Here Are 30 Brilliant Quotes From Eccentric Billionaire Elon Musk

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is one of the most influential tech entrepreneurs of our generation, and he is not your average billionaire.

Rather than use the wealth he’s attained for leisure (yachts, mansions, cool cars, etc.), Musk has repeatedly shown that he would prefer to spend his money to build companies that are working to change the world.

We collected a few incredible words from an incredible businessman, designer, and thinker.

Take a peek inside the mind of a genius:

30 Brilliant Quotes From Eccentric Billionaire Elon Musk

1. “Life is too short for long-term grudges.”
2. “Great companies are built on great products.”
3. “Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.”
4. “It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.”
5. “The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.”
6. “It’s very important to like the people you work with, otherwise life [and] your job is gonna be quite miserable.”
7. “If you’re trying to create a company, it’s like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion.”
8. “You shouldn’t do things differently just because they’re different. They need to be… better.”
9. “I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness to make sure it continues into the future.”
10. “Patience is a virtue, and I’m learning patience. It’s a tough lesson.”

    

11. “Any product that needs a manual to work is broken.”
12. “I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.”
13. “What makes innovative thinking happen?… I think it’s really a mindset. You have to decide.”
14. “Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”
15. “Constantly think about how you could be doing things better and keep questioning yourself.”

    

16. “If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.”
17. “Optimism, pessimism, f*** that; we’re going to make it happen. As God as my bloody witness, I’m hell-bent on making it work.”
18. “Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.”
19. “[Physics is] a good framework for thinking. …Boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there.”
20. “[My biggest mistake is probably] weighing too much on someone’s talent and not someone’s personality,” said Elon Musk. “I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.”

    

21. “You want to be extra rigorous about making the best possible thing you can. Find everything that’s wrong with it and fix it. Seek negative feedback, particularly from friends.”
22. “Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.”
23. “People should pursue what they’re passionate about. That will make them happier than pretty much anything else.”
24. “As much as possible, avoid hiring MBAs. MBA programs don’t teach people how to create companies.”
25. “I think that’s the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.”

    

26. “When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.”
27. “The path to the CEO’s office should not be through the CFO’s office, and it should not be through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and design.”
28. “People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.”
29. “Don’t delude yourself into thinking something’s working when it’s not, or you’re gonna get fixated on a bad solution.”
30. “If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.”