100+ Inspirational Quotes on Business Success to Ignite Your Entrepreneurial Spirit

"The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well."

- John D. Rockefeller Jr.

"Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

- Thomas Edison

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

"I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance."

- Steve Jobs

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."

- Walt Disney

"You jump off a cliff and you assemble an airplane on the way down."

- Reid Hoffman

"Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

- John D. Rockefeller

"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

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

- Steve Jobs

"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

"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."

- Steve Jobs

"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

"The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda."

- John C. Maxwell

"The only thing worse than starting something and failing… is not starting something."

- Seth Godin

"The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that's changing quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks."

- Sheryl Sandberg

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure."

- Colin Powell

"If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time."

- Steve Jobs

"I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying."

- Jeff Bezos

"Becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end."

- Michelle Obama

"We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success."

- Arianna Huffington

"The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake – you can’t learn anything from being perfect."

- Adam Osborne

"Achievement is talent plus preparation."

- Malcolm Gladwell

"There is no shortcut to achievement. Life requires thorough preparation – veneer isn’t worth anything."

- George Washington Carver

"The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but on significance – and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning."

- Oprah Winfrey

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."

- Walt Disney

"Every day that we spent not improving our products was a wasted day."

- Joel Spolsky

"Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success."

- Biz Stone

"I’ve learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success."

- Jack Welch

"Show me a person who never made a mistake, and I will show you a person who never did anything."

- William Rosenberg

"The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity."

- Ayn Rand

"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get."

- Dale Carnegie

"The secret to successful hiring is this: look for the people who want to change the world."

- Marc Benioff

"You don’t need to be a genius or a visionary or even a college graduate to be successful. You just need a framework and a dream."

- Michael Dell

"Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming."

- Richard Branson

"Companies that invest more in digital transformation actually outperform their peers over time. These companies are more prepared for disruption, better able to monetize new digital channels, and better able to build a bigger user base. What's more, this phenomenon exists regardless of industry."

- Geoff Cubitt, CEO, Isobar US

"If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late."

- Reid Hoffman

"Ideas are commodity. Execution of them is not."

- Michael Dell

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

- Thomas A. Edison

"In the end, a vision without the ability to execute it is probably a hallucination."

- Steve Case

"Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision."

- Peter F. Drucker

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."

- Mark Twain

"The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows."

- Aristotle

"To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart."

- Thomas J. Watson

"One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals."

- Michael Korda

"Action is the foundational key to all success."

- Pablo Picasso

"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

"First, think. Second, believe. Third, dream. And finally, dare."

- Walt Disney

"Tough times never last, but tough people do."

- Robert Schuller

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."

- Lao Tzu

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

- Albert Einstein

"Don’t give up, the beginning is always the hardest."

- Kemmy Nola

"Small opportunities are often the beginning of great achievements."

- Demosthenes

"Always give your best effort even when the odds are against you."

- Arnold Palmer

"Play by the rules, but be ferocious."

- Phil Knight

"There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them."

- Seth Godin

"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right!"

- Henry Ford

"The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today."

- Jackson Brown Jr.

"A goal without a plan is just a wish."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you."

- Margaret Thatcher

"The heart and soul of a company is creativity and innovation."

- Robert Iger

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

- Michael Jordan

"The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side."

- Margaret Carty

"Great things in business are never done by one person."

- Steve Jobs

"Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean."

- Ryunosuke Satoro

"One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team."

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team."

- Phil Jackson

"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

"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much."

- Helen Keller

"A company is only as good as the people it keeps."

- Mary Kay Ash

"Incredible things in the business world are never made by a single person, but by a team."

- Steve Jobs

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."

- Henry Ford

"The only way around is through."

- Robert Frost

"There are 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

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

"Opportunities don't happen. You create them."

- Chris Grosser

"Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going."

- Sam Levenson

"Do what you love, and success will follow. Passion is the fuel behind a successful career."

- Meg Whitman

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new."

- Socrates

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"To be successful, you must accept all challenges that come your way. You can't just accept the ones you like."

- Mike Gafka

"In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity."

- Albert Einstein

"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit."

- Conrad Hilton

"Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical."

- Howard Schultz

"You don't need to be a genius or a visionary or even a college graduate to be successful. You just need a framework and a dream."

- Michael Dell

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."

- Steve Jobs

"The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it."

- Debbi Fields

"To succeed in business, to reach the top, an individual must know all it is possible to know about that business."

- J. Paul Getty

"The golden rule for every businessman is this: Put yourself in your customer's place."

- Orison Swett Marden

"Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking."

- William Butler Yeats

"To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart."

- Thomas Watson

"It's not about ideas. It's about making ideas happen."

- Scott Belsky

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."

- Colin Powell

"Time, energy, and talent can be more important than budget."

- Steve Jobs

"The best way to do it, is to do it."

- Amelia Earhart

"Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again."

- Richard Branson

"Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world."

- Roy T. Bennett

"No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team."

- Reid Hoffman

"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

"Whether you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re right."

- Henry Ford

"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long University education that I never had – every day I’m learning something new."

- Richard Branson

"You shouldn’t focus on why you can’t do something, which is what most people do. You should focus on why perhaps you can, and be one of the exceptions."

- Steve Case

"It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen."

- Scott Belsky

"I don’t know the word ‘quit.’ Either I never did, or I have abolished it."

- Susan Butcher

"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

"Always deliver more than expected."

- Larry Page

"You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over."

- Richard Branson

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

- Lao Tzu

"If you’re passionate about something, and you work hard, then I think you will be successful."

- Pierre Omidyar

"Don’t be afraid to assert yourself, have confidence in your abilities and don’t let the bastards get you down."

- Michael Bloomberg

"I made a resolve then that I was going to amount to something if I could. And no hours, nor amount of labor, nor amount of money would deter me from giving the best that there was in me. And I have done that ever since, and I win by it. I know."

- Harlan Sanders

"Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard."

- Guy Kawasaki

"There’s 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

"If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business."

- Ray Kroc

"I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one."

- Bill Gates

"Sustaining a successful business is a hell of a lot of work, and staying hungry is half the battle."

- Wendy Tan White

"Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it."

- William Durant

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."

- Steve Jobs

"An entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a want to create."

- David Karp

"If you’re passionate about something and you work hard, then I think you will be successful."

- Pierre Omidyar

"Employees want to feel inspired by their leaders…hire individuals who will lead by example."

- Jody Kohner

"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 in space."

- Chris Hadfield

"I do not know the word ‘quit.’ Either I never did, or I have abolished it."

- Susan Butcher

"If you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, it’s too large."

- Jeff Bezos

"If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs."

- Dhirubhai Ambani

"Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you."

- Tony Hsieh

"I never dreamed about success. I worked for it."

- Estée Lauder

"The only way you are going to have success is to have lots of failures first."

- Sergey Brin

"The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow."

- Ingvar Kamprad

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."

- T.S. Eliot

"Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once."

- Drew Houston

"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Have the end in mind, and every day make sure you’re working towards it."

- Ryan Allis

"Nothing works better than just improving your product."

- Joel Spolsky

"Every problem is a gift — without problems we would not grow."

- Anthony Robbins

"Motivation is the catalyzing ingredient for every successful innovation."

- Clayton Christensen

"The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary."

- Vidal Sassoon

"Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that."

- Anthony Volodkin

"I got lucky because I never gave up the search. Are you quitting too soon? Or are you willing to pursue luck with a vengeance, too?"

- Jill Konrath

"If you approach 100 people for seed capital, 99 of them may say no. You just need that one."

- Dr. William F. Pickard

"When you find an idea that you just can’t stop thinking about, that’s probably a good one to pursue."

- Josh James

"Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations."

- Dr. Mae Jemison

"The fastest way to change yourself is to hang out with people who are already the way you want to be."

- Reid Hoffman

"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

"Don’t be afraid to assert yourself, have confidence in your abilities, and don’t let the bastards get you down."

- Michael Bloomberg

"Keep going, no matter what."

- Reginald F. Lewis

"Empower yourself and realize the importance of contributing to the world by living your talent. Work on what you love. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you."

- Catharina Bruns

"So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard."

- Caterina Fake

"It is always the start that requires the greatest effort."

- James Cash Penney

"The secret to successful hiring is this: Look for the people who want to change the world."

- Marc Benioff

"If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it’s moving you away from your goals."

- Brian Tracy

"Success is not in what you have, but who you are."

- Bo Bennett

"Failure is not about insecurity, it’s about lack of execution."

- Jeffrey Gitomer

"In order to succeed. We must first believe that we can."

- Nikos Kazantzakis

"The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others."

- Hasidic Proverb

"Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there."

- Will Rogers

"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 Pujols

"There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team."

- Jason Fried

"I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because, a lazy person will find an easy way to do it."

- Bill Gates

"Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."

- Henry David Thoreau

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."

- Bill Gates

"Diligence is the mother of good luck."

- Benjamin Franklin

"A person who is quietly confident makes the best leader."

- Fred Wilson

"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

"You just have to pay attention to what people need and what has not been done."

- Russell Simmons

"Trust your instincts."

- Estee Lauder

"Theory is splendid but until put into practice, it is valueless."

- James Cash Penney

"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

"Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and your integrity is worth more than your career."

- Ryan Freitas

"The value of an idea lies in the using of it."

- Thomas Edison

"If there’s something you want to build, but the tech isn’t there yet, just find the closest possible way to make it happen."

- Dennis Crowley

"Don’t try to be original, just try to be good."

- Paul Rand

"If you’re interested in the living heart of what you do, focus on building things rather than talking about them."

- Ryan Freitas

"Entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a want to create."

- David Karp

"The last 10% it takes to launch something takes as much energy as the first 90%."

- Rob Kalin

"When I’m old and dying, I plan to look back on my life and say ‘wow, that was an adventure,’ not ‘wow, I sure felt safe.’ "

- Tom Preston-Werner

"Turn a perceived risk into an asset."

- Aaron Patzer

"Anything that is measured and watched, improves."

- Bob Parsons

"No more romanticizing about how cool it is to be an entrepreneur. It’s a struggle to save your company’s life – and your own skin – every day of the week."

- Spencer Fry

"See things in the present, even if they are in the future."

- Larry Ellison

"You can’t make anything viral, but you can make something good."

- Peter Shankman

"It’s more effective to do something valuable than to hope a logo or name will say it for you."

- Jason Cohen

"Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result."

- Oscar Wilde

"Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning."

- Benjamin Franklin

"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it."

- Bruce Lee

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."

- Helen Keller

"High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation."

- Charles F. Kettering

"Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle."

- Napoleon Hill

"Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it."

- Andy Rooney

"Mistakes are the growing pains of wisdom."

- William George Jordan

"It’s very easy to be different but very difficult to be better."

- Jonathan Ive

"Happy employees lead to happy customers, which leads to more profits."

- Vaughn Aust

"Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable."

- Coco Chanel

"I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity."

- Oprah Winfrey

"The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new."

- Socrates

"It's not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change."

- Charles Darwin

"Dragons take on many forms – the hardest task of the day, a new responsibility, an impending deadline, or even dealing with conflict – and the trick is to just slay the dragon and move on. Don't overthink it. To succeed, you have to have the confidence to take things head on and keep moving forward."

- Sarah Mannone

"Growth is painful. Change is painful. But, nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong."

- N. R. Narayana Murthy

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

- John D. Rockefeller

"Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion."

- Tony Hsieh

"If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary."

- Jim Rohn

"Don't give up, don't take anything personally, and don't take no for an answer; you never know what you're going to learn along the way."

- Sophia Amoruso

"Rarely are opportunities presented to you in a perfect way. In a nice little box with a yellow bow on top. 'Here, open it, it's perfect. You'll love it.' Opportunities - the good ones - are messy, confusing and hard to recognize. They're risky. They challenge you."

- Susan Wojcicki

"If you can't feed a team with two pizzas, it's too large."

- Jeff Bezos

"When entire companies embrace a growth mindset, their employees report feeling far more empowered and committed; they also receive far greater organizational support for collaboration and innovation."

- Carol Dweck

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

- Albert Einstein

"Building a business is knowing how to do something, being proud, is to create something that will make a real difference in other people's lives."

- Richard Branson

"If you don't build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs."

- Dhirubhai Ambani

"The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence—it is to act with yesterday's logic."

- Peter Drucker

"[Businesses] rarely come up for air to re-evaluate how they are selling. This means that current sales practices, process, and organisational structure may in fact be hindering their growth more than any external factor they believe they are facing."

- Tiffani Bova, Salesforce Global Customer Growth and Innovation Evangelist

"Accenture forecasts that AI could double the economic growth rates of 12 major countries by 2035. These gains will come from computers doing what they have always been good at — freeing us to make better use of our time. For instance, AI makes it possible to automate routine tasks such as responding to simple customer questions. It can also be used to spot changes in customer preferences, identify visual problems in manufacturing, further automate agriculture, identify fraud, and better inform business decision-making."

- Richard Socher, Chief Scientist, Salesforce

"The technology driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution gives companies an ever-greater influence on how we live, work, and function as a society. As a result, customers expect business leaders to widen their focus beyond the narrow interests of shareholders. This longer-term, broader strategic approach has proven rewards. McKinsey found that companies that take a longer view than quarterly shareholder reporting outperform their peers, with 47% higher average revenue growth and 36% better earnings growth."

- Miguel Milano, President, EMEA, Salesforce

"Money is like gasoline during a road trip. You don’t want to run out of gas on your trip, but you’re not doing a tour of gas stations."

- Tim O’Reilly

"Get a mentor in the applicable field if you’re at all unsure of what you’re looking for."

- Kyle Bragger

"Fortunes are built during the down market and collected in the up market."

- Jason Calacanis

"Someone once told me growth and comfort do not coexist. And I think it's a really good thing to remember."

- Ginni Rometty

"Stay self-funded as long as possible."

- Garrett Camp

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."

- Babe Ruth

"I doubt I’ll ever go back to corporate work. Once you see the light, there is no turning back."

- Magnus Jepson

"Don't stress about not having it all figured out. Social media can make us think that we're the only one not "trending up and to the right." Focus intently on where you are at now and use this as leverage while everyone else is focused on projecting where they want to be rather than where they actually are."

- Angela Benton

"Comfort is the enemy of achievement."

- Farrah Gray

"Don’t play games that you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them."

- Tony Hsieh

"Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, reassessing and regrouping."

- Julia Margaret Cameron

"I don’t think an economic slump will hurt good ideas."

- Rob Kalin

"Best startups generally come from somebody needing to scratch an itch."

- Michael Arrington

"It’s hard to do a really good job on anything you don’t think about in the shower."

- Paul Graham

"Get big quietly, so you don’t tip off potential competitors."

- Chris Dixon

"It’s not that we need new ideas, but we need to stop having old ideas."

- Edwin Land

"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."

- John F. Kennedy

"You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety."

- Abraham Maslow

"I don't focus on what I'm up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest."

- Venus Williams

"Get five or six of your smartest friends in a room and ask them to rate your idea."

- Mark Pincus

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

- Anaïs Nin

"Always look for the fool in the deal. If you don’t find one, it’s you."

- Mark Cuban

"Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect."

- Jack Dorsey

"Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop."

- Jeffrey Zeldman

"Wonder what your customer really wants? Ask. Don’t tell."

- Lisa Stone

"If you define yourself by how you differ from the competition, you’re probably in trouble."

- Omar Hamoui

"Even if you don’t have the perfect idea to begin with, you can likely adapt."

- Victoria Ransom

"We are really competing against ourselves, we have no control over how other people perform."

- Pete Cashmore

"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

"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

"As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big."

- Donald Trump

"The first one gets the oyster, the second gets the shell."

- Andrew Carnegie

"The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same."

- Colin R. Davis

"Customer experience professionals love to think about their customer journey maps, but these can be very rigid. How many consumers follow the same exact path to get to their outcome? Very few. I believe consumer experiences need to be far more dynamic than they are today — not just personalised, which we've been talking about for a few years. After all, companies can leverage data about customers in the moment — what they did in the last 24 minutes or hours, not in the last 24 days."

- Tom Puthiyamadam, Digital Service and BXT Leader, PwC

"Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games."

- Babe Ruth

"The best investment is in the tools of one’s own trade."

- Benjamin Franklin

"We've been talking about the importance of customer-centricity for some time. But until now retailers have lacked both the technology and the mandate to connect marketing, sales, service, and commerce systems to enable a 360-degree view of the customer. Now that relevant and personalised engagement has emerged as a key differentiator, retailers will finally make the investments to deliver on the promise of putting the customer at the center of everything they do."

- Rob Garf, Vice President, Industry Strategy & Insights, Salesforce

"I don’t like to lose — at anything — yet, I’ve grown most not from victories, but setbacks."

- Serena Williams

"Every moment is a fresh beginning."

- T.S. Eliot

"They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."

- Andy Warhol

"AI is about more than replacing each worker with a robot. It will involve the disruption and reshaping of whole industries. Business models will evolve to be quite transparent. In a world of AI, consumers will have high access to information, perhaps using their digital assistant to find the best price or analyse which product has received the best reviews. It will no longer be possible to use information asymmetry to charge people a disproportionate amount."

- Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, CEO, Sinovation Ventures

"Workers will need different skills to thrive in the workplace of the future. We'll see a growing demand for advanced technological skills such as programming. Social, emotional, and higher cognitive skills — such as creativity, critical thinking, and complex information processing — will also be in demand. Growing occupations, meanwhile, will include those with difficult-to-automate activities, such as managers and doctors, as well as care workers and teachers. Training and retraining mid-career workers and new generations for the coming challenges will be another imperative."

- James Manyika, Chairman and Director, McKinsey Global Institute

"AI is about enabling machines to augment humans — in other words, to complement human skills — rather than merely replace them. In most cases, AI's skills are different to a human's, so we are moving towards a symbiosis of the two."

- Robin Bordoli, CEO, Figure Eight

"Avoiding mistakes costs more than making them."

- Omer Shai

"It's important to be willing to make mistakes. The worst thing that can happen is you become memorable."

- Sara Blakely

"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions."

- Albert Einstein

"Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it."

- Andy Rooney

"I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars – I look for 1-foot bars that I can step over."

- Warren Buffett

"I like the impossible. There, the competition is smaller."

- Walt Disney

"Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along."

- George Herbert

"There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder."

- Ronald Reagan

"Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead."

- Nelson Mandela

"Don’t worry about funding if you don’t need it. Today it’s cheaper to start a business than ever."

- Noah Everett

"If you’re going to put your product in beta – put your business model in beta with it."

- Joe Kraus

"I try not to make any decisions that I’m not excited about."

- Jake Nickell

"We find comfort among those who agree with us - growth among those who don't."

- Frank Howard Clark

"I like to pride myself on thinking pretty long term, but not that long term."

- Mark Zuckerberg

"In 1950, only 55% of the working-age population in the U.S. was employed. By 2015, that percentage had risen to 60% — representing a net increase of about 100 million jobs — after many potentially job-killing technologies had been introduced. These included shipping cranes, ATMs, and personal computer spreadsheets. The same could well be true of [AI], especially if we put into place the innovations in education that could help people adapt."

- Peter Schwartz, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning, Salesforce

"Consumers now expect to be able to get things, talk to someone, and do what they want at any time. That's led to a divide. Some companies and products provide such a perfect, seamless experience that it has raised the bar. In fact, it's so easy and seamless that we kind of forget to be impressed. But what they're doing is making the ones that don't deliver that kind of great experience all the more obvious."

- Susan Weinschenk, Chief Behavioural Scientist and CEO, The Team W

"Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength."

- Sigmund Freud

"You don't need to know how the technology of a microwave works to use it — it is simply a tool. We're now entering the same phase with AI, thanks to the huge influx of no-code, point‑and-click tools. AI will become a widely used utility by everyone, regardless of technical background. As a result, most of the AI applications in the coming years will be built by people with little or no AI training."

- Vitaly Gordon, Vice President, Data Science and Engineering, Einstein, Salesforce

"The shift to lifelong learning is absolutely essential. As the pace of technological change quickens, we need to be sure that employees are keeping up with the right skills to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. That applies to both technical and soft skills. There will be changes in both areas."

- Zvika Krieger, Head of Technology Policy and Partnerships, Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum

"Beyond doing the right thing for their workers, companies have another reason to lean into workforce development initiatives: their own competitiveness. As demand for skills for the intelligent era heat up, so too will a war for talent."

- Sarah Franklin, EVP and GM of Trailhead and Developer Relations, Salesforce

"[Values are not] just about slogans you put on your office wall or website. We're talking about the bedrock principles that guide the day-to-day way everyone at your company works together. It's what guides leaders' choices in complex matters like doing more for customers and protecting employees' rights. Smart companies ensure their values and behaviours support their strategy … When companies live out strong values, employees buy in. Conversely, if people don't see evidence that they're being offered the same opportunities as others — or the same amount of respect, because of their gender, race, or age — buy-in erodes."

- Michael Bush, CEO, Great Place to Work

"Companies that take a long-term view and consider a wide range of stakeholders — such as customers, employees, partners, the environment, and the communities in which we serve — have been shown to be more sustainable, innovative, and profitable. This need for the CEO to navigate through these new moral and ethical questions, and to take responsibility for the societal impacts of these technologies, isn't just about corporate social responsibility anymore. It's about the core business interests of these companies."

- Zvika Krieger, Head of Technology Policy and Partnerships, Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum

"It's not enough for businesses to say, 'We value the security and privacy of our customers' data.' Businesses need to show how they are doing that, then let customers decide for themselves what information is appropriate to use and what's not. It shouldn't come as a surprise that 92% of customers say they're more likely to trust a business with their data when they're given control over what information is collected and ultimately used."

- Lindsey Finch, Senior Vice President, Global Privacy and Product Legal, Salesforce

"Data itself is not enough to create personalised experiences. Artificial intelligence is required to turn a comprehensive data trove into insights that can anticipate customers' needs and act as their digital assistant. Much like his or her pre-industrial counterpart, a B2I (business-to-individual) virtual tailor, for example, would know each individual's measurements and tastes in fabrics, styles, and other variables, and could thus make highly personalised recommendations."

- Peter Schwartz, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning, Salesforce

"It's often said that 'data is the new oil.' Instead, we'd argue that it's trust that will decide whether businesses — and the Fourth Industrial Revolution itself — succeed. There is both a moral and business imperative to do more than increase profits. My fellow CFOs and other leaders should respond to today's rapid technological and societal change by taking a long-term view."

- Mark Hawkins, President and Chief Financial Officer, Salesforce

"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

"Imagine a customer walking up to a supermarket shelf and holding his or her smartphone up against different bags of potato chips. Using image processing, language processing, and analytics, AI-enabled systems can help that customer check which brand is best for their low-sodium diet, or whatever their taste profile might be."

- Glen Hartman, Senior Managing Director, Accenture Interactive

"Behold the turtle, he makes progress only when he sticks his neck out."

- Bruce Levin

"As the technology driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution has an ever-greater impact on everyone's lives, people expect business leaders to take on a bigger role in society than just running their companies. That means businesses need to have corporate values beyond looking after the interests of shareholders. They must take responsibility for other stakeholders, too: their customers, employees, suppliers, and communities."

- Simon Mulcahy, Chief Innovation Officer, Salesforce, & Nicholas Davis, Head of Society and Innovation, World Economic Forum

"You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens."

- Louise L. Hay

"Fall seven times and stand up eight."

- Japanese Proverb

"Don’t take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive."

- Elbert Hubbard

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

- Douglas Adams

"Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness."

"For success, attitude is equally as important as ability."

"High expectations are the key to everything."

"I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out."

"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."

"Success is not just about making money. It's about making a difference."

"Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning."

"The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself."

"Fail often so you can succeed sooner."

"Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth."

"Please note that I am self-employed. If you see me talking to myself, please do not disturb. I am having a staff meeting."