Best Business Quotes to Inspire, Uplift & Motivate You Every Day

“No one on his deathbed ever said, I wish I had spent more time on my business.”

“A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.”

“The fact of the matter is that fewer people in Tokyo are able to do business in English than in many other big Asian cities, like Shanghai, Seoul or Bangkok.”

“The Kingdom is the love of God prevailing in politics, in business, in government, in media. It is all the impact of the laws of God creating a social environment where the strong help the weak, where those who have give to those who don't. It's a society where relationships are built on love.”

“If a business does well, the stock eventually follows.”

“As far as this business of solitary confinement goes, the most important thing for survival is communication with someone, even if it's only a wave or a wink, a tap on the wall, or to have a guy put his thumb up. It makes all the difference.”

“Cash is king, and the bloodline of any business. I believe that any business should have sufficient cash flow.”

“'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.”

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help... Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business - you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

“I may be president of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damned business.”

“There are two ways to extend a business. Take inventory of what you're good at and extend out from your skills. Or determine what your customers need and work backward, even if it requires learning new skills. Kindle is an example of working backward.”

“Don't get married until you're certain that you're marrying the right girl. How did I know my wife was the one? I'd seen her for a couple of months. I liked her. She was a very creative person and she had a very good grip on politics and business.”

“I think the path is different for everybody. Go after the doors that are open to you. That has always been my motto getting into the music business. Do the things that seem to be good opportunities and work hard at it. Try to make good decisions and be nice. Hopefully all of that will pay off at some point.”

“It's business inside the ring, but outside it, it's friendship and brotherhood. I try to do that with all my opponents.”

“Starting my own business was kind of a wakeup call in a number of different ways. I had to meet a payroll every week, and we had to satisfy customers, and we had competitors that we had to compete with in order to have those customers come into our stores, and we had to compete with other employers for our employees.”

“I served in all commissioned ranks from a second Lieutenant to a Major General. And during that time, I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street, and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism.”

“To rule a country of a thousand chariots, there must be reverent attention to business, and sincerity; economy in expenditure, and love for men; and the employment of the people at the proper seasons.”

“I've met some very powerful, amazing women in this business but they always seem to be just underneath the man.”

“I don't think that faith, whatever you're being faithful about, really can be scientifically explained. And I don't want to explain this whole life business through truth, science. There's so much mystery. There's so much awe.”

“My parents were in the book business, my brothers still run the Dutton bookstores in Los Angeles, and I've been interested in editing books and journals all of my life.”

“I think retirement's for old people. I'm still in the business, thank you. I have a young child of nine years old, and I want to live as long as I can to see him grow up. I'm enjoying my life and I want to stick around for as long as I can.”

“Once America's CEOs get back to the business of growing their companies rather than growing their share prices, shareholder value will take care of itself, and all Americans will share in the higher wages and other benefits of a renewed era of economic growth.”

“When you're an actor or actress in this business, usually the natural progression is to direct, but a lot of times, we don't get a chance to get to it. Myself, I really want to get into it. I want to be the person who eventually doesn't have to be in front of the camera.”

“Hackers are breaking the systems for profit. Before, it was about intellectual curiosity and pursuit of knowledge and thrill, and now hacking is big business.”

“You can make a lot of mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient.”

“If you were in Clint Eastwood movies, you were in the Clint Eastwood movie business. You weren't in the movie business. You weren't part of Hollywood. This became clear early on; people stopped calling. They automatically assumed I was working exclusively with Clint.”

“My recipe for dealing with anger and frustration: set the kitchen timer for twenty minutes, cry, rant, and rave, and at the sound of the bell, simmer down and go about business as usual.”

“And I think it's a prudent, responsible way, given the scale of the emergency, the scale of the damage still facing America, that we finance these additional support for the unemployed as well as the support for small business. We think there's a good case for doing it now. We want to do it in an overall fiscally responsible way.”

“The sooner you accept the fact that you will have both successes and failures, the easier it will be to get your business and personal life headed in the right direction.”

“We all have a choice. We can create transformational action that will safeguard the living conditions for future generations. Or we can continue with our business as usual and fail.”

“I made two or three albums with money from my own pocket, but I couldn't get them released or played on the radio. I got tired of beating my brains out. I got very depressed. I took a break from the business. Then I got bored with that and had to come back.”

“The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes twelve percent. But war-time profits - ah! that is another matter - twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent - the sky is the limit.”

“I think a simple rule of business is, if you do the things that are easier first, then you can actually make a lot of progress.”

“Having George W. Bush giving a lecture on business ethics is like having a leper give you a facial, it just doesn't work!”

“Yet our small business owners across the country are unfairly losing potential interest income on a daily basis until the Business Checking Freedom Act becomes law.”

“Businesses should be focused on business, and social responsibility should be government responsibility.”

“When someone takes their existing business and tries to transform it into something else - they fail. In technology that is often the case. Look at Kodak: it was the dominant imaging company in the world. They did fabulously during the great depression, but then wiped out the shareholders because of technological change.”

“Banking is a very treacherous business because you don't realize it is risky until it is too late. It is like calm waters that deliver huge storms.”

“If an actor knows how to milk a cow, I always know it will not be difficult to be in business with him.”

“Civilizations are not remembered by their business people, their bankers or lawyers. They're remembered by the arts.”

“Other than my sexuality, I am vulnerable regarding my physical appearance, as I am not what people considered ideal by most standards. For the entertainment business, I am not the body type of what is typically cast for television or movies.”

“Indomitable perseverance in a business, properly understood, always ensures ultimate success.”

“I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations.”

“I suppose it's possible that a writer would have feeling for his characters, but I can't see how, because writing is such a meticulous, intricate, technical business. I wish I could say that I love my characters and that frequently they take over the book and run away with the plot and so on. But they don't exist.”

“Like all soul singers, I grew up singing in church but sometimes I would leave early and sit in the car listening to gospel band, The Blind Boys of Alabama. Hearing their lead singer Clarence made me connect the idea of church and show business and see how I could make a career singing music that stirred the soul.”

“Good design is good business.”

“I love to promote our sport. I love grass-roots tennis. I love coaching. I love all parts of the sport. I love the business side.”

“At the end of the day, both men and women who become CEOs have showed tenacity and hard work to succeed in their careers. It takes not just skills but also extreme dedication and commitment. And regardless of gender, CEOs are measured by the same criteria - the growth and success of the business.”

“For far too long the American public and business sector have kept their silence as civil liberties have been whittled away by statutory and regulatory measures.”

“If the white folks feel America is great for everybody, I don't want to change what they love. All I want is to bring my love and respect in the areas of law, policy, business, and banking. That's what I do when I do my extremely rare lectures at universities.”

“What other people think of you is none of your business.”

“You know what happens in all the big companies and business in the world. If something doesn't work, you have to find a solution.”

“Our line of business structure has served us very well in the past, when customer segments and product requirements were very distinct.”

“It's none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.”

“It's as important to sell yourselves as much as the service. The business model's going to change 50 times, and the market's going to change, but you need to convince that investor that you are smart enough and excited enough about the opportunity that you'll figure it out.”

“I don't want to plan my career. That would be a business plan. Filmmaking is not a business plan.”

“In the astronaut business - the shuttle is a very complicated vehicle; it's the most complicated flying machine ever built. And in the astronaut business, we have a saying, which is, 'There is no problem so bad that you can't make it worse.'”

“When I was in college, I was debating to try my hand at show business, or to become a professor. I just thought of the risk of not going into show business and always wondering if I would've had a chance. Because that's where my real heart was.”

“Every once in awhile, the world will push up an Elvis Presley or a Beatles. But that's really outside the realm of show business.”

“You know, I'm just grateful to be in this business and to be able to stay in it.”

“An open-minded person running a business might catch a problem faster than a closed-minded person. And when they identify a problem, they can fix it much faster.”

“The fears you do not face become your walls. Most people in business, and in their personal lives, design everything so they can avoid doing what makes them feel uncomfortable. Yet any good business person knows we are not only paid to work, but also we are paid to be scared.”

“Contrary to what many people believe, terrorism is actually a very expensive business.”

“To have a .cn domain, you have to be a registered business. You have to prove your site is legal.”

“The good Lord didn't see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratically elected regimes friendly to the United States. Occasionally we have to operate in places where, all considered, one would not normally choose to go. But we go where the business is.”

“I think the moment that I'm very proud of is building a business without using animals. And, hopefully, changing people's perception of how you can do luxury fashion.”

“I've got to keep breathing. It'll be my worst business mistake if I don't.”

“Even when services are good for consumers, they can hurt a whole set of other interests - be it workers, be it business formation, be it democracy at large.”

“I got into law school to supplement my business background. I'm not planning to practice law.”

“Yes, I have a lot of business interests. But I don't work for just anyone, and I choose the companies very carefully.”

“I knew how wiseguys acted. I knew the mentality. I knew things to do and not to do. Keep your mouth shut at certain times. Don't get involved in things that don't concern you. Walk away from conversations and situations that aren't your business, before anybody asks you to take a hike.”

“Constantine 'Costa' Gratsos had made his fortune as a lifelong associate of shipping icon Aristotle Onassis. He took a liking to me, became my first mentor, and showed me how to swim in the deep, dangerous waters of business.”

“I'm not into business at all.”

“Politics is a people business. I like people.”

“When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary.”

“Trying to do business without advertising is like winking at a pretty girl through a pair of green goggles. You may know what you are doing, but no one else does.”

“I want to advance myself in some areas. I want to go into broadcasting, be a boxing commentator and still get to travel, and I want to take courses so I can speak better. I want to take courses in business and promotion.”

“There is always space for improvement, no matter how long you've been in the business.”

“FDR's New Deal and, after it, Republican President Dwight Eisenhower's similar Middle Way, used the government to regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, and promote infrastructure, like roads and bridges.”

“The phrase 'change the world' is tossed around Silicon Valley conversations and business plans as freely as talk of 'early-stage investing' and 'beta tests.'”

“Thanks to my mother, not a single cardboard box has found its way back into society. We receive gifts in boxes from stores that went out of business twenty years ago.”

“When from our better selves we have too long been parted by the hurrying world, and droop. Sick of its business, of its pleasures tired, how gracious, how benign is solitude.”

“As a business consultant, I am a voracious reader of self-help books, case studies of thriving companies, and the biographies and autobiographies of the world's most successful people. I relentlessly implement the best ideas into my businesses.”

“Business has only two functions - marketing and innovation.”

“Launching a successful product or startup has little to do with luck. Any business that gains traction on the market is the result of very careful strategizing and market analysis, not to mention the development of an original product or service.”

“Most of my books begin with a nap on my couch here, when I dream up characters and story lines, and then I write on my laptop in the recliner and handle the business side of email at my desk, which is sagging in the middle - maybe from so many words?”

“Today it is not big business that we have to fear. It is big government.”

“Treaties, agreements and organizations to help settle disputes may be necessary, but they often favor the interests of business over citizens.”

“Growing up, my mom had a catering business. I used to help her pretty early on and loved doing it. My mom is an amazing cook, and she helped me cultivate a love for food. She taught me that food can be beautiful. We eat not just for survival, but we survive to eat. It's part of who I am.”

“No one escapes the long arm of the law, they are a business, they are very good at what they do and eventually they will catch up with you.”

“I worry that business leaders are more interested in material gain than they are in having the patience to build up a strong organization, and a strong organization starts with caring for their people.”

“In the private sector, there is always innovation. There's always change. There's always improving productivity, and if you're not leading that, you'll be passed and ultimately go out of business. So there's an urgency to constantly update and renew and to rethink your enterprise.”

“It's safe to say headphones is a good business.”

“Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion.”

“I honestly was supposed to always be a wrestler. I was never hired into any business as an announcer. That was just something I ended up falling into.”

“Many American TV actors employ agents, managers, business managers, publicists and stylists, and are now adding digital media manager to the list. Their job is to reach out to the fans, managing websites, Twitter feeds, Facebook and Wikipedia.”

“I invited a group of students to my studio to expose them to both the creative and business sides of the fashion industry. It was fun because the group was so bright and full of curiosity. They asked really challenging questions about all aspects of the business and absorbed so much information so quickly.”

“People want to start their own business or become financially independent. But you don't end up a successful entrepreneur unless you find a way to love the risk, the uncertainty, the repeated failures, and working insane hours on something you have no idea whether will be successful or not.”

“I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone.”

“Every breakthrough business idea begins with solving a common problem. The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. I discovered a big one when I took apart an IBM PC. I made two interesting discoveries: The components were all manufactured by other companies, and the system that retailed for $3,000 cost about $600 in parts.”