During my time running Design & Build UK and We Connect Construction, I’ve come across many inspirational, motivational, and hilarious quotes that have shaped how I live my life and run my business. Here are some of the best:
“The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that the thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed, but a thing created is loved before it exists.” – Charles Dickens
“Once you figure out what respect tastes like, it tastes better than attention.” – Pink
“At 70 years old, if I could give myself one piece of advice, it would be to use the words, ‘fuck off’ much more frequently.” – Helen Mirren
“Why do people say ‘grow some balls’? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina.” – Betty White
“Sine virtues, sine laus” – Latin for “No guts, no glory”. I had this tattooed on me a week before I started my first company at 25, and I still love it.
“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not followers.” – Ralph Nader
“Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.” – Henry Ford (I run a marketing company, so this is one of my favourites.)
“It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
“Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.” – Zig Ziglar
“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” – Tenneva Jordan
“Treat a child as though he already is the person he’s capable of becoming.” – Haim Ginott
“The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.” – William Jennings Bryan
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life, it goes on.” – Robert Frost, and one of my other favourites.
“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.” – Benjamin Franklin