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The entrepreneurial journey isn’t linear. It has its ups and downs and zigs and zags.
There’ll be days when you face Criticism, Rejection, Adversity and Prejudice. Days when the pasture of the employed seems greener than the self-sown pasture of the entrepreneur. And days when you begin to question whether the sacrifices you’ve made were worth it.
Then there’ll be other days when you’re smelling the roses – dreaming more, doing more, becoming more… Days when you hit your goals and a rush of dopamine replaces procrastination and self-doubt with motivation and confidence.
Quotes for Start-ups & Entrepreneurs
To give you a motivational boost to push through the rough days into the smooth, we’ve curated this list of 26 inspiring quotes for start-ups and entrepreneurs:
- “Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines.”
– Robert Schuller
- “Wisdom is knowing what to do next, Skill is knowing how to do it, and Virtue is doing it.”
– David Starr Jordan
- “If you play it safe, no-one will ever know who you are.”
– Steve Jobs
- “Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”
– Bruce Lee
- “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
– Winston Churchill
- “To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.”
– Reba McEntire
- “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”
– Mark Twain
- “Bring the best of your authentic self to every opportunity.”
– John Jantsch
- “Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth.”
– anon
- “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”
– Henry Ford
- “Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.”
– Coco Chanel
- “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
– John Quincy Adams
- “If you do what you always did, you will get what you always got.”
– Albert Einstein
- “Don’t compare your behind the scenes with someone else’s highlight reel.”
– Steven Furtick
- “Don’t settle: Don’t finish crappy books. If you don’t like the menu, leave the restaurant. If you’re not on the right path, get off it.”
– Chris Brogan
- “Leaders grasp nettles.”
– David Ogilvy
- “What makes you different or weird, that’s your strength.”
– Meryl Streep
- “You create a credible brand by staying true to who you are.”
– Hillary Sawchuk
- “Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
– Calvin Coolidge
- “The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.”
– Seth Godin
- “You don’t have to have the answer to ask a great question. A great question will ultimately get an answer.”
– Michael J. Marquardt
- “The compass of accurate knowledge directs the shortest, safest, cheapest course to any destination.”
– Claude Hopkins
- “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”
– Pablo Picasso
- “Great execution is the ultimate differentiator.”
– Margaret Molloy
- “The value of an idea lies in the using of it.”
– Thomas Edison
- “Creativity takes courage.”
– Henri Matisse
Bookmark these inspiring quotes so you can return to them again and again. They’ll put the challenges of entrepreneurial life into perspective and give you a dose of courage to bring your dreams into reality.
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