[Response] If You're an Entrepreneur, Is There One Line You'd Want to Leave Behind?

[Response] If You're an Entrepreneur, Is There One Line You'd Want to Leave Behind?

Entrepreneurs have all kinds of sayings about entrepreneurship—some to motivate themselves, some to inspire others. Of all the lines about building a business, the one that left the deepest impression on me is still Elon Musk’s: “Starting a company is like chewing glass and staring into the abyss.” Maybe only people who are actually in it can fully understand what that feels like.

But beyond that one, I’ve also come across many other quotes online, in books, and through other channels that have resonated with me deeply. They make good accompaniment for those moments when you’re “chewing glass.” I’ve organized and shared them here—may they encourage all of us.

1. Innovation & Creativity

• Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. — Mark Twain (American writer and humorist)
• Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. — Steve Jobs (Co-founder of Apple; a pioneer of the IT and personal computer revolution)
• When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor. — Elon Musk (Founder of Tesla and SpaceX; innovator in electric vehicles and space exploration)
• Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Mead (American cultural anthropologist)
• Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room. — Jeff Bezos (Founder of Amazon; a key figure in the e-commerce revolution)
• Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming. — Richard Branson (British entrepreneur; founder of the Virgin Group)

2. Challenges & Perseverance

• Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts. — Winston Churchill (Former British Prime Minister; wartime leader during World War II)
• I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. — Thomas Edison (American inventor; pioneer of the light bulb and phonograph)
• People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them. — George Bernard Shaw (Irish playwright and Nobel laureate)
• The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. — Nelson Mandela (South African anti-apartheid leader and former president)
• The only way out is through. — Robert Frost (American poet; four-time Pulitzer Prize winner)
• Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. — Helen Keller (American author and educator who achieved greatly despite being blind and deaf)

3. Leadership & Management

• Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. — Peter Drucker (Austrian-American management thinker; father of modern management)
• A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. — John C. Maxwell (American leadership expert and author)
• Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to. — Richard Branson (British entrepreneur; founder of the Virgin Group)
• Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge. — Simon Sinek (British-American author and motivational speaker)
• Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. — Jack Welch (American business leader; former CEO of General Electric)
• Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. — Warren Buffett (American investor; CEO of Berkshire Hathaway)

4. Risk & Courage

• The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all. — Richard Branson (British entrepreneur; founder of the Virgin Group)
• Feel the fear and do it anyway. — Susan Jeffers (American psychologist and self-help author)
• A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. — John A. Shedd (American businessman and author)
• The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks. — Mark Zuckerberg (Founder and CEO of Facebook)
• If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative. — Woody Allen (American film director and actor)
• The greatest adventure is what lies ahead. — Herman Melville (American novelist; author of Moby-Dick)
• It is never too late to be what you might have been. — George Eliot (British novelist)
• The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can. — Neil Gaiman (British author known for fantasy fiction)
• Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. — Mark Twain (American writer and humorist)

5. Success & Motivation

• Your discontent is your largest asset. — Bill Gates (American co-founder of Microsoft; pioneer of the software revolution)
• Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing. — Warren Buffett (American investor; CEO of Berkshire Hathaway)
• The biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks. — Mark Zuckerberg (Founder and CEO of Facebook)
• You have to believe in yourself when no one else does - that makes you a winner right there. — Oprah Winfrey (American producer, actress, and talk show host)
• Today is cruel. Tomorrow is crueler. And the day after tomorrow is beautiful. — Jack Ma (Chinese entrepreneur; founder of Alibaba Group)
• Only the paranoid survive. — Andy Grove (Hungarian-American entrepreneur; former CEO of Intel)
• Perseverance is priceless. — Jeff Bezos (Founder of Amazon; a key figure in the e-commerce revolution)
• When others are complaining, you should see an opportunity. — Elon Musk (Founder of Tesla and SpaceX; innovator in electric vehicles and space exploration)

6. Learning & Growth

• Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. — Henry Ford (American industrialist; founder of Ford Motor Company)
• The secret of getting ahead is getting started. — Mark Twain (American writer and humorist)
• Once you stop learning, you start dying. — Albert Einstein (Theoretical physicist; founder of the theory of relativity)
• Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn. — Benjamin Franklin (American Founding Father, inventor, and writer)
• Success is about making your life a special version of unique that fits who you are - not what other people want you to be. — Sophia Amoruso (American entrepreneur; founder of Nasty Gal)
• It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. — John Wooden (American basketball coach; legendary UCLA mentor)
• Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. — Malcolm Forbes (American publisher; founder of Forbes magazine)
• Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. — John Dewey (American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer)
• In a fixed mindset, you believe your qualities are carved in stone. In a growth mindset, you believe your qualities can be cultivated. — Carol Dweck (American psychologist known for her research on mindset)
• Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. — Mahatma Gandhi (Leader of India’s independence movement; advocate of nonviolent resistance)

7. Teamwork & Partnership

• Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. — Henry Ford (American industrialist; founder of Ford Motor Company)
• Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. — Andrew Carnegie (American industrial magnate; founder of Carnegie Steel)
• None of us is as smart as all of us. — Ken Blanchard (American management expert and author)
• Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships. — Michael Jordan (American former professional basketball player, widely regarded as one of the greatest in NBA history)
• Great things in business are never done by one person. They are