Most people don’t just end up rich, unless you’re some kind of royalty, and they don’t get become successful by accident.
Whether you need a pick me up, or are looking for sound advice, these quotes from Forbes’s top ten billionaires will give you something to think about.
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On Entrepreneurship and Business
- Jeff Bezos, Founder and of Amazon
“Many companies describe themselves as customer-focused, but few walk the walk. Most big technology companies are competitor-focused. They see what others are doing, and then work to follow fast.”
- Bill Gates, Cofounder of Microsoft
“We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next 10. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.”
- Warren Buffett, “Wizard” Investor and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway
“If there’s one thing to remember: Delight your customer.”
“If [entrepreneurs] could write this on their mirror so that they saw it in the morning when they got up every day — they could write it in Sharpie, they could write it in lipstick, they could write it in soap.”
- Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE
“When you are on the management side, you still have to understand the artistic sensibility so that there is a dialogue with the creative side.”
- Mark Zuckerberg, Cofounder and CEO of Facebook
“Simply put: we don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.”
- Amancio Ortega, Cofounder of Inditex Fashion Group
“Success is never guaranteed… Complacency is the worst.”
“I never allow myself to be content with what I have done, and I have always tried to instill this in everyone around me.”
- Carlos Slim Helu, Business Magnate and Investor
I think one of the big errors people are making right now is thinking that old-style businesses will be obsolete, when actually they will be an important part of this new civilization.
- Charles Koch, CEO of Koch Industries Inc.
“Being captive to quarterly earnings isn’t consistent with long-term value creation. This pressure and the short-term focus of equity markets make it difficult for a public company to invest for long-term success, and tend to force company leaders to sacrifice long-term results to protect current earnings.”
- David Koch, Former Executive Vice President of Koch Industries
“Short term, taking the principled path (is) going to cause some companies some problems, as it will Koch industries, but long term it will allow business people to continue to own and run their businesses.”
- Larry Ellison, Cofounder of Oracle Corporation
“You can’t worry about it, you can’t panic when you look at the stock market’s decline or you get frozen like a deer in the headlights. All you can do is all you can do.”
Sound Life Advice
- Jeff Bezos, Founder and of Amazon
“Life’s too short to hang out with people who aren’t resourceful.”
- Bill Gates, Cofounder of Microsoft
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”
- Warren Buffett, “Wizard” Investor and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway
“You’ve gotta keep control of your time, and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.”
- Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE
“When something has to be done, do it. In France, we are full of good ideas, but we rarely put them into practice.”
- Mark Zuckerberg, Cofounder and CEO of Facebook
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk…. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”
- Amancio Ortega, Cofounder of Inditex Fashion Group
“We cannot limit ourselves to continuing on the path we have already opened”
- Carlos Slim Helu, Business Magnate and Investor
“Competition makes you better, always, always makes you better, even if the competitor wins.”
- Charles Koch, CEO of Koch Industries Inc.
“My father would always say ‘learn everything you can and whenever you can, because you never know when it’ll come in handy.’”
- David Koch, Former Executive Vice President of Koch Industries
“After I pass on to another life, I would like the people to think of David Koch and my brother Charles as people who did everything they could to make the world a better place to live… I’m doing my darndest to make that happen, and so people think of me in a positive light. That my life was a good life, that I contributed immensely to improve the well-being of others.”
- Larry Ellison, Cofounder of Oracle Corporation
“I have had all of the disadvantages required for success.”