winter over here – madness!)
      That Ironman competition is serious stuff, I’d do a lot of training myself but couldn’t imagine doing something like that. Fair play to them all.

      All the Best,
      – Noel.

  6. My favorite business quote comes from Yoda in Star Wars, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

    • Noel

      Nice one Ric,
      Yoda always knows best! But he is right, there is no “try” – we either do something or we don’t. (I’m adding it to list as I type 🙂 )
      Another related one would be “there are 2 things in business – results & excuses” Everything that happens can be organized under either of those categories….

      Cheers for your input,
      – Noel.

  7. Nice List Noel – it’s always good to find a little extra inspiration from a great quote. I was searching for good quotes a week ago for my new book – this would have saved me tons of time!

    Just a heads up and kind of ironic – in ‘Failures’ section, number 1 and 5 are the same

    • Noel

      Hey Dee,
      That’s cool, feel free to source any extra ones you might need from here! IMO you can’t beat a good quote, especially if things aren’t going to plan…sometimes reading the right quote at the right time can get you out of a rut and your head back in the Game.
      And about my little “failure” – I could try and pretend I did that on purpose but alas you caught me out! 🙂 I will take out the second one and put “Noel Cunningham” in as a replacement Lol

      Cheers & All the Best,
      – Noel

    • Noel

      Thanks Alexander,
      There’s plenty there to choose from – enjoy!
      – Noel.

  8. Hey Noel, I didn’t have time to read all of the quotes, but I did share them on my facebook page because some of those quotes apply to my current situation.

    I’m going to review these quotes again when I have more time, but thanks for posting them. I think it’s time for me to sit down and study some these quotes and remember them verbatim. Cheers!

    • Noel

      That’s great Rocky, glad you liked them! Hopefully they’ll help to inspire and motivate cos they’re are some real gems in there!
      All the Best,
      Noel.

  9. Hi Noel,

    Thanks for taking the time to bring these all together in one place, many of which I recognised and plenty of others that I didn’t. It’s important to take time out every now and again to read through quotes like these as it can help to put things into perspective and provide inspiration, regardless of where you are in your journey (whether it be building an online business or just life in general).

    Cheers,

    Stefan

    • Noel

      Hey Stefan,
      No worries at all, you’re welcome!
      Glad you enjoyed, there are some real nice in there and are great little way to motivate oneself to keep moving forward.

      Thanks,
      – Noel.

  10. Great list, Noel!

    I really enjoyed reading the quotes and I especially appreciate you categorizing them that way.
    They really are inspirational and I can see how it can become addictive to look for new ones!

    -Karl

    • Noel

      Thanks Karl,
      Glad you like the list and hopefully you’ll adopt a few of those quotes for your own inspiration 😉
      All the Best,
      – Noel.

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