“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”
“Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.”
“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”
“Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.”
“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.”
“I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.”
“The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.”
“I could either watch it happen or be a part of it.”
“You want to be extra rigorous about making the best possible thing you can. Find everything that’s wrong with it and fix it.”
“Constantly seek criticism. A well thought out critique of what you’re doing is as valuable as gold.”
“Great companies are built on great products.”
“I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness, to make sure it continues into the future.”
“You shouldn’t do things differently just because they’re different. They need to be better.”
“Work like hell. I mean you just have to put in 80 to 100-hour weeks every week. This improves the odds of success.”
“Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time.”
“Don’t confuse schooling with education. I didn’t go to Harvard, but the people that work for me did.”
“It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.”
“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.”
“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.”
“I think life on Earth must be about more than just solving problems. It’s got to be something inspiring, even if it is vicarious.”
“You have to say, ‘Well, why did it succeed where others did not?’”
“Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death.”
“Take risks now and do something bold. You won’t regret it.”
“Starting a company is like chewing glass and staring into the abyss. If you feel like that, then start a company.”
“Talent is extremely important. It’s like a sports team, the team that has the best individual player will often win, but then there’s a multiplier from how those players work together and the strategy they employ.”
“The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads. That sucks.”
“If you go back a few hundred years, what we take for granted today would seem like magic—being able to talk to people over long distances, transmit images, fly, access vast amounts of data instantly.”
“We’re going to make it happen. As God is my bloody witness, I’m hell-bent on making it work.”
“It is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.”
“Any product that needs a manual to work is broken.”
“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.”
“The idea of lying on a beach as my main thing just sounds like the worst. It sounds horrible to me. I would go bonkers. I would have to be on serious drugs.”
“We need things that make us excited to be alive. That’s why we did this.”
“I’m interested in things that change the world or that affect the future and wondrous, new technology where you see it, and you’re like, ‘Wow, how did that even happen?’”
“Patience is a virtue, and I’m learning patience. It’s a tough lesson.”
“There’s a tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their ass-covering.”
“What makes innovative thinking happen? I think it’s really a mindset. You have to decide.”
“Life is too short for long-term grudges.”
“Some people wish it would happen. Some people want it to happen. Others make it happen.”
“The only thing that makes sense is to strive for greater collective enlightenment.”
Goodbye Elon Musk’s fans.
