While remote work has become the norm for millions of people all over the world, if you were to walk into nearly every successful entrepreneur’s office, you’ll likely see a photo with a quote underneath it framed on a wall where everyone can see it. Sometimes it acts as a reminder for the entrepreneur themselves, other times it serves as motivation for their employees.
Jim Rohn, the late great business philosopher used to say back in the 80s “Every house over $250,000 has a library in it. Why do you think that is?” I must admit as a young entrepreneur those words fell on deaf ears, but as I aged, I realized the wisdom contained in books.
T. Harv Eker tells his audiences that if he walked around with them for a day, he’d be able to guess their bank balance. Put Rohn’s and Eker’s concepts together, and I believe if I were to see someone’s library, I’d be able to tell what areas of their life they are struggling with. Books, like the quotes on people’s walls at the offices, tell a story.
Over the last 20 years, I have read hundreds of books, filled with thousands of incredible ideas and powerful quotes. The following are 21 of my favorites and are deserving of a place on your wall, whether at the office or at home. To me, the greatest quotes are ones that make us think which is why I prefer to present these quotes with no commentary.
If I were sitting across from you right now, I would only ask you to do one thing. After you read each quote, just stop and ponder. Let it sink in.
How does it apply to your life? What did the person who said each one wants their listeners to get from it?
- “A small leak will sink a great ship.” (Benjamin Franklin)
- “What you do in the dark, puts you in the light.” (Under Armour)
- “It’s not the lack of resources, it’s your lack of resourcefulness that stops you.” (Tony Robbins)
- “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” (Michael Jordan)
- “Begin with the end in mind.” (Stephen Covey)
- “Don’t wish life were easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills.” (Jim Rohn)
- “If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it.” (Anthony J.D’Angelo)
- “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” (Harry Truman)
- “Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.” (Henry J. Kaiser)
- “The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” (Amelia Earheart)
- “The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.” (Winston Churchill)
- “Invest three percent of your income in yourself in order to guarantee your future.” (Brian Tracy)
- “It takes but a few minutes to burn a house which may have taken years to erect. A single stroke of the artist’s brush will ruin a picture on which he may have been working on for years.” (Orison Swett Marden)
- “There are two things that change your life. Something new comes into your life, or something new comes out of you.” (Brendon Burchard)
- “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.” (Albert Einstein)
- “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me?” (Ayn Rand)
- “The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sail.” (Myles Munroe)
- “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe.” (Abraham Lincoln)
- “Bad excuses are worse than none.” (Thomas Fuller)
- “Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect.” (Leonardo Da Vinci)
- “Chains of habits are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” (Warren Buffet)