Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.

I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.

Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder.

There is no perfect fit when you're looking for the next big thing to do. You have to take opportunities and make an opportunity fit for you, rather than the other way around. The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have.

We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.

What would you do if you weren't afraid?

Fortune does favor the bold and you'll never know what you're capable of if you don't try.

Build your skills, not your résumé. Evaluate what you can do, not the title they're going to give you.

Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.

If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!

If you don't get out there and define yourself, you'll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others.

For me, becoming isn't about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn't end.

Success isn't about how much money you make; it's about the difference you make in people's lives.

In the world of business, the people who are most successful are those who are doing what they love.

It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction.

The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.

People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it.

Most of us live our lives by accident—we live as it happens. Fulfillment comes when we live our lives on purpose.

Achievement happens when we pursue and attain what we want. Success comes when we are in clear pursuit of why we want it.

Successful careers are not planned. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they know their strengths, their method of work, and their values.

Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.

Transferring your passion to your job is far easier than finding a job that happens to match your passion.

The only way to get what you're worth is to stand out, to exert emotional labor, to be seen as indispensable, and to produce interactions that organizations and people care deeply about.

The road to comfort is crowded and it rarely gets you there. Ironically, it's those who seek out discomfort that are able to make a difference and find their footing.

Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage.

We can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can't have both.

Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just one step at a time.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Nothing will work unless you do.

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don't make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off of you.

Some employers out there do want you. Yes, you. But it's not their job to find you. It's your job to find them.

Passion plus competency, not just competency alone, is key to securing employment.

Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.

Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another.

Without effort, your talent is nothing more than unmet potential. Without effort, your skill is nothing more than what you could have done but didn't.

Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it.

If you want to love what you do, abandon the passion mindset and instead adopt the craftsman mindset.

No one owes you a great career, it argues; you need to earn it—and the process won't be easy.

Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement.

Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives.

You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.

Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.

Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.

Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.

Change before you have to.

Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.