Sam Altman on Work Quotes

"You should be willing to be misunderstood for a long time if you want to do something new and important."

"Do not waste your time on things that don't matter. Life is too short for that."

"It’s better to be a small part of a great thing than a big part of a mediocre thing."

"Try to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and who challenge you."

"It is much easier to do a hard startup than an easy startup because people want to help with hard problems."

"The world is moving toward a place where leverage from AI and code will be the primary driver of work output."

"Don't let your work become your identity, but let your work be a reflection of your values."

"Almost all of the best people I’ve ever met have been incredibly persistent."

"A big secret is that you can bend the world to your will a surprising percentage of the time."

"Most people get stuck in linear work. You want to find work that has an exponential output."

"Productivity is about doing the right things, not about doing a lot of things."

"Saying no to things that are 'good' so you can say yes to things that are 'great' is the hardest part of focus."

"If you are working on a problem that doesn't matter, it's very hard to get the best people to work with you."

"The compound effect of small improvements over a long period is massive."

"You want to be 'difficult to compete with.' This comes from leverage and unique skills."

"You have to be willing to fail. If you're not failing, you're not trying hard enough things."

"Focus is a force multiplier on work."

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

"Move fast. Speed is one of your main advantages over large companies."

"Work hard. A lot of people in Silicon Valley like to say you don't have to work hard, but they are wrong."

"Effective people are the ones who can identify what needs to happen and then make it happen."

"The best way to predict the future is to build it."

"The best way to get work done is to be very focused and have a very clear goal."

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

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

"The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks."

"If you don't believe in yourself, it's hard to let yourself have ideas about the future."

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

"Be a person who gets things done. It is the most valuable trait in a colleague."

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

"One of the best ways to learn is to teach others what you have learned."

"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."