100 Truly Inspirational Success Quotes From Great Leaders

Once in a while, we all need a spark of energy to help us walk the path towards success. And inspirational success quotes from those who have already taken this journey will remind you that success is achievable.
Language has given us the medium to share our experiences and wisdom with the world. The best part is that we can leave our legacy by documenting our life’s journeys.
Leaders of our times are doing the same, and we can't thank them enough. They often share uplifting and inspiring quotes and thoughts that have helped us get through tough times.
Here’s a compilation of the most exquisite success quotes that gave us a push. And we’re sure they’ll work like magic for you too!
1. Winston S. Churchill
Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.
~ Winston S. Churchill
2. Ratan Tata
I don't believe in taking right decisions, I take decisions and make them right.
~ Ratan Tata
3. Colin R. Davis
The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.
~ Colin R. Davis
4. Steve Jobs
If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.
~ Steve Jobs
5. Barack Obama
The real test is not whether you avoid this failure because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.
~ Barack Obama
6. T. Krishnamacharya
No one is wise by birth, for wisdom results from one own’s efforts.
~ T. Krishnamacharya
7. Franklin D. Roosevelt
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
8. Henry David Thoreau
Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.
~ Henry David Thoreau
9. Chris Grosser
Opportunities don't happen. You create them.
~ Chris Grosser
10. John D. Rockefeller
Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.
~ John D. Rockefeller
11. Harivansh Rai Bacchan
Remember, no one is stopping you from lighting a lamp in a dark night. – Harivansh Rai Bacchan
12. Thomas Jefferson
I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.
~ Thomas Jefferson
13. Ray Goforth
There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.
~ Ray Goforth
14. Jim Rohn
Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don't wish it were easier; wish you were better.
~ Jim Rohn
15. Helen Keller
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
~ Helen Keller
16. Thomas J. Watson
Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really: Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that's where you will find success.
~ Thomas J. Watson
17. Tony Hsieh
Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion.
~ Tony Hsieh
18. G. K. Chesterton
I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.
~ G. K. Chesterton
19. Anonymous
The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do.
~ Anonymous
20. Michael John Bobak
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.
~ Michael John Bobak
Also read: 50 Handpicked Quotes On Productivity From Successful People Around The World
21. Tony Robbins
People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
~ Tony Robbins
22. Robert Kiyosaki
Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.
~ Robert Kiyosaki
23. Walt Disney
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.
~ Walt Disney
24. Bruce Lee
The successful warrior is the average man, with laser~like focus.
~ Bruce Lee
25. Colin Powell
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
~ Colin Powell
26. Conrad Hilton
Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit.
~ Conrad Hilton
27. Herbert Bayard Swope
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure~It is: Try to please everybody.
~ Herbert Bayard Swope
28. Albert Schweitzer
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
~ Albert Schweitzer
29. Anonymous
Success isn't just about what you accomplish in your life; it's about what you inspire others to do.
~ Anonymous
30. Japanese Proverb
Fall seven times and stand up eight.
~ Japanese Proverb
31. Anonymous
Some people dream of success while others wake up and work.
~ Anonymous
32. Anonymous
The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do.
~ Anonymous
33. David Brinkley
A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that other throw at him.
~ David Brinkley
34. Bill Cosby
In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
~ Bill Cosby
35. Nikos Kazantzakis
In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.
~ Nikos Kazantzakis
36. Thomas Edison
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
~ Thomas Edison
37. Zig Ziglar
Don't be distracted by criticism. Remember~the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you.
~ Zig Ziglar
38. John D. Rockefeller Jr.
The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well.
~ John D. Rockefeller Jr.
39. Oprah Winfrey
You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it.
~ Oprah Winfrey
40. Anthony Robbins
There is a powerful driving force inside every human being that, once unleashed, can make any vision, dream, or desire a reality.
~ Anthony Robbins
Also read: 105 Famous Work Ethic Quotes to Boost Employee Morale
41. Aristotle Onassis
The secret to success is to know something nobody else knows.
~ Aristotle Onassis
42. Estee Lauder
I never dreamed about success, I worked for it.
~ Estee Lauder
43. Vidal Sassoon
The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.
~ Vidal Sassoon
44. Charles F. Kettering
Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.
~ Charles F. Kettering
45. John Wooden
Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.
~ John Wooden
46. Swami Vivekananda
Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life–think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.
~ Swami Vivekananda
47. Proverb
Just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending, he turned into a butterfly.
~ Proverb
48. Vaibhav Shah
Whenever you see a successful person you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them.
~ Vaibhav Shah
49. Eleanor Roosevelt
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
50. Kim Garst
If you don’t value your time, neither will others. Stop giving away your time and talents–start charging for it.
~ Kim Garst
51. Henry Ford
The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.
~ Henry Ford
52. Anonymous
Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument.
~ Anonymous
53. Oscar Wilde
What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.
~ Oscar Wilde
54. Anonymous
The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.
~ Anonymous
55. Bruce Feirstein
The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.
~ Bruce Feirstein
56. Lolly Daskal
When you stop chasing the wrong things, you give the right things a chance to catch you.
~ Lolly Daskal
57. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life.
~ A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
58. Napoleon Hill
The starting point of all achievement is desire.
~ Napoleon Hill
59. Robert Collier
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out.
~ Robert Collier
60. Philippos
You may only succeed if you desire succeeding; you may only fail if you do not mind failing.
~ Philippos
Also read: 150 Leadership Quotes To Inspire The Leader Within You
61. Mark Twain
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear–not absence of fear.
~ Mark Twain
62. Pablo Picasso
Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.
~ Pablo Picasso
63. Earl Nightingale
We become what we think about most of the time, and that’s the strangest secret.
~ Earl Nightingale
64. Abraham Lincoln
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.
~ Abraham Lincoln
65. Albert Einstein
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
~ Albert Einstein
66. Vince Lombardi
Success is like anything worthwhile. It has a price. You have to pay the price to win and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there.
~ Vince Lombardi
67. Les Brown
Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.
~ Les Brown
68. Martha Stewart
I find that when you have a real interest in life and a curious life, that sleep is not the most important thing.
~ Martha Stewart
69. Anonymous
It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.
~ Anonymous
70. Ralph Nader
The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
~ Ralph Nader
71. Maya Angelou
Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.
~ Maya Angelou
72. Bill Gates
As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.
~ Bill Gates
73. Henry Kravis
A real entrepreneur is somebody who has no safety net underneath them.
~ Henry Kravis
74. Kunal Shah
If you fully accept the worst that can ever happen in your journey, fear won’t ever be an obstacle in starting-up
~ Kunal Shah
75. Azim Premji
If people are not laughing at your goals, your goals are too small
~ Azim Premji
76. Anonymous
Trust because you are willing to accept the risk, not because it’s safe or certain.
~ Anonymous
77. Margaret Thatcher
You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.
~ Margaret Thatcher
78. John R. Wooden
Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
~ John R. Wooden
79. Truman Capote
Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.
~ Truman Capote
80. Washington Irving
Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above it.
~ Washington Irving
Also read: 30 Thought-Provoking Company Culture Quotes
81. Spencer Johnson
What would you do if you weren’t afraid.
~ Spencer Johnson
82. Herman Melville
It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.
~ Herman Melville
83. Theodore N. Vail
Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable.
~ Theodore N. Vail
84. Booker T. Washington
You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals.
~ Booker T. Washington
85. Dale Carnegie
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all.
~ Dale Carnegie
86. Anatole France
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.
~ Anatole France
87. Wayne Dyer
Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.
~ Wayne Dyer
88. John C. Maxwell
Success is … knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.
~ John C. Maxwell
89. George Lorimer
You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.
~ George Lorimer
90. Francis Chan
Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.
~ Francis Chan
91. Ella Wheeler Wilcox
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
92. Jim Ryun
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.
~ Jim Ryun
93. Michael Jordan
You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.
~ Michael Jordan
94. Diane Ackerman
I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.
~ Diane Ackerman
95. George Bernard Shaw
Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time. ~ George Bernard Shaw
96. Jane Smiley
In my experience, there is only one motivation, and that is desire. No reasons or principle contain it or stand against it.
~ Jane Smiley
97. Denis Waitley
The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.
~ Denis Waitley
98. Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference.
~ Robert Frost
99. T. Harv Eker
If you want to make a permanent change, stop focusing on the size of your problems and start focusing on the size of you!
~ T. Harv Eker
100. Gurbaksh Chahal
If you genuinely want something, don’t wait for it–teach yourself to be impatient.
~ Gurbaksh Chahal
Also read: 35 Best Quotes About Creativity To Inspire Employees
Wrapping up
There is no definite recipe for success, but a dash of motivation and a pinch of zeal can take you a long way.
Success may be anything you choose it to be, so go and seek it. And as Napoleon Hill said, “You can be anything you want to be, if only you believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith; for whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
After reading our collection of all the most notable success quotes, we hope you're as fired up as we are!