Success Quotes – The Essentials (Volume 4)

To provide the very best learning tools for entrepreneurs throughout the country we have compiled the very best quotes by the world’s top business leaders.

Please enjoy our extensive collection of At Make Your Life Epic we believe “thoughts are things” and that a “powerful thought inspired for good and acted upon with courage and unyielding” has the power the change the entire course of human history.

“The one essential character trait of any leader is personal integrity.” – David Novak CEO of Yum! Brands

“I have to be ever vigilant to remain open to other people’s points of view. Just because I’m enthusiastic doesn’t necessarily mean I’m right. I have to always keep the doors open for honest communication or I could enthusiastically lead everyone right over the cliff.” – David Novak

“I was hooked and I would make reward and recognition one of my primary focuses as a leader” – David Novak CEO OF YUM! BRANDS

“I can’t stress enough the essential nature of really hearing what someone has to say even if it is totally contradictory to your own beliefs, and I wish this was a lesson I only had to learn once.” – David Novak CEO OF YUM! BRANDS

“I’m a positive person, so I don’t get bogged down with it. If you’re expecting that, if you wall in that, if you practice that, then you’ll attract what you fear.” – Denzel Washington – Famous Actor (on prejudice)

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean, if a few drops of ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” – Mahatma Gandhi – Statesman (on people)

“The time has come to act.” – Teddy Roosevelt – Former U.S. President

“Once a decision is made…problems have to be solved.” – Teddy Roosevelt – Former U.S. President (on decision making)

“Make youself necessary to someone.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson – Author (on purpose)

“The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before.” San Francisco 49ers Legendary Quarterback

“A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.” – Ralph Lauren

“Control your own destiny or someone else will.” – Jack Welch Famous GE CEO and Executive

“It is unhealthy to marinate in your own press clippings.” – Sam Walton – Founder of Wal-Mart

“View your future wealth as current debt.” – DJ Clayvis

“The Buck Stops Here.” – President Harry Truman

“I do not believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process”-Oprah Winfrey

“A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.” – John D. Rockefeller

“Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it.” – John D. Rockefeller

“Every right implies a responsibility; Every opportunity, an obligation, Every possession, a duty.” – John D. Rockefeller

“Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.” – John D. Rockefeller

“I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.” – John D. Rockefeller

“I would rather earn 1% off a 100 people’s efforts than 100% of my own efforts.” – John D. Rockefeller

“Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one’s aim.” – John D. Rockefeller

“You can make more friends in 2 months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years of trying to get other people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie – Legendary Success Author & Motivational Speaker

“Diplomacy is the art of saying “Nice Doggie” until you can find a rock.” – Will Rogers

“Don’t Hire People Like Yourself.” – Forrest Ray, Successful Entrepreneur, Resteraunt Owner
and Investor…in reference to building a successful company

“You’ve got to take a big jump to make it. You’ve got to have great big balls.”
– Forrest Ray, Successful Entrepreneur, Resteraunt Owner and Investor…

Romans 8:28 says “And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

“Good advertising should give the reader essential facts about the product or company advertised and should do so engagingly without trickery or hogwash.” – Leo Burnett on advertising – Leo Burnett Co. Advertising Agency famous for creating Tony the Tiger, The Allstate Good Hands, The Pillsbury Doughboy.

“Whenever you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.” Harry Truman 33rd President

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and Jill a rich widow.” Evan Esar, humorist

Frank Wells 1888 instruction to his agents: “The most polite and gentlemanly treatment of all customers, however insignificant in their business, is insisted upon. Proper respect must be shown to all – let them be men, women or children, rich or poor, white or black – it must not be forgotten, that the company is dependent on these people for its business.” – Frank Wells Co-founder of Wells Fargo Express and Banks

“I had a will to win that come from being raised poor.” – Sam Huff 1st All Star NFL Linebacker

“This country provides opportunities. If you don’t take advantage of them, it’s your own fault.” – Sam Huff

“Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.” – unknown…

“New customers are silver…loyal customers are gold.” – unknown

”Leadership is solving problems.”– Colin Powell (Military Mind)

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London (Famous Author)

“Speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves.” – Proverbs 31:8

“The binders, the charts, the grids may seem formidable, but the meetings themselves are built around informality, trust, emotion and humor.” – Jack Welch former CEO of GE

“Some think that it is cruel or brutal to remove the bottom 10 percent of our people. It isn’t. It’s just the opposite. What I think is brutal and “false kindness” is keeping people around who aren’t going to grow and prosper. There’s no cruelty like waiting and telling people late into their careers that they don’t belong – just when the options are limited and they’re putting their children through college or paying off big mortgages.”
– Jack Welch former CEO of GE

“Never surrender opportunity for security.” – Branch Rickey Baseball Executive

“I find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success.” – Thomas Edison – Inventor

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” – Stephen King Author

“Necessity is the mother of taking chances.” – Mark Twain –Author

“The path of least resistence is the path of the loser.” – H.G. Wells

“I’ve always felt it was not up to anyone else to make me give my best.” – Hakeem Olajuwon, Famous Houston Rocket Basketball Player

“The trouble in America is not that we are making too many mistakes, but that we are making too few.” – Phil Knight – Nike Co-Founder

“Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.” – John Wooden – Hall of Fame UCLA Basketball Legend and Coach

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, or the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin – Scientist

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value.” – Albert Einstein

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – John F. Kennedy

“Choose wise and Godly people to advise you.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“Sometimes God gives instructions that go against conventional wisdom, such as treating people kindly when they’re hateful. Who really wants to do that? Instructions like that my not always make sense, so that’s why I need to trust and obey the One who inspired them.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“As bad as your situation may be, someone else always has it worse than you.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“Plant a seed of greatness in your children. Speak a word of encourgement to someone who needs to hear it. Inspire someone to be a better person. One day you’ll reap a harvest, and your world will become a better place to live.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“If you want to be obsessed to be your best, you must get ride of the negative things that are weighing you down.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“One of my goals is to inspire everyone I meet to become a better person.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“Read the Bible; it is your roadmap through life.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Just learn from the guys who have already done it well. You need a mentor, a seasoned coach who is willing to share his wisdom and experience with you. Ask someone who has already been successful to guide you.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“The wealthy class often looks down on the poor as “those people.” And deprived people view the rich as cold and heartless. The way to break down the barrier between the rich and poor is to asociate with each other and to help one another. Make a connection. If you can break down the barrier, it may pave the way to recovery for some person, a family, maybe an entire community.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“God will lead you from where you are right now to where He wants to you to be, if you’ll let Him.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“We, too, need to be patient, especially when it comes to reaching new goals.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right. I take that one step further. You shouldn’t do anything unless you do it right.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“Excellence isn’t achieved without inspiration and perspiration. You’ve got to have both.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“You have to keep your goal in mind and never lose sight of it. I envisioned myself winning the heavyweight title for ten years before I actually captured it. If you’re not driven to do your best, you’ll never reach the level of excellence in your life.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“You may not realize initially how many other opportunities are wrapped up inside the first one. After you go through the first door, you’ll then discover more doors automatically opening behind that one. One door leads you to another door, which leads to another door, and so one. It’s like ten other boxes packed inside one box. The initial door that God opens is your access to more opportunities. But you must be willing to walk through the first one to get to the other good things God has for you.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“Don’t let any opportunity lead you away from serving God. That’s a price that’s too high to pay.” – George Foreman 2 Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World from his book “God In My Corner.”

“If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you’ll be fired with enthusiasm.” – Vince Lombardi

“If you think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself.” – Woodrow Wilson, 28th U.S. President

“People hardly ever make use of the freedom they have, for example, freedom of thought; instead they demand freedom of speech as compensation.” – Soren Kierkegaard – Philosopher.

“A friend is a person before whom I may think aloud.” – Randolph Waldo Emerson

“You are here to enrich.” – Former President Woodrow Wilson, 28th U.S. President

“Don’t sling mud at others or soon you will find yourself in a deeper hole than when you started.” – DJ Clayvis

“We must hang together or we will hang together.” – Benjamin Franklin.

“I will study and prepare myself, and someday the opportunity will come.” – Abraham Lincoln

“Strive to be the very best you can be. Run the race against yourself and not the guy in the other lane. The reason I say that is, as long as you give it 110% you are going to succeed. But as long as you’re trying to beat the guy over there, you are worried about him; you’re not worrying about how you’ve got to perform” – Herschel Walker NFL and NCAA Football Legend…a man who did over 1,000 pushups and 1,000 situps everyday after his mandatory practices…

“Chance can allow you to accomplish a goal every once  in a while, but consistent achievement happens only if you love what you are doing.” – Bart Conner: Olympic Gold-Medal gymnast and entrepreneur

“God doesn’t look at how much we do, but with how much love we do it.” – Mother Theresa

“Look we gave this thing a good run. We both know it’s not working out. Let’s wrap this thing up.” – Jack Welch (how to fire)

“People who couldn’t fit into this informal and entreprenual environment left or were asked to leave. I cut my losses quickly on bad hires that didn’t perform.” – Jack Welch

I never hid my thoughts or feelings. During a business meeting I could get so emotionally charged and involved that I’d stammer out what others might consider to be outrageous things like, “My six year old could do better than that! Or “Don’t Walter Cronkite me!” (Solutions)

“I kicked but I also hugged.” – Jack Welch (Management)

Look we gave this thing a good run. We both know it’s not working out. Let’s wrap this thing up.” – Jack Welch

“Don’t Walter Cronkite me!” – Jack Welch (Pointing out problems without proposing solutions).

”Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” – Bill Gates, Microsoft Cofounder

“The best investments are on main street, not Wall Street.”
— Robert P. Miles: Professional speaker, author, and Warren Buffett expert

“The ballplayer who loses his head can’t keep his cool, is worse than no ballplayer at all.” Lou Gehrig Baseball Player

“People that call old leads, drive old cars.” – Jason Bailey

“The prizes of life are at the end of each journey, not near the beginning, and it is not given to me to know how many steps are necessary in order to reach my goal. Failure I may still encounter at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next bend in the road. Never will I know how close it lies unless I turn the corner.
Always will I take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult.
Henceforth, I will consider each day’s effort as but one blow of my blade against a mightly oak. The first blow my cause not a tremor in the wood, nor the second, nor the third. Each blow of itself, may be trifling, and seem of no consequence. Yet from childish swipes the oak will eventually tumble. So it will be with my efforts of today.
I will be liken to the rain drop which washes away the mountain; the ant that devours a tiger; the star which brightens the earth; the slave who builds a pyramid. I will build my castle one brick at a time for I know that small attemps, repeated will complete my undertaking.” – Og Madino from “The Greatest Salesman in the World.”

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to gain mighty triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither gain much nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory or defeat.”  – THEODORE ROOSEVELT

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  • Founder of DJ Connection
  • Founder of Epic Photography
  • Founder of the Tulsa Bridal Association Wedding Show
  • Founder of Make Your Life Epic Marketing / Advertising Agency
  • Founder of Thrive15.com
  • Former Owner of Party Perfect (Which is now PartyProRents.com
  • Co-Founder of Elephant In The Room Men’s Grooming Lounge
  • Co-Founder of Fears and Clark Realty Group
  • Co-host of the Thrive Time Business Coach Radio Show