Inspirational Quotes
Words to motivate, inspire, and guide you.
Elon Musk Quotes
MarsLifeSpaceFuture Mars is the only place in the solar system where it's possible for life to become multi-planetarian.
OptimismHopeFuturePerspective 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.
GrowthNurturingPotentialResilienceFoundation If you want to grow a giant redwood, you need to make sure the seeds are ok, nurture the sapling, and work out what might potentially stop it from growing all the way along. Anything that breaks it at any point stops that growth.
Government ContractingSpaceXBusiness It is true that SpaceX is partially a government contractor, but it would be unfair to say that SpaceX is entirely a government contractor.
TechnologyGovernmentCommerceResearchInnovation Government isn't that good at rapid advancement of technology. It tends to be better at funding basic research. To have things take off, you've got to have commercial companies do it.
SpacetimePhysicsTheorySpace Travel It is theoretically possible to warp spacetime itself, so you're not actually moving faster than the speed of light, but it's actually space that's moving.
TechnologyInnovationFutureImpact I'm interested in things that change the world or that affect the future and wondrous, new technology where you see it, and you're like, 'Wow, how did that even happen? How is that possible?'
Artificial IntelligenceDangerControlRisk With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. You know all those stories where there's the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, and he's like, yeah, he's sure he can control the demon? Doesn't work out.
GeneticsComplexityErrorInterpretation Trying to read our DNA is like trying to understand software code - with only 90% of the code riddled with errors. It's very difficult in that case to understand and predict what that software code is going to do.
MissionFocusPrioritiesElectric VehiclesInnovation The X is an amazing car, but we kind of got carried away with the art and technology. Obviously, you want great art. You want great technology. But we did get a little distracted from our mission, which was to advance the cause of electric vehicles. And it probably delayed us a little bit with the Model 3 as well.
SpaceMarsJourneyDetermination It would take six months to get to Mars if you go there slowly, with optimal energy cost. Then it would take eighteen months for the planets to realign. Then it would take six months to get back, though I can see getting the travel time down to three months pretty quickly if America has the will.
InnovationAccomplishmentOpportunity The United States is definitely ahead in culture of innovation. If someone wants to accomplish great things, there is no better place than the U.S.
TechnologyInnovationSpeedCompetition I think the high-tech industry is used to developing new things very quickly. It's the Silicon Valley way of doing business: You either move very quickly and you work hard to improve your product technology, or you get destroyed by some other company.
ManufacturingIndustryResilienceStrength The rumours of the demise of the U.S. manufacturing industry are greatly exaggerated.
Fake NewsDeceptionTruthInformation We can't have, like, willy-nilly proliferation of fake news. That's crazy. You can't have more types of fake news than real news. That's allowing public deception to go unchecked. That's crazy.
BeautyInspirationFutureOptimism The value of beauty and inspiration is very much underrated, no question. But I want to be clear: I'm not trying to be anyone's savior. I'm just trying to think about the future and not be sad.
EconomicsCompetitionMonopolyGovernment Spending SpaceX has the potential of saving the U.S. government $1 billion a year. We are opposed to creating an entrenched monopoly with no realistic means for anyone to compete.
Climate ChangeEnergy PolicyPolitical DebateBelief Systems I think there are more politicians in favor of electric cars than against. There are still some that are against, and I think the reasoning for that varies depending on the person, but in some cases, they just don't believe in climate change - they think oil will last forever.
PurposeActionExecution I don't create companies for the sake of creating companies, but to get things done.
Energy AlternativesClimate ChangeResource ManagementUrgency It's not as though we can keep burning coal in our power plants. Coal is a finite resource, too. We must find alternatives, and it's a better idea to find alternatives sooner then wait until we run out of coal, and in the meantime, put God knows how many trillions of tons of CO2 that used to be buried underground into the atmosphere.
ControlFocusResponsibilityRisk It's OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.
AutopilotTechnologyPartnership I think Tesla will most likely develop its own autopilot system for the car, as I think it should be camera-based, not Lidar-based. However, it is also possible that we do something jointly with Google.
Business PracticesProductionCustomer ExpectationsDelivery Some companies out there quote a start of production that is substantially in advance of when customers get their cars.
GratitudeSupportAppreciationPerseverance For all the supporters of Tesla over the years, and it's been several years now and there have been some very tough times, I'd just like to say thank you very much. I deeply appreciate the support, particularly through the darkest times.
TechnologyAffordabilityInnovationDesignScale There are really two things that have to occur in order for a new technology to be affordable to the mass market. One is you need economies of scale. The other is you need to iterate on the design. You need to go through a few versions.
TechnologyProgressInnovation If you go back a few hundred years, what we take for granted today would seem like magic - being able to talk to people over long distances, to transmit images, flying, accessing vast amounts of data like an oracle. These are all things that would have been considered magic a few hundred years ago.
EducationBackgroundEngineeringPhysicsEconomics My background educationally is physics and economics, and I grew up in sort of an engineering environment - my father is an electromechanical engineer. And so there were lots of engineery things around me.
Self-RelianceCommitmentIntegrityResponsibility I always invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don't believe in the whole thing of just using other people's money. I don't think that's right. I'm not going to ask other people to invest in something if I'm not prepared to do so myself.
Automotive IndustrySalesRegulationTradition The U.S. automotive industry has been selling cars the same way for over 100 years, and there are many laws in place to govern exactly how that is to be accomplished.
SpaceInnovationCost Reduction If we drive down the cost of transportation in space, we can do great things.
InspirationPurposeMeaning I think life on Earth must be about more than just solving problems... It's got to be something inspiring, even if it is vicarious.
InfluenceContributionAdvocacyCivic Engagement In order to have your voice be heard in Washington, you have to make some little contribution.
LegacySuccessionSustainabilityVision I'm trying to construct a world that maximises the probability that SpaceX continues its mission without me.
EconomicsEnvironmentEnergy The reality is gas prices should be much more expensive then they are because we're not incorporating the true damage to the environment and the hidden costs of mining oil and transporting it to the U.S. Whenever you have an unpriced externality, you have a bit of a market failure, to the degree that eternality remains unpriced.
PurposeInspirationFutureSpace ExplorationHumanity There have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Why do you want to live? What's the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future? If the future does not include being out there among the stars and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing.
LoveRelationshipHappiness If I'm not in love, if I'm not with a long-term companion, I cannot be happy.
Social MediaRegulationPublic Good I think there should be regulations on social media to the degree that it negatively affects the public good.
EfficiencyInnovationProgressAdvancement So we originally expected to make about 35 gigawatt hours at the cell level and about 50 gigawatt hours at the module or pack level. Now we are expecting to do about 150 gigawatt hours in the same volumetric space as the original design.
TeamworkEmployee ValueMotivationLeadershipTalent A company is a group organized to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its people and how excited they are about creating. I do want to recognize a ton of super-talented people. I just happen to be the face of the companies.
EnergyEfficiencySolutions It's obviously tricky to convert cellulose to a useful biofuel. I think actually the most efficient way to use cellulose is to burn it in a co-generation power plant. That will yield the most energy and that is something you can do today.
Customer ExperienceNegotiationCar Buying The problem with car dealerships is you've already decided what you want to buy before you even go there, and you're really just going there to talk through some annoying negotiation.
FearSelf-Control I wouldn't say I have a lack of fear. In fact, I'd like my fear emotion to be less because it's very distracting and fries my nervous system.
ProgressSpace ExplorationInnovationInterdependence The pace of progress on Mars depends upon the pace of progress of SpaceX.
AmbitionImpactWorld Change When I was in college, I wanted to be involved in things that would change the world.
LeadershipDisagreementTruth Here in the West, people often don't like listening to their leaders, even if they are right.