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88 Quotes On Success From The Famous People around the World

Some of the world's most accomplished people have spoken out about their own journeys toward success, their thoughts on how to attain it, and their feelings on finally reaching it.

Here are 88 quotes on success, from the world's most successful people:

1) "Eighty percent of success is showing up." —Woody Allen

2) "If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time." —Steve Jobs

3) "Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it." —Maya Angelou

4) "Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose." —Bill Gates

5) "The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere." —Barack Obama

6) "Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you're proud to live." —Anne Sweeney

7) "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." —Martin Luther King Jr.

8) "Success isn't about how much money you make. It's about the difference you make in people's lives." —Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama. 

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9) "The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything." —Warren Buffett

10) "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, you can achieve." —Mary Kay Ash

11) "I'm a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down." —Abraham Lincoln

12) "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success." —Alexander Graham Bell

13) "Life is too short to dwell on what might have been." —Hillary Clinton

14) "Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion." —Tony Hsieh

15) "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." —Martin Luther King Jr.

16) "Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence." —Colin Powell

17) "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today." —Franklin D. Roosevelt

18) "I succeeded by saying what everyone else is thinking." —Joan Rivers

19) "Money and success don't change people; they merely amplify what is already there." —Will Smith

20) "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." —Ayn Rand

21) "The best revenge is massive success." —Frank Sinatra

22) "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." —Winston Churchill

23) "If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember also that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped." —Melinda Gates

Melinda Gates. 

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24) "Success is falling nine times and getting up 10." —Jon Bon Jovi

25) "Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1." —Warren Buffett

26) "If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it." —Elon Musk

27) "Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor." —Truman Capote

28) "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." —Helen Keller

29) "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will." —Vince Lombardi

30) "I work really hard at trying to see the big picture and not getting stuck in ego. I believe we're all put on this planet for a purpose, and we all have a different purpose… When you connect with that love and that compassion, that's when everything unfolds." —Ellen DeGeneres

31) "If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing." —Napoleon Bonaparte

32) "You don't have to be a genius or a visionary or even a college graduate to be successful. You just need a framework and a dream." —Michael Dell

33) "Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do." —Nelson Mandela

34) "Success is like reaching an important birthday and finding you're exactly the same." —Audrey Hepburn

35) "Success comes when people act together; failure tends to happen alone." —Deepak Chopra

36) "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." —Walt Disney

37) "Failure is success if we learn from it." —Malcolm Forbes

38) "I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance." —Steve Jobs 

Steve Jobs. 

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39) "Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable." —Coco Chanel

40) "Do not be embarrassed by your failures; learn from them and start again." —Richard Branson

41) "Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it." ―Dalai Lama XIV

42) "As a leader, I am tough on myself and I raise the standard for everybody; however, I am very caring because I want people to excel at what they are doing so that they can aspire to be me in the future." —Indra Nooyi

43) "Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another." —Napoleon Hill

44) "The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but significance — and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning." —Oprah Winfrey

45) "The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus." —Bruce Lee

46) "Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly." —John F. Kennedy

47) "Whatever you want in life, other people are going to want it too. Believe in yourself enough to accept the idea that you have an equal right to it." —Diane Sawyer

48) "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." —Wayne Gretzky

49) "Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other." —Abraham Lincoln

50) "Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again." —Nelson Mandela

51) "If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself." —Henry Ford

52) "A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning." —Billie Jean King

53) "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." —Colin Powell

54) "Success is a great deodorant." —Elizabeth Taylor

55) "I had a friend who worked at a hospice, and he said people in their final moments don't discuss their successes, awards or what books they wrote or what they accomplished. They only talk about their loves and their regrets, and I think that's very telling." —Brad Pitt

56) "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default." —J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling. 

Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla

57) "Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success." —Napoleon Hill

58) "What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose." —Margaret Thatcher

59) "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." ―Robert F. Kennedy

60) "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." —Thomas Jefferson

61) "In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure." —Bill Cosby

62) "The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen." —Frank Lloyd Wright

63) "If you have no critics, you'll likely have no success." —Malcolm X

64) "Nothing is impossible. With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination." —Michael Phelps

65) "Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment." ―Oprah Winfrey

66) "Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war." —Donald Trump

67) "The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people." —Theodore Roosevelt

68) "Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time." —George Bernard Shaw

69) "We need to accept that we won't always make the right decisions, that we'll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of success." —Arianna Huffington

70) "Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value." —Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein. 

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71) "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." —Thomas Edison

72) "If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress." —Barack Obama

73) "I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that's how you grow. When there's that moment of 'Wow, I'm not really sure I can do this,' and you push through those moments, that's when you have a breakthrough." —Marissa Mayer

74) "The starting point of all achievement is desire." —Napoleon Hill

75) "A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." —David Brinkley

76) "It always seems impossible until it's done." —Nelson Mandela

77) "There are no shortcuts to any place worth going" —Beverly Sills

78) "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." —Albert Einstein

79) "We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind." —Martin Luther King Jr.

80) "Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough. Sometimes you have to give up the fight and walk away, and move on to something that's more productive." —Donald Trump

81) "The ladder of success is never crowded at the top." —Napoleon Hill

82) "Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own." —Michelle Obama

83) "Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom." —George S. Patton

84) "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome." —Booker T. Washington

85) "Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success." —Swami Sivananda

86) "I do not believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process." —Oprah Winfrey

87) "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure." —Mark Twain

88) "I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed." —Michael Jordan

51 Quotes to make Your Life and Business successfully

What is success? There are many definitions, but there's one thing all the greats agree on: Success only comes by persevering despite failure.

Here are 50 quotes to inspire you to succeed in the face of failures, setbacks, and barriers.

1. "Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

-- Winston S. Churchill

2. "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

-- Herman Melville

3. "The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same."

-- Colin R. Davis

4. "Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it."

-- Henry David Thoreau

5. "Opportunities don't happen. You create them."

-- Chris Grosser

6. "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

--John D. Rockefeller

7. "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."

-- Thomas Jefferson

8. "There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed."

-- Ray Goforth

9. "Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don't wish it were easier; wish you were better."

-- Jim Rohn

10. "Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value."

-- Albert Einstein

11. "Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."

-- Winston Churchill

12. "Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion."

-- Tony Hsieh

13. "Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."

-- Winston Churchill

14. "I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite."

-- G. K. Chesterton

15. "Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really: Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that's where you will find success."

-- Thomas J. Watson

16. "If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary."

- Jim Rohn

17. "The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do."

-- Anonymous

18. "Do one thing every day that scares you."

-- Anonymous

19. "All progress takes place outside the comfort zone."

-- Michael John Bobak

20. "People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

-- Tony Robbins

21. "Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning."

-- Robert Kiyosaki

22. "If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time."

-- Steve Jobs

23. "The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere."

-- Barack Obama

24. "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt

25. "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

-- Helen Keller

26. "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."

-- Walt Disney

27. "The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus."

-- Bruce Lee

28. "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."

-- Colin Powell

29. "Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit."

-- Conrad Hilton

30. "If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse."

-- Jim Rohn

31. "I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure--It is: Try to please everybody."

-- Herbert Bayard Swope

32. "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."

-- Albert Schweitzer

33. "Success isn't just about what you accomplish in your life; it's about what you inspire others to do."

-- Unknown

34. "Fall seven times and stand up eight."

-- Japanese Proverb

35. "Some people dream of success while others wake up and work."

-- Unknown

36. "If you can dream it, you can do it."

-- Walt Disney

37. "The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do."

-- Unknown

38. "A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that other throw at him."

-- David Brinkley

39. "In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."

-- Bill Cosby

40. "In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can."

-- Nikos Kazantzakis

41. "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

-- Thomas Edison

42. "Don't be distracted by criticism. Remember--the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you."

-- Zig Ziglar

43. "The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well."

-- John D. Rockefeller Jr.

44. "You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it."

-- Oprah Winfrey

45. "There is a powerful driving force inside every human being that, once unleashed, can make any vision, dream, or desire a reality."

-- Anthony Robbins

46. "The secret to success is to know something nobody else knows."

-- Aristotle Onassis

47. "I failed my way to success."

-- Thomas Edison

48. "I never dreamed about success, I worked for it."

-- Estee Lauder

49. "I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come indirectly through accident, except the phonograph. No, when I have fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go about it, and make trial after trial, until it comes."

-- Thomas Edison

50. "The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary."

-- Vidal Sassoon

51. "Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down."

-- Charles F. Kettering

What's your favorite success quote?