42 Best Quotes on Success from World-Renowned CEOs

The CEO is the supreme commander in control of a business. He/she is a leader who creates a daring vision for the company and inspires the team to work towards achieving it.

Whether you’re a business owner or an employee, you can improve your chances of achieving professional success by following advice from the immensely successful people.

The legendary leaders mentioned in this post have taken risks, motivated teams, overcome challenges, and done everything possible to make their business a success.

Best Quotes on Success

The following inspirational quotes on success from world-renowned industry leaders will give you a glimpse of their triumphant journeys and reveal their secrets of success.

1. “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Steve Jobs, Co-founder, former CEO and Chairman of Apple Inc.

2. “No man can be successful unless he first loves his work.” – David Sarnoff, erstwhile CEO of Radio Corporation of America

3. “I do think it’s important to follow your dreams and do something which you are excited by. If you follow your heart and do what you like, you will always do much better. It doesn’t matter what your educational qualification is.” – Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc.

4. “An important attribute of success is to be yourself. Never hide what makes you, you.” – Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo

5. “My definition of success? The more you’re actively and practically engaged, the more successful you will be.” – Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group

6. “You don’t need to be a genius or a visionary, or even a college graduate for that matter, to be successful. You just need a framework and a dream.” – Michael Dell, Founder and CEO of Dell Technologies

7. “If you double the number of experiments you do per year you’re going to double your inventiveness.” – Jeff Bezos, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Amazon.com

8. “Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.” – Drew Houston, Founder and CEO of Dropbox

9. “High expectations are the key to absolutely everything.” – Sam Walton, Founder of Walmart and Sam’s Club

10. “It’s not about how to get started; it’s about how to get noticed.” – Steve Case, Co-founder, former CEO and Chairman of America Online

11. “Get big quietly, so you don’t tip off potential competitors.” – Chris Dixon, Co-founder and former CEO of Hunch

12. “The question I ask myself like almost every day is, ‘Am I doing the most important thing I could be doing?’… Unless I feel like I’m working on the most important problem that I can help with, then I’m not going to feel good about how I’m spending my time. And that’s what this company is.” – Mark Zuckerberg, Co-founder, CEO and Chairman of Facebook

13. “We are really competing against ourselves, we have no control over how other people perform.” – Pete Cashmore, CEO and Founder of Mashable

14. “You have to be very nimble and very open minded. Your success is going to be very dependent on how you adapt.” – Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO of Yelp

15. “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” – Steve Jobs, Co-founder, former CEO and Chairman of Apple Inc.

16. “Life is fragile. We’re not guaranteed a tomorrow so give it everything you’ve got.” – Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc.

17. “I think part of the reason we are successful so far is that originally we didn’t really want to start a business.” – Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet Inc.

18. “Rule No. 1: Never lose money; Rule No. 2: Don’t forget Rule No. 1.” – Warren Buffet, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway

19. “You renew yourself every day. Sometimes you’re successful, sometimes you’re not, but it’s the average that counts.” – Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft Corporation

20. “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” – Bill Gates, Co-founder of Microsoft Corporation

21. “There are a lot of things that go into creating success. I don’t like to do just the things I like to do. I like to do things that cause the company to succeed. I don’t spend a lot of time doing my favorite activities.” – Michael Dell, Founder and CEO of Dell Technologies

22. “Wear your failure as a badge of honor.” – Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Inc.

23. “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, Founder of Standard Oil Co. Inc.

24. “Anything that is measured and watched, improves.” – Bob Parsons, Founder and Director of GoDaddy.com and Founder and CEO of YAM Worldwide, Inc.

25. “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re right.” – Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company

26. “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, remember, you can achieve.” – Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics Inc.

27. “If we win the hearts and minds of employees, we’re going to have better business success.” – Mary Barra, CEO and Chairperson of General Motors Company

28. “Well, I think that there’s a very thin dividing line between success and failure. And I think if you start a business without financial backing, you’re likely to go the wrong side of that dividing line.” – Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group

29. “Success is never accidental.” – Jack Dorsey, Co-founder and CEO of Twitter Inc. and Founder and CEO of Square, a mobile payments company

30. “If you want to be inventive — you have to be willing to fail.” – Jeff Bezos, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Amazon.com

31. “Success is not sustainable if it is defined by how big you become or by growth for growth’s sake. Success is very shallow if it doesn’t have emotional meaning.” – Howard Schultz, Executive Chairman of Starbucks Corporation

32. “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” – Steve Jobs, Co-founder, former CEO and Chairman of Apple Inc.

33. “I’ve learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success.” – Jack Welch, former Chairman and CEO of General Electric

34. “People recognize Patagonia as a company that’s going to keep asking deep questions about our supply chain, the impact we’re having in the world, and looking at business through a more holistic lens other than profit. Profit is important; if it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be talking to me. But profit isn’t the only measure of success.” – Rose Marcario, CEO of Patagonia

35. “I think like a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Failure is a great teacher. At the same time, you must remember, success will never last … Whether it’s tech or fashion, it must be for the customer.” – Tadashi Yanai, Founder and President of Fast Retailing

36. “Remember: If the most unique ideas were obvious to everyone, there wouldn’t be entrepreneurs. The one thing that every entrepreneurial journey has in common is that there are many, many steps on the road to success.” – Tory Burch, Designer, Chairman and CEO of Tory Burch LLC.

37. “Success is empty if you arrive at the finish line alone. The best reward is to get there surrounded by winners.” – Howard Schultz, Executive Chairman of Starbucks Corporation

38. “To be successful, you have to be out there. You have to hit the ground running and if you have a good team around you and more than a fair share of luck, you might make something happen. But you certainly can’t guarantee it just by following someone else’s formula.” – Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group

39. “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.” – Mark Zuckerberg, Co-founder, CEO and Chairman of Facebook

40. “Do what you love and success will follow. Passion is the fuel behind a successful career.” – Meg Whitman, President and CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

41. “The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.” – Rupert Murdoch, Founder and head of News Corporation

42. “The common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’ That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, ‘why not?’” – Jeff Bezos, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Amazon.com

Conclusion

CEOs across industries are real-life heroes who have turned the fortunes of their companies around and tasted success due to their attitude and endurance. Needless to say, their words of wisdom can never be doubted.

The aforesaid quotes about success from the most successful CEOs and business leaders of all time will stir you into action and lead you on to follow your gut and strike your name amongst them one day.

Stay motivated and let success be bestowed upon you.