Elon Musk
My motivation for all my companies has been to be involved in something that I thought would have a significant impact on the world.Collection: Inspirational
The only reason I was able to accomplish things is the great people willing to work with me. A company is a group of people organized to create a product or service, and that product or service is only as good as the people in the company - and how excited they are about creating it. I do want to recognize a ton of super-talented people. Without them, I would have accomplished very little. I just happen to be the face of the companies.Collection: People
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.Collection: Optimism
No I don't ever give up. I would have to be dead or completely incapacitatedCollection: Giving Up
Fear is a hard thing to deal with. I feel it quite strongly. If I think something is important enough, I'll make myself do it in spite of fear. But it can really sap the will. I hate fear, I wish I had it less.Collection: Hate
The thing that's worth doing is trying to improve our understanding of the world and gain a better appreciation of the universe and not to worry too much about there being no meaning. And, you know, try and enjoy yourself. Because, actually, life's pretty good. It really is.Collection: Appreciation
I'm extremely confident that solar will be at least a plurality of power, and most likely a majority... in less than 20 years.Collection: Years
I think it's important to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. The normal way we conduct our lives is we reason by analogy. [With analogy] we are doing this because it's like something else that was done, or it is like what other people are doing. [With first principles] you boil things down to the most fundamental truths…and then reason up from there.Collection: Thinking
The tough thing is figuring out what questions to ask, but […] once you do that, the rest is really easy.Collection: Tough
Talent is extremely important. It's like a sports team, the team that has the best individual player will often win, but then there’s a multiplier from how those players work together and the strategy they employ.Collection: Sports
Don't be afraid of new arenas.Collection: Inspirational
I always had an existential crisis, trying to figure out ‘what does it all mean?’ I came to the conclusion that if we can advance the knowledge of the world, if we can expand the scope and scale of consciousness, then, we’re better able to ask the right questions and become more enlightened. That’s the only way to move forward.Collection: Moving
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.Collection: Tasks
I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it's probably that. So we need to be very careful...With artificial intelligence we're summoning the demon.Collection: Thinking
That's my lesson for taking a vacation: vacation will kill you.Collection: Vacation
When we got Tesla going at the very beginning, if you asked me what I thought the odds of success were, I would have said less than 50%. I would have said that failure is the most likely outcome.Collection: Odds
It's a fixer-upper of a planet but we could make it work.Collection: Space
It's really incumbent upon us as life's agents to extend life to another planet. I think that being a multi-planet species will significantly increase the richness and scope of the human experience.Collection: Thinking
It's just mind-blowingly awesome. I apologize, and I wish I was more articulate, but it's hard to be articulate when your mind's blown-but in a very good way.Collection: Mind
I've always wanted to be part of something that would radically change the world. . . . People forget the power of inspiration. All of humanity went to the moon with the Apollo missions. The issue was cost. There was no chance to build a base and create frequent flights. That's the problem I would like to solve.Collection: Inspiration
Even if there's a zombie apocalypse, you'll still be able to travel using the Tesla Supercharging system.Collection: Zombie
The idea of lying on a beach as my main thing just sounds like the worst. It sounds horrible to me. I would go bonkers. I would have to be on serious drugs. I'd be super-duper bored. I like high intensity.Collection: Inspirational
I’m nauseatingly pro-American. I would have come here from any country. The U.S. is where great things are possible.Collection: Country
Well, my motivation behind Tesla is really to do as much good as possible for the environment and the electric-vehicle revolution. I think there is still a lot of work to do and if we were to sell to a big company, I'm not sure it would progress at the same pace.Collection: Motivation
People will buy the car just because it's a great car. We want them to think it's excellent value for money and then, oh yeah, it happens to be electric.Collection: Thinking
My family fears that the Russians will assassinate me.Collection: My Family
There's a fundamental difference, if you sort of look into the future, between a humanity that is a space-faring civilization, that's out there exploring the stars...compared with one where we are forever confined to Earth until some eventual extinction event.Collection: Stars
I always see what’s... wrong. Would you want that? When I see a car or a rocket or spacecraft, I only see what’s wrong. I never see what’s right. It’s not a recipe for happiness.Collection: Car
The primary means of energy generation is going to solar. It will at least be a plurality, and probably be a slight majority in the long term.Collection: Mean
So, there's quite a big keep-out zone, and when you factor the keep-out zone into account, the solar panels put on that area would typically generate more power than that nuclear power plant.Collection: Energy
Every mode of transport that we use - whether it's planes, trains, automobiles, bikes, horses - is reusable, but not rockets. So we must solve this problem in order to become a space-faring civilization.Collection: Horse
I'm increasingly inclined to think there should be some regulatory oversight, maybe at the national and international level just to make sure that we don't do something very foolish.Collection: Thinking
I don't think very highly of Henrik Fisker. [...H]e thinks the reason we don't have electric cars is for lack of stylingCollection: Thinking
To our knowledge, life exists on only one planet, Earth. If something bad happens, it's gone. I think we should establish life on another planet-Mars in particular-but we 're not making very good progress. SpaceX is intended to make that happen.Collection: Thinking
If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.Collection: Determination
Don’t be afraid of new arenas.Collection: Inspirational Entrepreneurship
I think it would be great to be born on Earth and to die on Mars. Just hopefully not at the point of impact.Collection: Mars
When you struggle with a problem, that’s when you understand it.Collection: Struggle
I don’t create companies for the sake of creating companies, but to get things done.Collection: Inspirational Entrepreneurship
If humanity doesn’t land on Mars in my lifetime, I would be very disappointed.Collection: Space
Land on Mars, a round-trip ticket – half a million dollars. It can be done.Collection: Mars
To our knowledge, life exists on only one planet, Earth. If something bad happens, it’s gone. I think we should establish life on another planet – Mars in particular – but we ’re not making very good progress. SpaceX is intended to make that happen.Collection: Progress