Elon Musk Quotes

Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.

When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.

People should pursue what they're passionate about. That will make them happier than pretty much anything else.

I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.

I'm extremely confident that solar will be at least a plurality of power, and most likely a majority... in less than 20 years.

Optimism, pessimism, f**k that; we're going to make it happen. As God is my bloody witness, I'm hell-bent on making it work.

Constantly seek criticism. A well thought out critique of what you're doing is as valuable as gold

I think that's the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.

Mars is the only place in the solar system where it's possible for life to become multi-planetarian.

My mentality is that of a samurai. I would rather commit seppuku than fail.

Life is too short for long-term grudges.

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.

Most people can learn a lot more than they think they can. They sell themselves short without trying.

Some people don't like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.

When you struggle with a problem, that's when you understand it.

Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.

Many things are improbable, only a few are impossible.

For me it was never about money, but solving problems for the future of humanity.

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.

Physics is a good framework for thinking. ... Boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there.

I think you should always be seeking negative feedback.

The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.

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.

Engineering is the closest thing to magic that exists in the world.

My motivation for all my companies has been to be involved in something that I thought would have a significant impact on the world.

If something's important enough, you should try. Even if you - the probable outcome is failure.

I'm glad to see that BMW is bringing an electric car to market. That's cool.

The key test for an acronym is to ask whether it helps or hurts communication.

You have to be pretty driven to make it happen. Otherwise, you will just make yourself miserable.

You shouldn't do things differently just because they're different. They need to be... better.

For my part, I will never give up, and I mean never.

When people really understand it's do or die [and] if we work hard and pull through, it's going to be a great outcome; people will give it everything they've got.

Biofuels such as ethanol require enormous amounts of cropland and end up displacing either food crops or natural wilderness, neither of which is good.

Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death.

I read books and talked to people. I mean that's kind of how one learns anything. There's lots of great books out there & lots of smart people.

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.

Great companies are built on great products.

And we need things in life that are exciting and inspiring. It can't just be about solving some awful problem. There have to be reasons to get up in the morning.

I could either watch it happen or be a part of it.

I started SpaceX with the expectation of failure.

That's my lesson for taking a vacation: vacation will kill you.

Weighing too much on someone's talent and not someone's personality. I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.

Really, the only thing that makes sense is to strive for greater collective enlightenment.

When I was in college, I wanted to be involved in things that would change the world.

Patience is a virtue, and I'm learning patience. It's a tough lesson.

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.

Funded by the government just means funded by the people. Government, by the way, has no money. It only takes money from the people. Sometimes people forget that that's really what occurs.

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.

We have a strict 'no a-hole policy' at SpaceX. And we fire people they are. I mean, we give them a little bit of warning. But if they continue to be an a-hole, then they're fired.

You want to have a future where you’re expecting things to be better, not one where you’re expecting things to be worse.