Elon Musk Quotes - Teal Smiles

Elon Musk Motivational Quotes, Elon Musk Inspirational Quotes, Elon Musk Famous Quotes, Elon Musk Success Quotes, Elon Musk Quotes About SpaceX, Elon Musk Quotes on AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Elon Musk Rules of Success : Take a peek inside the mind of the famous SpaceX genius, Elon Musk. Musk was the co-founder of PayPal, and is now the co-founder of Tesla, and CEO of SpaceX, as well as chairman of SolarCity.

Musk’s willingness to publicly discuss even the failures of his insanely ambitious SpaceX missions reminds us just how confident the man truly is. He is a risk taker; an innovator and dares to dream the big dreams. Further, he has the ability to actually make them happen. Here are the incredible collection of Elon Musk quotes to motivate, inspire and encourage you in life to be successful.

Elon Musk Rules of Success

Don’t Listen to the little man.
Never give up.
Really like what you do.
Take a risk.
Work super hard.
Do something important.
Focus on signal over noise.
Look for problem solvers.
Attract great people.
Have a great product.

Elon Musk Quotes About The Future

“I’m reasonably optimistic about the future, especially the future of the United States – for the century, at least.” – Elon Musk
“I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness to make sure it continues into the future.” – Elon Musk
“If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.” – Elon Musk
“The future of humanity is going to bifurcate in two directions: Either it’s going to become multiplanetary, or it’s going to remain confined to one planet and eventually there’s going to be an extinction event.” – Elon Musk
“There have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Why do you want to live? What’s the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future? If the future does not include being out there among the stars and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing.” – Elon Musk
“It’s important that we attempt to extend life beyond Earth now. It is the first time in the four billion-year history of Earth that it’s been possible, and that window could be open for a long time – hopefully it is – or it could be open for a short time. We should err on the side of caution and do something now.” – Elon Musk
“Man has the power to act as his own destroyer – and that is the way he has acted through most of his history.” – Elon Musk
“We’re running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere… can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe.” – Elon Musk
“The lessons of history would suggest that civilisations move in cycles. You can track that back quite far – the Babylonians, the Sumerians, followed by the Egyptians, the Romans, China. We’re obviously in a very upward cycle right now, and hopefully that remains the case. But it may not.” – Elon Musk
“If anyone thinks they’d rather be in a different part of history, they’re probably not a very good student of history. Life sucked in the old days. People knew very little, and you were likely to die at a young age of some horrible disease. You’d probably have no teeth by now. It would be particularly awful if you were a woman.” – Elon Musk
“From an evolutionary standpoint, human consciousness has not been around very long. A little light just went on after four and a half billion years. How often does that happen? Maybe it is quite rare.” – Elon Musk
“The value of beauty and inspiration is very much underrated, no question. But I want to be clear: I’m not trying to be anyone’s savior. I’m just trying to think about the future and not be sad.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk Quotes On Engineering Technology

“The fuel cell is just a fundamentally inferior way of delivering electrical energy to an electric motor than batteries.” – Elon Musk
“Government isn’t that good at rapid advancement of technology. It tends to be better at funding basic research. To have things take off, you’ve got to have commercial companies do it.” – Elon Musk
“I think the high-tech industry is used to developing new things very quickly. It’s the Silicon Valley way of doing business: You either move very quickly and you work hard to improve your product technology, or you get destroyed by some other company.” – Elon Musk
“A utility can handle up to 20% of production from solar and that helps the grid because it produces electricity when needed. Solar power peaks in the middle of the day and that’s also when air conditioning is running and businesses are operating, so power production matches usage.” – Elon Musk
“Automotive franchise laws were put in place decades ago to prevent a manufacturer from unfairly opening stores in direct competition with an existing franchise dealer that had already invested time, money and effort to open and promote their business.” – Elon Musk
“Boeing just took $20 billion and 10 years to improve the efficiency of their planes by 10 percent. That’s pretty lame. I have a design in mind for a vertical liftoff supersonic jet that would be a really big improvement.” – Elon Musk
“I was born in Africa. I came to California because it’s really where new technologies can be brought to fruition, and I don’t see a viable competitor.” – Elon Musk
“If you look at our current technology level, something strange has to happen to civilisations, and I mean strange in a bad way. And it could be that there are a whole lot of dead, one-planet civilisations.” – Elon Musk
“An asteroid or a supervolcano could certainly destroy us, but we also face risks the dinosaurs never saw: An engineered virus, nuclear war, inadvertent creation of a micro black hole, or some as-yet-unknown technology could spell the end of us.” – Elon Musk
“I don’t spend my time pontificating about high-concept things; I spend my time solving engineering and manufacturing problems.” – Elon Musk
“If you think back to the beginning of cell phones, laptops or really any new technology, it’s always expensive.” – Elon Musk
“There are really two things that have to occur in order for a new technology to be affordable to the mass market. One is you need economies of scale. The other is you need to iterate on the design. You need to go through a few versions.” – Elon Musk
“I’m interested in things that change the world or that affect the future and wondrous, new technology where you see it, and you’re like, ‘Wow, how did that even happen? How is that possible?'” – Elon Musk
“My background educationally is physics and economics, and I grew up in sort of an engineering environment – my father is an electromechanical engineer. And so there were lots of engineery things around me.” – Elon Musk
“Physics is really figuring out how to discover new things that are counterintuitive, like quantum mechanics. It’s really counterintuitive.” – Elon Musk
“I tend to approach things from a physics framework. And physics teaches you to reason from first principles rather than by analogy.” – Elon Musk
“There’s no better place in the world for technology start-ups than Silicon Valley; there’s such an incredible well of talent and capital and resources. The whole system is set up to foster the creation of new companies. Elon Musk” – Elon Musk
“In the case of Apple, they did originally do production internally, but then along came unbelievably good outsourced manufacturing from companies like Foxconn. We don’t have that in the rocket business. There’s no Foxconn in the rocket business.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk Quotes On Social Medias

“I have made the mistaken assumption – and I will attempt to be better at this – of thinking that because somebody is on Twitter and is attacking me that it is open season. And that is my mistake.” – Elon Musk
“Generally, the view that I’ve had on Twitter is if you’re on Twitter, you’re in, like, the meme – you’re in meme war land. If you’re on Twitter, you’re in the arena. And so, essentially, if you attack me, it is therefore OK for me to attack back.” – Elon Musk
“Particularly Instagram, people look like they have a much better life than they really do. People basically seem like they are way better-looking than they really are, and they are way happier-seeming than they really are.” – Elon Musk
“I hate writing about personal stuff. I don’t have a Facebook page. I don’t use my Twitter account. I am familiar with both, but I don’t use them.” – Elon Musk
“Facebook is quite entrenched and has a network effect. It’s hard to break into a network once it’s formed.” – Elon Musk
“I think there should be regulations on social media to the degree that it negatively affects the public good.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk Quotes on AI (Artificial Intelligence)

“If AI has a goal and humanity just happens to be in the way, it will destroy humanity as a matter of course without even thinking about it…It’s just like, if we’re building a road and an anthill just happens to be in the way, we don’t hate ants, we’re just building a road.”
“China, Russia, soon all countries w[ith] strong computer science. Competition for AI superiority at national level most likely cause of WW3.”
“If you’re not concerned about AI safety, you should be. Vastly more risk(y) than North Korea.”
“AI will be the best or worst thing ever for humanity.”
“[Governments] don’t need to follow normal laws. They will obtain AI developed by companies at gunpoint, if necessary.”
“Mark my words, AI is far more dangerous than nukes…why do we have no regulatory oversight?”
“With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. You know all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, and he’s like, yeah, he’s sure he can control the demon? Doesn’t work out.” – Elon Musk
“AI is a rare case where I think we need to be proactive in regulation than be reactive.”
‘The biggest issue I see with so-called AI experts is that they think they know more than they do, and they think they are smarter than they actually are…This tends to plague smart people. They define themselves by their intelligence and they don’t like the idea that a machine could be way smarter than them, so they discount the idea — which is fundamentally flawed.”
“I have exposure to the most cutting edge AI, and I think people should be really concerned by it…AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization in a way that car accidents, airplane crashes, faulty drugs or bad food were not — they were harmful to a set of individuals within society, of course, but they were not harmful to society as a whole.”

Elon Musk Quotes About Cars

“A Prius is not a true hybrid, really. The current Prius is, like, 2 percent electric. It’s a gasoline car with slightly better mileage.” – Elon Musk
“Even if producing CO2 was good for the environment, given that we’re going to run out of hydrocarbons, we need to find some sustainable means of operating.” – Elon Musk
“Nobody wants to buy a $60,000 electric Civic. But people will pay $90,000 for an electric sports car.” – Elon Musk
“Some companies out there quote a start of production that is substantially in advance of when customers get their cars.” – Elon Musk
“Stationary storage will be as big as the car business long term. The growth rate will probably be several times what it is for the car business.” – Elon Musk
“The problem with car dealerships is you’ve already decided what you want to buy before you even go there, and you’re really just going there to talk through some annoying negotiation.” – Elon Musk
“The U.S. automotive industry has been selling cars the same way for over 100 years, and there are many laws in place to govern exactly how that is to be accomplished.” – Elon Musk
“The X is an amazing car, but we kind of got carried away with the art and technology. Obviously, you want great art. You want great technology. But we did get a little distracted from our mission, which was to advance the cause of electric vehicles. And it probably delayed us a little bit with the Model 3 as well.” – Elon Musk
“Winning ‘Motor Trend’ Car of the year is probably the closest thing to winning the Oscar or Emmy of the car industry.” – Elon Musk
“I think there are more politicians in favor of electric cars than against. There are still some that are against, and I think the reasoning for that varies depending on the person, but in some cases, they just don’t believe in climate change – they think oil will last forever.” – Elon Musk
“I’ve actually made a prediction that within 30 years a majority of new cars made in the United States will be electric. And I don’t mean hybrid, I mean fully electric.” – Elon Musk
“It is definitely true that the fundamental enabling technology for electric cars is lithium-ion as a cell chemistry technology. In the absence of that, I don’t think it’s possible to make an electric car that is competitive with a gasoline car.” – Elon Musk
“The reason we should do a carbon tax is because it’s the right thing to do. It’s economics 101, elementary stuff.” – Elon Musk
“We could definitely make a flying car – but that’s not the hard part. The hard part is, how do you make a flying car that’s super safe and quiet? Because if it’s a howler, you’re going to make people very unhappy.” – Elon Musk
“I really do encourage other manufacturers to bring electric cars to market. It’s a good thing, and they need to bring it to market and keep iterating and improving and make better and better electric cars, and that’s what going to result in humanity achieving a sustainable transport future. I wish it was growing faster than it is.” – Elon Musk
“When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.” – Elon Musk
“I like the word ‘autopilot’ more than I like the word ‘self-driving.’ ‘Self-driving’ sounds like it’s going to do something you don’t want it to do. ‘Autopilot’ is a good thing to have in planes, and we should have it in cars.” – Elon Musk
“Selling an electric sports car creates an opportunity to fundamentally change the way America drives.” – Elon Musk
“Self-driving cars are the natural extension of active safety and obviously something we should do.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk Quotes About SpaceX

“I think we are at the dawn of a new era in commercial space exploration.” – Elon Musk
“Land on Mars, a round-trip ticket – half a million dollars. It can be done.” – Elon Musk
“I’m trying to construct a world that maximises the probability that SpaceX continues its mission without me.” – Elon Musk
“It would take six months to get to Mars if you go there slowly, with optimal energy cost. Then it would take eighteen months for the planets to realign. Then it would take six months to get back, though I can see getting the travel time down to three months pretty quickly if America has the will.” – Elon Musk
“You need to live in a dome initially, but over time you could terraform Mars to look like Earth and eventually walk around outside without anything on… So it’s a fixer-upper of a planet.” – Elon Musk
“Mars is the only place in the solar system where it’s possible for life to become multi-planetarian.” – Elon Musk
“I would like to fly in space. Absolutely. That would be cool. I used to just do personally risky things, but now I’ve got kids and responsibilities, so I can’t be my own test pilot. That wouldn’t be a good idea. But I definitely want to fly as soon as it’s a sensible thing to do.” – Elon Musk
“If anyone has a vested interest in space solar power, it would have to be me.” – Elon Musk
“The revolutionary breakthrough will come with rockets that are fully and rapidly reusable. We will never conquer Mars unless we do that. It’ll be too expensive. The American colonies would never have been pioneered if the ships that crossed the ocean hadn’t been reusable.” – Elon Musk
“If humanity doesn’t land on Mars in my lifetime, I would be very disappointed.” – Elon Musk
“My vision is for a fully reusable rocket transport system between Earth and Mars that is able to re-fuel on Mars – this is very important – so you don’t have to carry the return fuel when you go there.” – Elon Musk
“On one of the SpaceX flights, we had a secret payload: a wheel of cheese. We flew to orbit and brought it back, so it was the world’s first ‘space cheese.’ It was, in part, a tribute to Monty Python.” – Elon Musk
“In order for us to have a future that’s exciting and inspiring, it has to be one where we’re a space-bearing civilization.” – Elon Musk
“The space shuttle was often used as an example of why you shouldn’t even attempt to make something reusable. But one failed experiment does not invalidate the greater goal. If that was the case, we’d never have had the light bulb.” – Elon Musk
“We have a strict ‘no-assholes policy’ at SpaceX.” – Elon Musk
“It is theoretically possible to warp spacetime itself, so you’re not actually moving faster than the speed of light, but it’s actually space that’s moving.” – Elon Musk
“SpaceX is only 12 years old now. Between now and 2040, the company’s lifespan will have tripled. If we have linear improvement in technology, as opposed to logarithmic, then we should have a significant base on Mars, perhaps with thousands or tens of thousands of people.” – Elon Musk
“The pace of progress on Mars depends upon the pace of progress of SpaceX.” – Elon Musk
“I always have optimism, but I’m realistic. It was not with the expectation of great success that I started Tesla or SpaceX… It’s just that I thought they were important enough to do anyway.” – Elon Musk
“I feel very strongly that SpaceX would not have been able to get started, nor would we have made the progress that we have, without the help of NASA.” – Elon Musk
“What I’m trying to do is, is to make a significant difference in space flight. And help make space flight accessible to almost anyone.” – Elon Musk
“You could warm Mars up, over time, with greenhouse gases.” – Elon Musk
“It is true that SpaceX is partially a government contractor, but it would be unfair to say that SpaceX is entirely a government contractor.” – Elon Musk
“So we originally expected to make about 35 gigawatt hours at the cell level and about 50 gigawatt hours at the module or pack level. Now we are expecting to do about 150 gigawatt hours in the same volumetric space as the original design.” – Elon Musk
“I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact.” – Elon Musk
“If we drive down the cost of transportation in space, we can do great things.” – Elon Musk

“I think a lot of the American people feel more than a little disappointed that the high-water mark for human exploration was 1969. The dream of human space travel has almost died for a lot of people.” – Elon Musk
“If you look at space companies, they’ve failed either because they’ve had a technical solution where success was not a possible outcome, they were unable to attract a critical mass of talent, or they just ran out of money. The finish line is usually a lot further away than you think.” – Elon Musk
“SpaceX has the potential of saving the U.S. government $1 billion a year. We are opposed to creating an entrenched monopoly with no realistic means for anyone to compete.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk Motivational Quotes

“A company is a group organized to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its people and how excited they are about creating. I do want to recognize a ton of super-talented people. I just happen to be the face of the companies.” – Elon Musk
“I always invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don’t believe in the whole thing of just using other people’s money. I don’t think that’s right. I’m not going to ask other people to invest in something if I’m not prepared to do so myself.” – Elon Musk
“I usually describe myself as an engineer; that’s basically what I’ve been doing since I was a kid.” – Elon Musk
“I wouldn’t say I have a lack of fear. In fact, I’d like my fear emotion to be less because it’s very distracting and fries my nervous system.” – Elon Musk
“If you go back a few hundred years, what we take for granted today would seem like magic – being able to talk to people over long distances, to transmit images, flying, accessing vast amounts of data like an oracle. These are all things that would have been considered magic a few hundred years ago.” – Elon Musk
“It’s very important to like the people you work with. Otherwise, your job is going to be quite miserable.” – Elon Musk
“People should pursue what they’re passionate about. That will make them happier than pretty much anything else.” – Elon Musk
“When I was a child, there’s one thing I said: ‘I never want to be alone.’ That’s what I would say. I don’t want to be alone.” – Elon Musk
“I do think there is a lot of potential if you have a compelling product and people are willing to pay a premium for that. I think that is what Apple has shown. You can buy a much cheaper cell phone or laptop, but Apple’s product is so much better than the alternative, and people are willing to pay that premium.” – Elon Musk
“What most people know but don’t realize they know is that the world is almost entirely solar-powered already. If the sun wasn’t there, we’d be a frozen ice ball at three degrees Kelvin, and the sun powers the entire system of precipitation. The whole ecosystem is solar-powered.” – Elon Musk
“People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.” – Elon Musk
“The problem is that at a lot of big companies, process becomes a substitute for thinking. You’re encouraged to behave like a little gear in a complex machine. Frankly, it allows you to keep people who aren’t that smart, who aren’t that creative.” – Elon Musk
“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk Famous Quotes

“Patience is a virtue, and I’m learning patience. It’s a tough lesson.” – Elon Musk
“Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.” – Elon Musk
“It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.” – Elon Musk
“America is the spirit of human exploration distilled.” – Elon Musk
“I don’t create companies for the sake of creating companies, but to get things done.” – Elon Musk
“I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.” – Elon Musk
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to plan to sell a company.” – Elon Musk
“Any product that needs a manual to work is broken.” – Elon Musk
“Here in the West, people often don’t like listening to their leaders, even if they are right.” – Elon Musk
“I could either watch it happen or be a part of it.” – Elon Musk
“We’re going to make it happen. As God is my bloody witness, I’m hell-bent on making it work.” – Elon Musk
“When I was in college, I wanted to be involved in things that would change the world.” – Elon Musk
“I do think there should be some regulations on AI.” – Elon Musk
“I don’t create companies for the sake of creating companies, but to get things done.” – Elon Musk
“I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.” – Elon Musk
“As you heat the planet up, it’s just like boiling a pot.” – Elon Musk
“Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death.” – Elon Musk
“Great companies are built on great products.” – Elon Musk
“I think you should always bear in mind that entropy is not on your side.” – Elon Musk
“I will never be happy without having someone. Going to sleep alone kills me.” – Elon Musk
“I’ve actually not read any books on time management.” – Elon Musk
“I’d rather be optimistic and wrong than pessimistic and right.” – Elon Musk
“If I’m not in love, if I’m not with a long-term companion, I cannot be happy.” – Elon Musk
“If something’s important enough, you should try. Even if – the probable outcome is failure.” – Elon Musk
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to plan to sell a company.” – Elon Musk
“I had so many people try to talk me out of starting a rocket company, it was crazy.” – Elon Musk
“I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens.” – Elon Musk
“If you had to buy a new plane every time you flew somewhere, it would be incredibly expensive.” – Elon Musk
“I’m a Silicon Valley guy. I just think people from Silicon Valley can do anything.” – Elon Musk
“I’m anti-tax, but I’m pro-carbon tax.” – Elon Musk
“I’ve actually not read any books on time management.” – Elon Musk
“I’ve been to Disneyland, like, 10 times. I’m getting really tired of Disneyland.” – Elon Musk
“Life is too short for long-term grudges.” – Elon Musk
“My opinion is it’s a bridge too far to go to fully autonomous cars.” – Elon Musk
“Really, the only thing that makes sense is to strive for greater collective enlightenment.” – Elon Musk
“Rockets are cool. There’s no getting around that.” – Elon Musk
“Silicon Valley has some of the smartest engineers and technology business people in the world.” – Elon Musk
“The key to making things affordable is design and technology improvements, as well as scale.” – Elon Musk
“The rumours of the demise of the U.S. manufacturing industry are greatly exaggerated.” – Elon Musk
“We are the first species capable of self-annihilation.” – Elon Musk
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” – Elon Musk
“Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.” – Elon Musk
“The factory is the machine that builds the machine.” – Elon Musk
“The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.” – Elon Musk
“You have to say, ‘Well, why did it succeed where others did not?'” – Elon Musk
“You shouldn’t do things differently just because they’re different. They need to be… better.” – Elon Musk
“I’m glad to see that BMW is bringing an electric car to market. That’s cool.” – Elon Musk
“In order to have your voice be heard in Washington, you have to make some little contribution.” – Elon Musk
“In the early days of aviation, there was a great deal of experimentation and a high death rate.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk Innovation Quotes

“I care very deeply about the people at Tesla. I feel like I have a great debt to the people of Tesla who are making the company successful.” – Elon Musk
“The United States is definitely ahead in culture of innovation. If someone wants to accomplish great things, there is no better place than the U.S.” – Elon Musk
“What makes innovative thinking happen?… I think it’s really a mindset. You have to decide.” – Elon Musk
“I think long term you can see Tesla establishing factories in Europe, in other parts of the U.S. and in Asia.” – Elon Musk
“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.” – Elon Musk
“Starting and growing a business is as much about the innovation, drive, and determination of the people behind it as the product they sell.” – Elon Musk
“The goal of Tesla is to accelerate sustainable energy, so we’re going to take a step back and think about what’s most likely to achieve that goal.” – Elon Musk
“I think Tesla will most likely develop its own autopilot system for the car, as I think it should be camera-based, not Lidar-based. However, it is also possible that we do something jointly with Google.” – Elon Musk
“There’s a silly notion that failure’s not an option at NASA. Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.” – Elon Musk

“We polled Tesla owners, do you want autopilot disabled or not. Not one person wanted it disabled. That’s pretty telling.” – Elon Musk
“I wish we could be private with Tesla. It actually makes us less efficient to be a public company.” – Elon Musk
“Tesla is becoming a real car company.” – Elon Musk
“For all the supporters of Tesla over the years, and it’s been several years now and there have been some very tough times, I’d just like to say thank you very much. I deeply appreciate the support, particularly through the darkest times.” – Elon Musk
“I think most of the important stuff on the Internet has been built. There will be continued innovation, for sure, but the great problems of the Internet have essentially been solved.” – Elon Musk
“If you don’t have sustainable energy, you have unsustainable energy. The fundamental value of a company like Tesla is the degree to which it accelerates the advent of sustainable energy faster than it would otherwise occur.” – Elon Musk
“Obviously Tesla is about helping solve the consumption of energy in a sustainable manner, but you need the production of energy in a sustainable manner.” – Elon Musk
“Tesla is here to stay and keep fighting for the electric car revolution.” – Elon Musk
“When somebody has a breakthrough innovation, it is rarely one little thing. Very rarely, is it one little thing. It’s usually a whole bunch of things that collectively amount to a huge innovation.” – Elon Musk
“Yeah, well I think anyone who likes fast cars will love the Tesla. And it has fantastic handling by the way. I mean this car will crush a Porsche on the track, just crush it. So if you like fast cars, you’ll love this car. And then oh, by the way, it happens to be electric and it’s twice the efficiency of a Prius.” – Elon Musk

Inspirational Elon Musk Quotes

“I’m interested in things that change the world or that affect the future and wondrous, new technology where you see it, and you’re like, ‘Wow, how did that even happen? How is that possible?'” – Elon Musk
“If something has to be designed and invented, and you have to figure out how to ensure that the value of the thing you create is greater than the cost of the inputs, then that is probably my core skill.” – Elon Musk
“I always invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don’t believe in the whole thing of just using other people’s money. I don’t think that’s right. I’m not going to ask other people to invest in something if I’m not prepared to do so myself.” – Elon Musk
“I do think there is a lot of potential if you have a compelling product and people are willing to pay a premium for that. I think that is what Apple has shown. You can buy a much cheaper cell phone or laptop, but Apple’s product is so much better than the alternative, and people are willing to pay that premium.” – Elon Musk
“I don’t believe in process. In fact, when I interview a potential employee and he or she says that ‘it’s all about the process,’ I see that as a bad sign. The problem is that at a lot of big companies, process becomes a substitute for thinking. You’re encouraged to behave like a little gear in a complex machine. Frankly, it allows you to keep people who aren’t that smart, who aren’t that creative.” – Elon Musk
“I don’t spend my time pontificating about high-concept things; I spend my time solving engineering and manufacturing problems.” – Elon Musk
“My biggest mistake is probably weighing too much on someone’s talent and not someone’s personality. I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.” – Elon Musk
“People should pursue what they’re passionate about. That will make them happier than pretty much anything else.” – Elon Musk
“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.” – Elon Musk
“I think the best way to attract venture capital is to try and come up with a demonstration of whatever product or service it is and ideally take that as far as you can. Just see if you can sell that to real customers and start generating some momentum. The further along you can get with that, the more likely you are to get funding.” – Elon Musk
“I would just question things… It would infuriate my parents… That I wouldn’t just believe them when they said something ’cause I’d ask them why. And then I’d consider whether that response made sense given everything else I knew.” – Elon Musk
“There have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Why do you want to live What’s the point” What inspires you” What do you love about the future If the future does not include being out there among the stars and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing.” – Elon Musk
“There’s a tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their ass-covering.” – Elon Musk
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” – Elon Musk – Elon Musk
“If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.” – Elon Musk
“If you’re co-founder or CEO, you have to do all kinds of tasks you might not want to do… If you don’t do your chores, the company won’t succeed… No task is too menial.” – Elon Musk
“As much as possible, avoid hiring MBAs. MBA programs don’t teach people how to create companies.” – Elon Musk
“Don’t delude yourself into thinking something’s working when it’s not, or you’re gonna get fixated on a bad solution.” – Elon Musk
“I wouldn’t say I have a lack of fear. In fact, I’d like my fear emotion to be less because it’s very distracting and fries my nervous system.” – Elon Musk
“If you’re trying to create a company, it’s like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion.” – Elon Musk
“It is a mistake to hire huge numbers of people to get a complicated job done. Numbers will never compensate for talent in getting the right answer (two people who don’t know something are no better than one), will tend to slow down progress, and will make the task incredibly expensive.” – Elon Musk
“It’s very important to like the people you work with, otherwise life [and] your job is gonna be quite miserable.” – Elon Musk
“People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.” – Elon Musk
“There are really two things that have to occur in order for a new technology to be affordable to the mass market. One is you need economies of scale. The other is you need to iterate on the design. You need to go through a few versions.” – Elon Musk
“When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars, people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.” – Elon Musk
“Work like hell. I mean you just have to put in 80 to 100 hour weeks every week. [This] improves the odds of success. If other people are putting in 40 hour workweeks and you’re putting in 100 hour workweeks, then even if you’re doing the same thing, you know that you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.” – Elon Musk
“I think life on Earth must be about more than just solving problems… It’s got to be something inspiring, even if it is vicarious.” – Elon Musk
“Really pay attention to negative feedback and solicit it, particularly from friends. … Hardly anyone does that, and it’s incredibly helpful.” – Elon Musk
“Talent is extremely important. It’s like a sports team, the team that has the best individual player will often win, but then there’s a multiplier from how those players work together and the strategy they employ.” – Elon Musk

Elon Musk Quotes