Elon Musk isn’t just known for building rockets, electric cars, and AI companies, he’s also known for his unfiltered, brutally honest, and often motivational quotes. Here’s a list of Musk quotes that show exactly how he thinks.
- “Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”
- “The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.”
- “Optimism, pessimism, f* that — we’re going to make it happen.”
- “Engineering is the closest thing to magic that exists in the world.”
- “Great companies are built on great products.”
- “Work like hell. I mean you just have to put in 80 to 100-hour weeks every week.”
- “Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.”
- “No, I don’t ever give up. I’d have to be dead or completely incapacitated.”
- “Elon Musk… knows what it is like to fail and persist until success is reached.” – Redditor insight.
- “Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.”
- “When something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.”
- “I could either watch it happen or be a part of it.”
- “If something’s important enough, you should try—even if the probable outcome is failure.”
- “You want to be extra rigorous about making the best possible thing you can… Seek negative feedback.”
- “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.”
- “Constantly seek criticism. A well thought out critique is as valuable as gold.”
- “People work better when they know what the goal is and why.”
- “Talent is extremely important… there’s a multiplier from how those players work together.”
- “The path to the CEO’s office should not be through the CFO’s office… it needs to be through engineering and design.”
- “I always invest my own money in the companies that I create…”
- “I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.”
- “People should pursue what they’re passionate about. That will make them happier than pretty much anything else.”
- “I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens.”
- “I think it’s important that humanity become a multi-planet species.”
- “I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact.”
- “With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon.”
- “AI is our biggest existential threat.”
- “AI scares the hell out of me.”
- “Any product that needs a manual to work is broken.”
- “In terms of the Internet, it’s like humanity acquiring a collective nervous system…”
- “If the schedule is long, it is wrong. If the design takes too long to bolt, it’s the wrong design.”
- “What have you un-designed today?”
Whether you admire Elon Musk or not, his quotes are impossible to ignore. They capture ambition, risk-taking, humor, and urgency for humanity’s future. From Mars colonization to AI fears, Musk’s words are as bold as his actions.
