When it comes to motivational speakers, there are not many who can trump – Zig Ziglar. Ziglar had a natural flare, a clear set of ideas, coupled with powerful tonality and delivery that made his messages very powerful.
In addition to being a speaker, Ziglar has also written over 30 books. His first book, ‘See You At The Top‘, was rejected 39 times before it got published in the year 1975. This book is still in print today with over 1,600,000 copies sold.
This article is a collection of the best quotes from Ziglar on a range of topics including what it takes to reach success, dealing with failure, setting goals, taking action, living a balanced life and more that will enrich you and help you in your personal and professional growth.
Quotes on success
Success is not measured by how you do compared to what somebody else does, success is measured by how you do compared to what you could have done with the ability which you have.
Success means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph.
Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.
Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation.
You can succeed at almost anything for which you have unbridled enthusiasm.
I believe success is achieved by ordinary people with Extraordinary Determination.
There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs.
Every success is built on the ability to do better than good enough.
Much about success is just the result of simply the ability to follow up, follow through, and finish what we started.
Practice is simply preparation for success.
Being a winner is much different from having the potential to win. Everyone has the potential; it’s what you do with that potential that really matters.
If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.
You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.
When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.
A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.
Of course motivation is not permanent. But then, neither is bathing; but it is something you should do on a regular basis.
Also Read: 50 Inspirational Quotes From The Book – ‘Habits for Success’ By G. Brian Benson
Quotes on the qualities needed for success
It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action and discipline that enabled us to follow through.
Attitude, not aptitude, determines altitude.
Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission.
You were born to win, but to be a winner you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.
Ability can take you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.
With integrity, you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide. With integrity, you will do the right thing, so you will have no guilt.
Men of genius are admired, men of wealth are envied, men of power are feared, but only men of character are trusted.
You cannot tailor-make your situations in life, but you can tailor-make your attitude to fit those situations.
Do more, give more, try harder, aim higher, and give thanks. The rewards will be yours.
The depth of your spirit will determine the height of your success.
The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.
You already have every characteristic necessary for success if you recognize, claim, develop and use them.
Desire is the catalyst that enables a person with average ability to compete and win against others with more natural talent.
Quotes on being persistent
If you have the character to hang in there when its tough, you will develop or acquire every other characteristic necessary to WIN in the game of life.
If you are going to be successful, you must develop persistence. How do you do that? It is not easily condensed in one simple statement, but one thing you can be sure of is that your must define your purpose.
Quotes on failure
You don’t drown by falling in water; you only drown if you stay there.
Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.
Most people who fail in their dream fail not from lack of ability but from lack of commitment.
One of the main reasons people fail to reach their full potential is because they are unwilling to risk anything.
Don’t let the mistakes and disappointments of the past control and direct your future.
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Failure is an event, it is not a person—yesterday ended last night—today is a brand new day and it’s yours.
Quotes on the importance of setting goals
Anyone with a purpose can make a difference.
Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.
You need a plan to build a house. To build a life, it is even more important to have a plan or goal.
A goal properly set is halfway reached.
In order for a goal is to be effective, it must effect change.
You got to have long range goals. You go as far as you can see, and when you get there, you will always be able to see further.
To reach your full potential, you have to set goals that will stretch you.
The real benefit of having goals is what you become by reaching them.
You can’t hit a target you cannot see, and you cannot see a target you do not have.
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.
People do not wander around and then find themselves at the top of Mount Everest.
When you stop planning and preparing, you stop winning.
A vision without a task is but a dream. A task without a vision is drudgery. But a vision and a task are the hope of the world.
Desire is born with vision.
Quotes on how to set goals to succeed
Firstly, you must have some big goals, cause thinking big creates the excitement necessary for accomplishment. Second, you must have some long range goals, so that short range frustrations don’t stop you in your tracks. Third, you must have daily objectives cause making it big means working every day toward your long range goals. And fourth, your goals must be specific, not vague or general.
Identify your goals, and set a deadline for reaching them. Make a list of obstacles you have to overcome to reach your goals, identify the people who can help you overcome those obstacles, and make a list of skills you have and those you need to achieve your goals and then develop a plan.
Quotes on Life
You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending.
If you go out looking for friends, you’re going to find they are very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you’ll find them everywhere.
Motivation is the fuel, necessary to keep the human engine running.
If standard of living is your major objective, quality of life almost never improves, but if quality of life is your number one objective, your standard of living almost always improves.
Life is an echo. What you send out comes back. What you sow you reap. What you give you get. What you see in others exists in you.
The story of life repeatedly assures you that if you will use what you have, you will be given more to use.
Good action today will produce good living tomorrow.
The 3 C’s of Life: Choices, Chances, Changes. You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change.
If you pay that price daily by planning and preparing and working to become the right kind of person, then you can legitimately expect to have all that life has to offer.
You never know when one kind act, or one word of encouragement, can change a life forever.
Quotes on the power of habits
When you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them.
Motivation gets you going and habit gets you there.
Quote on how to break a bad habit
To break a bad habit, (smoking, drinking, habitual lateness, being overweight etc.) first and most important thing that you must do is decide that you really want to change. Secondly, if you need to, get help; you can quit your bad habits by associating with people who share your goals. Thirdly, try substitution. There is no such thing as eliminating a habit, you simply substitute a good one for a bad one. Fourth, use the psychological technique of visualizing yourself as free of that destructive habit. And finally, once you decide to grab hold of a new habit, force yourself to do it for at-least 21 consecutive days.
Quotes on the value of learning
Life is a classroom – only those who are willing to be lifelong learners will move to the head of the class.
Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.
If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.
If you learn from defeat, you haven’t really lost.
Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly – until you can learn to do it well.
Individuals who keep growing in knowledge are the ones who succeed.
Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment.
I hear and forget. I see and hear and I remember. However, when I see, hear and do, I understand and succeed.
Quotes on leadership
A manager “is not a person who can do the work better than his men; he is a person who can get his men to do the work better than he can.
Encouragement and hope are the two most powerful qualities any person can provide to others.
Quotes on facing your fears
F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.
If you believe as I do that you were born to win, you’re going to have to find your fears and start facing them.
Quotes on happiness
It makes no difference where you go, there you are. And it makes no difference what you have, there’s always more to want. Until you are happy with who you are, you will never be happy because of what you have.
The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want right now.
Quotes on the power of your mind
If you want to reach your goal, you must see it, be able to smell, to touch and taste it, know how it looks and what it feels like in your own mind. Before you can reach that goals, it is true that whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you are generally right.
Remember, you are what you are and where you are because of what’s going on in your mind. And you can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind.
Quotes on the power of positive self image and self belief
If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.
If you don’t like who you are and where you are, don’t worry about it because you’re not stuck either with who you are or where you are. You can grow. You can change. You can be more than you are.
When your image improves, your performance improves.
If you do not think you deserve success, then you will do things that will keep you from getting success.
Don’t let others be your judge and jury with their pity and negative thoughts or feeling. Know that you are here for a reason. Recognize, develop, and use the resources you do have. Others see the surface; you know your heart.
The greatest of all mistakes is to do nothing because you think you can only do a little.
You cannot consistently perform in a manner which is inconsistent with the way you see yourself.
You can change everything about your business by changing your thinking about your business.
Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others.
Quote on the importance of relationship with yourself
Outside of your relationship with God, the most important relationship you can have is with yourself. I don’t mean that we are to spend all our time focused on me, me, me to the exclusion of others. Instead, I mean that we must be healthy internally, emotionally and spiritually – in order to create healthy relationships with others.
Quotes on the value of solitude
If you want to build a winning attitude, you need to take time to be quiet. And you need to do it at-least three to four times a week. Take a slow, lazy, drifting, absolutely meaningless walk. Pick out a place in your home where you can be absolutely quiet on occasion, if you have to get up 30 minutes earlier, that’s wonderful.
Sit there and run through your mind the things you are going to be doing. As you plan the day, as you think of all of things you have got to be excited about, it really does renew your energy.
Spend a few minutes in quiet reflective thoughts, it does make a difference. Take time to be quiet.
Quotes on being around the right people
Surround yourself with people who want the best for you and the people you love!
You cannot fly with the eagles if you continue to scratch with the turkeys.
You don’t climb the high mountain all by yourself, it is in conjunction with others that we really accomplish the major things in life.
You become part of what you are around.
You don’t build a business – you build people – and people build the business.
Quotes on the power of gratitude
The healthiest of all human emotions is gratitude.
The more you are grateful for what you have the more you will have to be grateful for.
How happy a person is depends upon the depth of his gratitude. You will notice at once that the unhappy person has little gratitude toward life, other people and God.
Of all the “attitudes” we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important and by far the most life changing.
Quotes on time management
If you don’t plan your time, someone else will help you waste it.
Quotes on money
Money is not everything but it ranks right up there with oxygen.
Quotes on love
Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully.
Like sterling silver, love will tarnish unless it is polished with daily applications of interest, involvement, and expressions of love.
The best way to make your spouse and children feel secure is not with big deposits in bank accounts, but with little deposits of thoughtfulness and affection in the “love account.
To a child love is spelled T-I-M-E.
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they’ve never failed to imitate them.
Many marriages would be better if the husband and wife clearly understood that they’re on the same side.
Quotes that will motivate and inspire you
Make today worth remembering.
It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.
Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.
Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember ~ the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you.
Put all excuses aside and remember this: YOU are capable.
It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you use that makes a difference.
People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.
You are the most influential person you will talk to all day.
I recognize that winning is not everything, but the effort to win is.
You can start from where you are with what you’ve got and go to where it is you want to go.
Peak performance is dependent on passion, grit, determination, and a willingness to do something poorly until you can do it well.
You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.
When you’ve got a strong enough why, you can always find the how.
Encouragement is the oxygen of the soul.
We do not stop working and playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop working and playing.
Hope is the power that gives a person the confidence to step out and try.
You cannot solve a problem until you acknowledge that you have one and accept responsibility for solving it.
