40+ Entrepreneur Quotes To Motivate And Inspire Your Next Venture

Starting any kind of new venture or chapter in life is nerve-racking, but especially one where money is involved. So many things can go wrong, especially in the nascent stage when failure after failure seems to be so par for the course that it gets exhausting lifting yourself up to try again and again. But as any successful businessperson or entrepreneur will tell you, failure is part of the equation. Otherwise, how would you ever learn? Luckily, many who have made it over the hill have imparted us with nuggets of wisdom in inspirational and motivational entrepreneur quotes to help get us over that next hurdle. We have rounded up some of our favorites in the hopes they galvanize you as well.

Looking for more quotes and sayings? We have Eckhart Tolle quotes, quotes about feeling lost, confidence, success, and even business jokes, among many others. Consider us your personal cheerleader as you read them, below.

1. “I have a simple philosophy: Fill what’s empty. Empty, what’s full. Scratch where it itches.” — Alice Roosevelt Longworth

2. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas Edison 3. “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 4. “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 5. “The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs, one step at a time.” — Joe Girard 6. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” — Walt Disney 7. “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 8. “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 9. “So often, people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.” — Caterina Fake 10. “Nobody talks about entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking. Running that first shop taught me business is not financial science; it’s about trading: buying and selling.” — Anita Roddick 11. “How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.” — Yvon Chouinard 12. “Optimist: Someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it’s more like a cha-cha.” — Robert Brault 13. “Follow your passion — and if you don’t know what it is, realize that one reason for your existence on earth is to find it.” — Oprah Winfrey 14. “I want every little girl who’s been told she’s bossy to be told again she has leadership skills.” — Sheryl Sandberg 15. “Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. And, when you stumble, keep faith. And, when you’re knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.” — Hillary Clinton 16. “Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist — while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist!” — Lori Greiner 17. “I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.” — Lily Tomlin 18. “I’m not bossy, I’m the boss.” — Beyoncé 19. “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 other’s 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 20. “Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” — Coco Chanel 21. “Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally. It comes from what you do consistently.” — Marie Forleo 22. “By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.” — Robert Frost 23. “The challenge of a leader is looking around the corner and making the change before it’s too late to make the change.” — Indra Nooyi 24. “If you are starting your own business, the best shortcut is to find a good mentor.” — Kim Kiyosaki 25. “Follow your passion, stay true to yourself, never follow someone else’s path unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost, and you see a path, then by all means, you should follow that.” — Ellen DeGeneres 26. “The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend time feeling sorry for themselves.” — Barbara Corcoran 27. “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 28. “There are many things you can do overnight, but there is no overnight success.” — Tory Burch 29. “I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade and try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.” — Ron White 30. “If you are giving a lot of value, if you are making an impact in people’s lives, it will be reflected in your bank account.” — Millie Leung 31. “You never lose in business. Either you win, or you learn.” — Melinda Emerson 32. “You have to see failure as the beginning and the middle, but never entertain it as an end.” — Jessica Herrin 33. “If we tried to think of a good idea, we wouldn’t have been able to think of a good idea. You just have to find the solution for a problem in your own life.” — Brian Chesky 34. “One of the greatest skills of leadership is being unflappable. Anytime you do anything in the world, there’s going to be criticism.” — Arianna Huffington 35. “When you are building a startup, it’s difficult. Particularly, a startup that is expanding at the rate of Tinder. You have to give 100 percent, and you have to be committed. Solving the problem has to be personal or else you’re going to disintegrate.” — Sean Rad 36. “Ignore the hype of the startups that you see in the press. Mostly, it’s a pack of lies. Half of these startups will be dead in a year. So, focus on building your business so you can be the one left standing.” — Jules Pieri 37. “When in doubt, bootstrap. Using your own personal resources is the easiest way to start a business. You don’t have to convince investors about the merits of your idea. You just have to convince yourself.” — Ryan Holmes 38. “Starting a company extracts so much energy and conviction that not having a clear-cut goal and meaningful mission can hamper your success. This is why, at Virta, our mission was clearly defined: Reverse early type 2 diabetes in 100 million people by 2025.” — Sami Inkinen 39. “If you know too much before the start, then you will get overwhelmed. Come up with an original idea and don’t copy because there will be no passion. You need that otherworldly passion. Just start.” — Jeni Britton Bauer 40. “Don’t assume that borrowing lots of money can make your startup fly. There are many things to the business other than investors, and it’s possible to succeed with your startup without breaking the bank.” — Barnaby Lashbrooke 41. “Don’t try to do everything by yourself, but try to connect with people and resources. Having that discipline and perseverance is really important.” — Chieu Cao 42. “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, founder of WorkIsNotaJob 43. “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” — Vince Lombardi 44. “The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.” — Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese 45. “If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it’s moving you away from your goals.” — Brian Tracy, CEO of Brian Tracy International 46. “Success is not in what you have, but who you are.” — Bo Bennett, founder of eBookit.com