7 Entrepreneurship Quotes to Live By

Bringing an idea to life can be gratifying. But, it can be an intimidating, too. Like any unknown venture, it’s a roller coaster of ideas that work and ideas that need more work. That’s why we collected inspiring entrepreneurship quotes from successful inventors, innovators, and creators who have been there, and maybe even failed while doing it.

Many of the most memorable entrepreneurship quotes come from an already inspirational source: commencement speeches. Lessons from these speeches span building a career, choosing a less traditional path, and finding yourself. These parting words of wisdom can be particularly helpful to entrepreneurs of all kinds.

The Best Entrepreneurship Quotes

“Remember: if the most unique ideas were obvious to everyone, there wouldn’t be entrepreneurs.” – Tory Burch H’14

“Don’t let other people box you into their system of rules. They will tend to produce mediocre results for you. Make your own rules, hack the system, and change the world.” – Wayne Chang

“Everyone needs to think like an entrepreneur—even if still only a few will be starting new businesses.” – Reid Hoffman H’12

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And, the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs

“Visualize the road ahead. Think about what excites you, what really gets your engine going. Engage in some real soul searching. Take a good, hard look at your strengths and weaknesses.” – Katie Couric

“As many of you think about the future, remember it’s OK to have your definition of entrepreneurship change. In fact, prepare to have your definition of your goals and desires changed. Prepare for yourself to change. Because, if you can’t imagine a world different from the one you see today, you will never be able to build a better one.” – Kevin Colleran ’03, H’15

“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