Before anything, we are who we think we are. What we say, the sayings we believe in, are all that shapes us.

There are many sayings that concern many areas of life. It’s like we have a common saying for everything.

 And most of the ones we say and hear a lot usually come from our grandparents or one of our crazy uncles -that we love of course-. We hear them, say them and even apply their principle too much that they can become a part of our culture, mentality… Overall, a part of us!
That’s how common sayings shape who we are. But, what if it was some sayings of some of the smartest and most successful people on earth – the top successful CEOs- that shape you?
The following sayings may not be as popular and common as the sayings we hear every day. But they are much more beneficial.
Here are 50 quotes top successful CEOs live by:
1.

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”– Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway

2.
“The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.”  – Walt Disney, Disney
3.
“The common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’ That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, ‘why not?’” – Jeff Bezos, Amazon
4.
“Make something that meshes into your daily life.” – Eric Migicovsky, Pebble
5.
“I’m responsible for this company. I stand behind the results. I know the details, and I think the CEO has to be the moral leader of the company, … I think high standards are good, but let’s not anybody be confused, it’s about performance with integrity. That’s what you have to do.”Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric
6.
“I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.” – Marissa Mayer, Yahoo
7.
“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.”  – Richard Branson,Virgin Group
8.
“Capital isn’t scarce. Vision is.”Sam Walton, WalMart
9.
“I think as a company, if you can get those two things right — having a clear direction on what you are trying to do and bringing in great people who can execute on the stuff — then you can do pretty well.”Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook
10.
“Smarter is always the answer.”Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM
11.
“Life is too short to do mediocre work and it is definitely too short to build shitty things.” – Stewart Butterfield, Slack
12.
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”  – Steve Jobs, Apple
13.
“I’m not an inventor. I just want to make things better.” – Daniel Ek, Spotify
14.
“When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for everyone telling you you’re nuts.” –Larry Ellison, Oracle
15.
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” – Elon Musk, SpaceX/Tesla Motors
16.
“But as an entrepreneur you have to feel like you can jump out of an aeroplane because you’re confident that you’ll catch a bird flying by. It’s an act of stupidity, and most entrepreneurs go splat because the bird doesn’t come by, but a few times it does.”Reed Hastings, Netflix
17.
“The term ‘too big to fail’ must be excised from our vocabulary.”Jamie Dimon,  JP Morgan Chase
18.
“Don’t compare yourself with anyone in this world…if you do so, you are insulting yourself.”Bill Gates, Microsoft
19.
“As an entrepreneur, I try to push the limits. Pedal to the metal.” – Travis Kalanick, Uber
20.
“In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. They are real and sustainable. Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.” – Howard Schultz, Starbucks
21.
“Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.” – Tony Hsieh, Zappos
22.
“If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business.”  – Ray Kroc, McDonald’s
23.
“There’s an entrepreneur right now, scared to death, making excuses, saying, ‘It’s not the right time just yet.’ There’s no such thing as a good time.” – Kevin Plank, Under Armour
24.
“Be simple and reliable” – Jan Koum, WhatsApp
25.
“Make your team feel respected, empowered and genuinely excited about the company’s mission.”  – Tim Westergren, Pandora
26.
“Your people determine your product.” – Taso Du Val, Toptal
27.
“We’re not going to invest a dollar that doesn’t make sense to invest.” – Marc Lore, Jet
28.
“Ideas are commodity. Execution of them is not.”  – Michael Dell, Dell
29.
“Trust your instincts.”  – Estée Lauder, Estée Lauder
30.
“Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.”  – Drew Houston, Dropbox
31.
“We are really competing against ourselves, we have no control over how other people perform.” – Peter Cashmore, Mashable
32.
“High expectations are the key to absolutely everything.”  -Sam Walton, Walmart
33.
“Life is fragile. We’re not guaranteed a tomorrow so give it everything you’ve got.”  -Tim Cook, Apple
34.
“Rule No. 1: Never lose money; Rule No. 2: Don’t forget Rule No. 1.” – Warren Buffet, Berkshire Hathaway
35.
“No man can be successful, unless he first loves his work.” – David Sarnoff, RCA
36.
“I’ve been very lucky, from the beginning. I’ve found that as long as you’re fundamentally good – as long as you’re not being bad to people – people give you a lot of room to be yourself, because being yourself is being honest. And that’s what people want to see.” – Andrew Mason, Groupon
37.
“Leaders get out in front and stay there by raising the standards by which they judge themselves – and by which they are willing to be judged.” – Frederick W.Smith, FedEx
38.
“You have to be very nimble and very open minded. Your success is going to be very dependent on how you adapt.” – Jeremy Stoppelman
39.
“It’s not about how to get started; it’s about how to get noticed.” – Steve Case, America Online
40.
“Never forget that you only have one opportunity to make a first impression – with investors, with customers, with PR, and with marketing.” Natalie Massenet, Net-a-Porter.
41.
“Always deliver more than expected.”  – Larry Page, Google
42.
“It takes humility to realize that we don’t know everything, not to rest on our laurels and know that we must keep learning and observing. If we don’t, we can be sure some startup will be there to take our place.” – Cher Wang, HTC
43.
“I try not to make any decisions that I’m not excited about.” – Jake Nickell, Threadless
44.
“Timing perseverance and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success” – Biz Stone, Twitter
45.
“I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.”John D. Rockefeller, Standard Oil
46.
“To me, business isn’t about wearing suits or pleasing stockholders. It’s about being true to yourself, your ideas and focusing on the essentials.”Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group
47.
“The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.”Rupert Murdoch, 21st Century Fox
48.
“It’s not about having a specific set time; both personal and professional lives are 24/7. It’s simply, more about making the right allocation to each one and recognizing that it’s going to be different every single day” – Ellen Kullman, Dupont
49.
“Find your passion, and it’s no longer work.” -L.A Reid, LAFACE/Epic records
50.

“I believe you have to be willing to be misunderstood if you’re going to innovate.” – Jeff Bezos, Amazon

By following these sayings and believing on them, you can follow the footsteps of some of the greatest and most successful CEOs nowadays.

I hope that these 50 phrases that top successful CEOs live by will repeat themselves into your mind! What is your favorite one?

Image credits: TechCrunch,Steve Jurvetson,OnInnovation, Guillaume Paumier, CC-BY