Quotes

Since the ancient greek, famous authors, scientist, philosopher and politicians tried to define what success is. Below are some of my favourites success quotes divided into different categories. Don’t hesitate to let me know if you feel I miss something.

A definition of success

If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut

Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)

A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do

Bob Dylan (1941 – )

There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way

Christopher Morley (1890 – 1957)

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing

Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865)

To follow, without halt, one aim: There’s the secret of success

Anna Pavlova (1885 – 1931)

To laugh often and much;To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Why be a man when you can be a success?

Bertolt Brecht (1898 – 1956)

We succeed only as we identify in life, or in war, or in anything else, a single overriding objective, and make all other considerations bend to that one objective-

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 – 1969)

Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture…Do not build up obstacles in your imagination-

Norman Vincent Peale (1898 – 1993)

Men are born to succeed, not fail

Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)

Eighty percent of success is showing up

Woody Allen (1935 – )

Underpromise; overdeliver

Tom Peters

How success and failure are closely related

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm

Sir Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965)

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

Thomas A. Edison (1847 – 1931)

I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody

Bill Cosby (1937 – )

It is possible to fail in many ways…while to succeed is possible only in one way

Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)

Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life

Dr. David M. Burns

Whenever I hear, ‘It can’t be done,’ I know I’m close to success-

Michael Flatley

You always pass failure on the way to success

Mickey Rooney (1920 – )

Success isn’t permanent, and failure isn’t fatal

Mike Ditka (1939 – )

Success in Business

So many people define success in term of their financial or business success.

Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were

David Rockefeller (1915 – )

Beyond success

Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value

Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)

If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all

Anna Quindlen (1953 – )

Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem

Henry Kissinger (1923 – ),

Funny Success Quotes

There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn’t tell you about it?

Kin Hubbard (1868 – 1930)

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure

Mark Twain (1835 – 1910)

Once you can fake that you’ve got it made

Jean Giraudoux (1882 – 1944)

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