Elon Musk is the businessman known for his leadership and vision behind companies like Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity, X and Neuralink. He transformed the world with his visionary ideas, execution and groundbreaking innovations. His thoughts on engineering, problem-solving, technology and the future of technology serve as the inspiration for millions of engineers, entrepreneurs, and dreamers who think and want to become the visionary leader like Elon Musk.
Here are some of the inspirational and motivational quotes by Elon Musk about engineering that will motivate and challenge your perspective on innovation and technology.
Elon Musk Quotes on Engineering
- “Engineering is the closest thing to magic that exists in the world.”
- “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”
- “It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.”
- “Great companies are built on great products.”
- “Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”
- “If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.”
- “You want to be extra rigorous about making the best possible thing you can. Find everything that’s wrong with it and fix it. Seek negative feedback, particularly from friends.”
- “Any product that needs a manual to work is broken.”
- “The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.”
- “I think engineering is the art of figuring out how things work and improving them.”
- “When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.”
- “If humanity doesn’t land on Mars in my lifetime, I would be very disappointed.”
- “The first rule of engineering is to make things work in the real world.”
- “I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.”
- “We need to drive the costs down and make space travel affordable and accessible.”
- “I think we are at the dawn of a new era in commercial space exploration.”
- “What makes innovative thinking happen? I think it’s really a mindset. You have to decide.”
- “Tesla exists to accelerate sustainable transport.”
- “We will not stop until every car on the road is electric.”
- “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
- “It’s very important to like the people you work with; otherwise, life [and] your job is gonna be quite miserable.”
- “If you’re co-founder or CEO, you have to do all kinds of tasks you might not want to do.”
- “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
- “The sun doesn’t shine all the time, so you need a grid battery.”
- “We must get to a sustainable energy economy or we will run out of fossil fuels to burn.”
- “If we drive down the cost of transportation in space, we can do great things.”
- “AI will be the best or worst thing ever for humanity. We need to be very careful.”
- “The pace of progress in artificial intelligence (I’m not referring to narrow AI) is incredibly fast.”
- “I think we need government regulation of AI. It’s a dangerous technology.”
- “The future of cars is electric, and we’re making that future happen.”
- “If something is important enough, you should try even if the probable outcome is failure.”
- “Starting a company is like eating glass and staring into the abyss.”
- “Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.”
- “I think the best way to predict the future is to make it.”
- “There’s a tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their ass-covering.”
- “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
- “The biggest mistake we made was trying to automate everything.”
- “Don’t confuse education with learning.”
- “Failure is the mother of invention.”
- “Constantly seek criticism. A well-thought-out critique of whatever you’re doing is as valuable as gold.”
- “Don’t be afraid of new arenas.”
- “We should produce and consume energy in a sustainable way.”
- “A sustainable energy economy is technically possible and economically viable.”
- “If you need inspiring words, don’t do it.”
- “The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.”
