I’ve got a confession to make, it’s not pretty so I’m going to just spit it out. I haven’t read any fiction for the past two years. My bookcases are jammed with business, marketing, personal development and some travel books. So I thought it might be fun to put all that inspiration to good use and share some of my favourite nuggets with you.

1. “Stop trying to find the formula that will instantly make your idea into a winner. Instead of being scientists the best marketers are artists. They realise that whatever is being sold is being purchased because it creates and emotional want, not because it fills a simple need.”
—Seth Godin

2. “Business is not about money. It’s about making dreams come true for others and for yourself.”
—Derek Sivers

3. “By building respect and inspiring love business can move the world.”
—Kevin Roberts

4. “The goal of business then should not be to simply sell to anyone who wants what you have, but rather to find people who believe what you believe.”
—Simon Sinek

5. “Given the chance people will buy from people who care.”
—Paco Underhill.

6. “Leaders do stuff that matters.”
—Tom Peters

7. “The most powerful narcotic in the world is the promise of belonging.”
—Kalle Lasn

8. “Don’t use language to sound like someone who knows what they’re talking about; know what you’re talking about and use language to get it said.”
—Mark Tredinnick & Geoff Whyte

9. “One must understand what people are thinking, feeling and believing in order to enchant them.”
—Guy Kawasaki

10. “The greatest competitor you’ll ever come up against is self doubt.”
—John McGrath

11. “Good is the enemy of great.”
—Jim Collins

12. “Values are meaningless without stories to bring them to life and engage us on a personal level.”
—Annette Simmons

13. “Do what you love in the service of people who love what you do.”
—Steve Farber

14. “Too many people never connect with their true talents and therefore don’t know what they are capable of achieving.”
—Ken Robinson

15. “We are still in the position of waking up and having a choice. Do I make the world better today somehow, or do I not bother?”
—Tom Hanks

16. “We relish news of our heroes forgetting that we are extraordinary to somebody too.”
—Helen Hayes

17. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
—Albert Einstein

18. “The person who knows how will always have a job. But the person who knows why will be his boss.”
—Carl C. Wood

19. “The market for something to believe in is infinite.”
—Hugh MacLeod

20. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”
—Richard Branson

What quotes inspire you and your work?

Image by Jacob Earl.