50 quotes from 50 of the most influential people in the world

Thursday January 19, 2017 , 7 min Read

The world’s most influential people are recognised and famed for different things. Some are known for their expertise and intelligence, while others are known for their heroism and determination. But almost all of them have made a powerful impact on society, inspiring millions along the way.

Here are 50 quotes from some of the world’s most influential individuals:

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

– Barack Obama

“Sometimes it is necessary to be lonely in order to prove that you are right.” – Vladimir Putin

“In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” – Mark Zuckerberg

“Happiness does not fall out of the blue and dreams will not come true by themselves. We need to be down-to-earth and work hard. We should uphold the idea that working hard is the most honorable, noblest, greatest and most beautiful virtue.” – Xi Jinping

“I’m convinced that the essence of globalization today provides the world with many more opportunities than risks.” – Angela Merkel

This country has not been made by politicians, kings or governments. It has been made by farmers, labourers, our mothers and sisters and youth.

–Narendra Modi

“If I’d had some set idea of a finish line, don’t you think I would have crossed it years ago?” – Bill Gates

“We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.” – Dalai Lama

“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” – Oprah Winfrey

“The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.” – Pope Benedict XVI

“It is often when night looks darkest, it is often before the fever breaks that one senses the gathering momentum for change, when one feels that resurrection of hope in the midst of despair and apathy.” – Hillary Clinton

“I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. Since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition. In fact, there are so few people this crazy that I feel like I know them all by first name.” – Larry Page

When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.

– Elon Musk

“All of us, in a sense, struggle continuously all the time, because we never get what we want. The important thing which I’ve really learned is how do you not give up, because you never succeed in the first attempt.” – Mukesh Ambani

“The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.” – Rupert Murdoch

“We want Google to be the third half of your brain.” – Sergey Brin

I think frugality drives innovation just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.

– Jeff Bezos

“I’ve got the greatest job in the world. There’s no other job in government where cause and effect is so tightly coupled where you can make a difference every day in so many different ways and in so many different people’s lives. It’s a great challenge.” – Michael Bloomberg

“None can destroy iron, but its own rust can! Likewise none can destroy a person, but its own mindset can!” – Ratan Tata

“Only you and you alone can change your situation. Don’t blame it on anything or anyone.” – Leonardo DiCaprico

“The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.” – Aung San Suu Kyi

“Wear your failure as a badge of honour!” – Sundar Pichai

“I have a discipline that has served me very well in my career and in my personal life and that’s gotten stronger as I’ve gotten older. I’ve always felt if I don’t just have a natural knack for it, I will just out-discipline the competition if I have to, work harder than anybody else.” – Ryan Reynolds

“The term 'too big to fail' must be excised from our vocabulary.” – Jamie Dimon

“If you look through the shelves of science books, you'll find row after row of books written by men. This can be terribly off-putting for women.” – Lisa Randall

“The mind is the seed of creativity, but the heart is the soil. That seed cannot grow without an open heart.” – Shah Rukh Khan

“I don't think it's a mistake to put every great idea into the first movie, because I've always said there won't be a second movie if you go 'we'll hold back these ideas for another one.” – Kevin Feige

Change is the nature of life but challenge is the future of life. So challenge the changes. Never change the challenges.

– Amitabh Bachchan

“Everybody has goals, aspirations or whatever, and everybody has been at a point in their life where nobody believed in them.” – Eminem

“Love is kind. It is at the service of others. Love benefits and helps others, always ready to serve them and to do them good even if one does not feel like doing so.” – Pope Francis

“You renew yourself every day. Sometimes you're successful, sometimes your not, but it's the average that counts.” – Satya Nadella

“Worrying is like praying for something that you don’t want to happen.” – Robert Downey Jr

“If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow.” – Beyonce

“I just hate to lose. When I am on the court, it is like my life depends on it.” – Serena Williams

“Let your joy be in your journey — not in some distant goal.” – Tim Cook

The further you get away from yourself, the more challenging it is. Not to be in your comfort zone is great fun.

– Benedict Cumberbatch

“Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us. Society is stronger when we make vows to each other and we support each other. I don’t support gay marriage in spite of being a conservative. I support gay marriage because I am a conservative.” – David Cameron

“Imperfection is beauty. We are all imperfect.” – Miley Cyrus

“Success is born out of faith, an undying passion, and a relentless drive.” – Stephen Curry

“When I think I’m right, nothing bothers me.” – Donald Trump

“I try to make myself happy because I know that if I’m not happy, my colleagues are not happy and my shareholders are not happy and my customers are not happy.” – Jack Ma

“Global challenges require collective responses.” – Hassan Rouhani

“The worst thing I can be is the same as everybody else. I hate that.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

“There are still many causes worth sacrificing for, so much history yet to be made.” – Michelle Obama

“You cannot let yourself be defined by the hopes that you will fulfill the darkest wishes of your opponents.” – Justin Trudeau

All successes begin with self-discipline. It starts with you.

– Dwayne Johnson

“I think it's great to be flawed. I am hugely flawed, and I like it this way. That's the fun of life. You fall, get up, make mistakes, learn from them, be human and be you.” – Priyanka Chopra