Sam Altman on Success Quotes

"The dream should be to create something that people actually love. If you do that, the rest usually takes care of itself."

"The secret to success is to find something you love to do so much that you can't wait for the sun to rise to do it again."

"If you are right about something that everyone else is wrong about, that is where the value is created."

"You should aim to be the best in the world at what you do."

"The most successful people I know have a bias toward action."

"Saying no is a superpower. It allows you to protect your focus for the things that will actually change the world."

"Surround yourself with people who make you better."

"You have to be right, and you have to be non-consensus. That is how you win big."

"Self-belief is immensely powerful. The most successful people I know believe in themselves almost to the point of delusion."

"Work hard. It is hard to be really successful without working hard."

"Success comes from a combination of working hard and working on the right things with total focus."

"You want to be an exponential curve yourself."

"Don't chase status. Status is a zero-sum game."

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

"I think the most important thing for a career is to be a fast learner."

"Most people waste most of their time on things that don't matter. Once you have figured out what to do, be relentless about getting your small handful of priorities done quickly."

"The most successful people I know have a clear vision of the future and the persistence to see it through."

"The scale of your dream determines the scale of your impact. Don't settle for a small vision."

"Don't prioritize status or optics. Prioritize substance and results."

"The most successful people are often the most confident, but they are also the most curious."

"A big secret of the most successful people is that they are very good at ignoring things that aren't their top priority."

"Every great achievement was once considered impossible. Your dream is only impossible until it isn't."

"Success comes from being relentless. You have to keep pushing toward the goal."

"Compound growth in your own career is what you should be looking for."

"Compound interest works for your career too, and it starts with deep, focused effort."

"It is useful to focus on adding another zero to whatever you define as your success metric—money, status, impact on the world, or whatever."

"Determination is the most important predictor of success."

"The goal is to be right, not to look like you're right."

"Compounding is magic. Look for it everywhere. Exponential curves are the key to wealth generation."

"Hard work is a fundamental requirement for reaching the top 0.1% of any field."

"If you work on the wrong thing, it doesn't matter how hard you work."

"Work on something that you are genuinely passionate about, or you'll never be able to work hard enough to be successful."

"Build something people want."