2016 has started off pretty good. Focusing on myself has been the best idea.— Author Unknown
648 Success Quotes
Success is not what other people clap for. It is what you would still want if no one was watching.
The trouble with success is that most people are chasing someone else's definition of it. They want what the algorithm shows them. They want what their parents wanted for them. They want what their friends seem to have. Then they get it and feel hollow, which is the hardest version of disappointment because you cannot blame the universe. You got what you asked for.
These 648 success quotes cover the whole arc. The ambition side, with Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy, James Clear, and Simon Sinek on the daily work of building something. The wisdom side, with Maya Angelou and Viktor Frankl on what actually matters when you slow down enough to ask. And the honest side, with quotes about failure, comparison, burnout, and the cost of climbing the wrong ladder.
Success that lasts has a few common features. It is yours, not borrowed. It includes the people you love, not despite them. It is built on something you would do even if no one paid you. It is sustainable, not extracted from your health or your relationships. If your version of success requires you to sacrifice every other thing that makes a life good, it is not actually success. It is a trade.
Save the quotes that change how you define the word. Those are the ones that change a life.
Success Quotes: Frequently Asked Questions
What is success, really?
Success is whatever you defined it to be at the start, which is why so many people end up unhappy after they get it. They never defined it. They inherited a definition. Real success is the version you would still want with no audience. It might include money. It might not. The honest test is what you would still do if no one ever found out.
What is the best success quote?
Maya Angelou wrote 'Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.' Three conditions. Most people get one. If you have all three, you are succeeding regardless of what your bank statement says. For the discipline angle, James Clear's 'You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.' Both belong on the wall.
Is failure really required for success?
Not romantically, but practically yes. Every interesting thing you do will involve being bad at it first. The willingness to be a beginner in public is the price of entry for getting good at anything. People who never fail are usually people who never tried anything that mattered. Failure is not the opposite of success. It is part of it.
What do successful people actually do differently?
Research on long-term high performers shows a few patterns. They keep a small number of priorities and protect them. They get more sleep than the hustle crowd would have you believe, usually 7 to 8 hours. They have at least one person who tells them the truth. They learn from feedback faster than average. None of that is glamorous. All of it works.
648 quotes
All topics ›A healthy mind does not speak ill of others behind their back.— Author Unknown
A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.— Elbert Hubbard
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A lot of people give up too easily. You are closest to your victory when you face the greatest opposition.— Joel Osteen
A short pencil is better than a long memory.— Author Unknown
A single focused hour beats a scattered day every time.— Author Unknown
A year from now you will wish you had started today.— Karen Lamb
Action is the foundational key to all success.— Pablo Picasso
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.— Michael John Bobak
Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs: the future can better than the present, and I have the power to make it so.— David Brooks
Always deliver more than expected.— Larry Page
Always focus on how far you've come, rather than how far you have left to go.— Author Unknown
Always go with the choice that scares you the most, because that's the one that is going to help you grow.— Caroline Myss
Ambition backed by discipline is unstoppable.— Author Unknown
Ambition is putting a ladder against the sky.— Author Unknown
An investment in knowledge pays the best dividends.— Benjamin Franklin
All successful men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.— Brian Tracy
Are you scared? Or are you not ready? There is a difference.— Author Unknown
Aspire not to have more, but to be more.— Oscar Romero
At mile 40, I thought I was dead. At mile 60, I wished I was dead. At mile 80, I knew I was dead. At mile 100, I realized I had become too tough to kill. - Unknown *This is from an ultramarathon.— Author Unknown
Be a witness, not a judge. Focus on yourself, not on others. Listen to your heart, not to the crowd.— Author Unknown
Be all in or get out. There is no halfway.— Author Unknown
Be an Optimist Prime not a Negatron.— Author Unknown
Be good to people. You will be remembered more for your kindness than any level of success you could possibly attain.— Mandy Hale
Be reliable. It is rarer than talent.— Author Unknown
Be so good they can't ignore you. Then don't stop.— Author Unknown
Be somebody nobody thought you could be.— Author Unknown
Be stubborn about your goals and flexible about your methods.— Author Unknown
Be the hardest working person you can be. That's how you separate yourself from the competition.— Stephen Curry
Be the kind of person who finishes things.— Author Unknown