17 Inspirational Quotes for (Not Only) Aspiring Entrepreneurs

They say no matter how long the journey, the very first step is going to be the most difficult one.

They say no matter how long the journey, the very first step is going to be the most difficult one. However, if you do resolve to set forth and make a leap of faith into your entrepreneurial adventure, umpteen other steps will still lie ahead to be taken. Some feather-light, some excruciatingly painful.

You’ll also most definitely encounter bewildering turns and detours that can, at times, make your head spin and heart sink.

At some point, you may stop remembering where you came from, and worse, where you are heading. Then a tiniest flash of light would do to get you back on track.

That’s why you always need to keep your eyes wide open. And to look for such sparkle wherever possible.

For starters, here are a few inspirational quotes of people who mostly were pretty fearless life voyagers.

1. DON’T WAIT FOR THE BEST TIME

“When written in Chinese the word “crisis” is composed of two characters — one represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”

John F. Kennedy

2. PLUCK UP COURAGE

“If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs.”

Dhirubhai Ambani

3. LEARN TO TAKE RISKS

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mark Twain

4. EMBRACE FAILURE

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Samuel Beckett

5. AIM SKY HIGH

“A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it. Let him act like the clever archers who, designing to hit the mark which yet appears too far distant, and knowing the limits to which the strength of their bow attains, take aim much higher than the mark, not to reach by their strength or arrow to so great a height, but to be able with the aid of so high an aim to hit the mark they wish to reach.”

Niccolò Machiavelli

6. STRETCH YOUR LIMITS

“There is no man living who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can do.”

Henry Ford

7. DON’T SURRENDER

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

Winston Churchill

8. RELY ON YOURSELF

“I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely. No one knows me or loves me completely. I have only myself.”

Simone de Beauvoir

9. STAY PRUDENT

“Do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence you have not already tested.”

Elizabeth I Tudor

10. TEST AND EXPERIMENT

“Try a thing you haven’t done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.”

Virgil Thomson

11. NOURISH CREATIVITY

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

Albert Einstein

12. BE USEFUL TO OTHERS

“If you’re feeling helpless, help someone.”

Aung San Suu Kyi

13. LOOK FORWARD

“I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”

Nelson Mandela

14. CULTIVATE YOUR INDIVIDUALITY

“In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.”

Coco Chanel

15. DARE TO BE YOU

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can’t be any large-scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution, on an individual level. It’s got to happen inside first.”

Jim Morrison

16. KEEP CARING

“Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent on things that matter.”

Martin Luther King

17. STOP FOR A WHILE AND BREATHE

“I know that you don’t believe it, but indeed, life will bring you through. You will live it down in time. What you need now is fresh air, fresh air, fresh air!”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky