Looking for some inspiration when running your business? Motivational quotes are a great reminder in hard times that others have been where you are before.
So whether you’re stuck finding a supplier or tracking down late payments, here are our favourite motivational quotes for work from successful business owners and public figures throughout history.
Running a business can be hard – but know there’s always people rooting for you. We hope these motivational quotes can help inspire you to keep going.
Best motivational quotes for business owners
- “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” – Steve Jobs
- “Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.” – Claude Bissell, author and educator
- “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
- “Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” – Madam C.J. Walker, entrepreneur and philanthropist
- “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!’” – Audrey Hepburn
- “It’s better to be at the bottom of a ladder you want to climb than halfway up one you don’t.” – Ricky Gervais
- “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius
- “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” — Dolly Parton
- “I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it’s true – hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don’t love something, then don’t do it.” – Ray Bradbury
- “The things that scare you only make you better and stronger.” – Octavia Spencer
- “Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” – Sun Tzu
- “The last 10% it takes to launch something takes as much energy as the first 90%.” – Rob Kalin, founder of Etsy
- “Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” – Coco Chanel
- “You are on the eve of a complete victory. You can’t go wrong. The world is behind you.” – Josephine Baker
- “I believe ambition is not a dirty word. It’s just believing in yourself and your abilities. Imagine this: what would happen if we were all brave enough to be a little bit more ambitious? I think the world would change.” – Reese Witherspoon
- “It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes.” – Sally Field
- “If you just work on stuff that you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out.” – Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook
- “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison
- “If you can’t fail, you can never get better.” – Benedict Cumberbatch
- “You only have to do a few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” – Warren Buffett
- “Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.” – Richard Branson
- “If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” – David Bowie
- “Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” – Aristotle
- “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton
- “We must never be afraid to go too far, for success lies just beyond.” – Marcel Proust
- “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
- “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” – Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn
- “Do the best that you can until you know better, then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelo
- “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new.” – Socrates
- “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” – Estée Lauder
- “I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it, they will want to come back and see you do it again, and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.” – Walt Disney
- “What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone, know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed.” – Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s
- “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. And, if you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
- “Let me tell you the secret that has led to my goal: my strength lies solely on my tenacity.” – Louis Pasteur
- “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” – Bill Gates
Motivational quotes for students
At the very beginning of your business journey? If you’re stuck in the classroom and waiting to start your own business, don’t give up. Here are just a few of our favourite motivational quotes for students.
- “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – E.E. Cummings
- “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein
- “He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.” – Chinese proverb
- “With realisation of one’s potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.” – Dalai Lama
- “The secret to getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
- “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell
- “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” – Stephen King
- “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
- “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
- “The future depends on what you do today.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar
- “Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Hope for tomorrow.” – Albert Einstein
- Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso
- “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali
More inspiration for business owners
- How to start a business in 9 steps
- How to advertise your business – the ultimate marketing guide
- How to get Google reviews for your business: 7 practical tips
- How to find a gap in the market – a small businesses guide
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