105 Hustle Quotes for Peak Entrepreneur Motivation

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Last Updated on May 31, 2024 by Daniella

We’ve all heard the exhausting stream of generic hustle quotes out there. This list isn’t that.

When you’re looking for that perfect motivational quote to ignite that entrepreneurial spark in you, the last thing you need is a dud. You need something that packs a punch and hits you right in the feels. Something you vibe with.

Words have a lot of power and can carry such strong emotional charges in them. That’s why quotes are so powerful. For instance, the word hustle can be very triggering to a lot of people. Hustle, by definition, means to force “someone to move hurriedly” or obtain something (or someone) by forceful action. If you ask me, it sounds a little skeevy and can perpetuate the toxic side of hustling.

Now think of the word dabble. Dabble actually means “to take part in an activity in a casual way”. Dabble is like a milder version of the word, hustle. It also sounds like a much more fun, free-flowing word and something that doesn’t put me into a flurry of anxiety right away.

Use this list of quotes to hopefully help you with your own hustle (or dabble) and get sh*t done!

It’s up to you to choose which ones you have an emotional connection with.

Table of Contents

105 Hustle Quotes to Get Motivated and Crush it in Your Business

There are many different categories of quotes about hustling. I decided to separate this list out into the three categories that have made the biggest impact on me when I look for quotes to derive inspiration.

Motivational quotes that ignite a fire in you to get started
Famous quotes to re-center and focus
Empowering quotes to push through in tough times
Funny hustle quotes to encourage playfulness in your work
Short hustle quotes for bite-sized wisdom

Some of my favorites come from entrepreneurs, artists, and musicians! Let’s dig in 👇

If you’re looking for side hustle ideas and not sure where to start, check out this ultimate guide of 45+ side hustle ideas or take the free quiz!

Motivational Hustle Quotes to Get Started

1. “Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else.” – Sara Blakely

2. “We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are.” – Max Depree

3. “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” -Dolly Parton

4. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar

5. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe

6. “Nothing will work unless you do.” – Maya Angelou

7. “You only live once. You don’t want your tombstone to read: ‘Played it safe.'” – Rosario Dawson

8. “We have the power to create our own reality. Dream it, Think It, Say It, Do It.” – Twiggy Pucci Garçon

9. “You’re either changing your life or you’re not. No waiting for this or that or better weather or other hurdles. Hurdles are the change.” – Terri Guillemets

10. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker

11. “I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near.” – Margaret Thatcher

12. “Dream big. There is nothing seen that wasn’t imagined. There’s no overnight success. You have to start by dreaming big and working towards your goal.” – Folorunso Alakija

13. “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A. A. Wilne

14. “Set a goal that makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning.” – Anonymous

15. “Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso

16. “Don’t wish for it, work for it.” – Anonymous

17. “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.” – John F. Kennedy

18. “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb

19. “Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” – Madam C.J. Walker

20. “F.E.A.R.: False Evidence Appearing Real” – Anonymous

21. “Change nothing and nothing changes.” – Anonymous

22. “Great things never came from comfort zones.” – Anonymous

23. “Great people do things before they’re ready.” – Amy Poehler

24. “The key to success is to start before you are ready.” – Marie Forleo

25. “Don’t talk yourself out of something just because you don’t know how it’s going to happen.” – Maryam Hasnaa

26. “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” -Steve Jobs

27. “The secret to getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain

Famous Hustle Quotes to Stay Focused and Re-Center

28. “Know your worth, then add tax.” – Anonymous

29. “Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.” – Coco Chanel

30. “Believe in yourself, listen to your gut, and do what you love.” – Dylan Lauren

31. “If you’re frustrated because you’re not getting what you want, stop for a second: Have you actually flat-out asked for it? If you haven’t, stop complaining. You can’t expect the world to read your mind. You have to put it out there, and sometimes putting it out there is as simple as just saying, “Hey, can I have that?” – Sophia Amoruso

32. “If the plan doesn’t work, change the plan but not the goal.” – Anonymous

33. “Fight your fear, your laziness, your ignorance before you worry about fighting the competition” – Amit Kalantri

34. “I don’t like to lose — at anything — yet I’ve grown most not from victories, but setbacks.” – Serena Williams

35. “Never forget why you started.” – Anonymous

36. “Focus on being productive instead of busy.” – Tim Ferris

37. “Where focus goes, energy flows.” – Tony Robbins

38. “I allow myself to fail. I allow myself to break. I’m not afraid of my flaws. I’m half living my life between reality and fantasy at all times.” – Lady Gaga

39. “I’m only in competition with my last level.” – Erykah Badu

40. “Never take no personally. Sometimes people tell you no for a reason that has nothing to do with you. You must keep going.” – Sofia Vergara

41. “You have to stay focused and mentally tough. That’s what I’ve really learned; every day is a grind, and you have to go hard.” – Chris Gronkowski

42. “You don’t need more time in your day. You need to decide.” – Seth Godin

43. “Be not afraid of going slowly. Be afraid only of standing still.” – Chinese Proverb

44. “Don’t waste your energy trying to educate or change opinions. Go over, under, through, and opinions will change when you’re the boss. Or they won’t. Who cares? Do your thing and don’t care if they like it.” – Tina Fey

45. “Vision without execution is just hallucination.” – Henry Ford

46. “If people are doubting how far you can go, go so far that you can’t hear them anymore.” – Michele Ruiz

47. “I’ve learned the main thing in life is you get what you put in.” – Adele

48. “Courage means to keep working a relationship, to continue seeking solutions to difficult problems, and to stay focused during stressful periods.” – Denis Waitley

49. “It’s hard to edit. It’s hard to stay focused. And yet, we know we’ll only do our best work if we stay focused. And so, you know, the hardest decisions we made are all the things not to work on, frankly.” – Tim Cook

50. “Procrastination is the enemy of success and the guilt of not doing something always steals your energy.” – Barbara Corcoran

51. “Starting a business and building a product are not for the faint of heart. You have to learn to not let little disappointments get you down and to stay focused on the big picture.” – Gillian Tans

52. “The only real elegance is in the mind. If you’ve got that, the rest really comes from it.” – Diana Vreeland

53. “I wake up every morning and think to myself, ‘how far can I push this company in the next 24 hours.'” – Leah Busque

54. “Hold the vision, trust the process.” – Anonymous

55. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller

More to help you hustle/dabble:

Empowering Hustle Quotes to Push Through

56. “Mistakes and failures are precisely your means of education. Keep tinkering until you get it right.” – Robert Greene

57. “If you get tired, learn to rest. Not to quit.” – Banksy

58. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou

59. “Your victory is right around the corner. Never give up.” – Nicki Minaj

60. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Ryun

61. “Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally. It comes from what you do consistently” – Marie Forleo

62. “There are two ways you can get through the pain. You can let it destroy you, or you can use it as fuel to drive you: to dream bigger, work harder.” – Taylor Swift

63. “There may be gatekeepers, but guess what? We are gate crashers, okay? Power belongs to those who reach out and take it, and it’s our time to take it.” – Mindy Kaling

64. “The dream is free but the hustle is sold separately” – Anonymous

65. “Hustle beats talent when talent doesn’t hustle.” – Ross Simmonds

66. “Beyonce rehearsed for 8 months for a 2-hour performance. Think about that the next time you want something in your business to work right away.” – Anonymous

67. “The hustle brings the dollar. The experience brings knowledge. The persistence brings success.” – Ross Simmonds

68. “I always believed that when you follow your heart or your gut, when you really follow the things that feel great to you, you can never lose because settling is the worst feeling in the world.” – Rihanna

69. “So many of us feel like we need permission to do things we want or need. So, you have my permission. Keep going.” – Isaiah Roby

70. “Work like there is someone working twenty four hours a day to take it away from you.” – Mark Cuban

71. “The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson

72. “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.” – Conan O’Brien

73. “The woman who does not require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet.” – Mahadesa Najumi

74. “You must find that place inside yourself where nothing is impossible.” – Deepak Chopra

75. “Thinking will not overcome fear but action will.” – W. Clement Stone

76. “Always deliver more than expected.” – Larry Page

77. “To solve any problem, there are 3 questions to ask yourself. 1st: What could I do? 2nd: What could I read? 3rd: Who could I ask?” – Jim Rohn

78. “Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come.” – Anonymous

79. “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein

80. “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” -Walt Disney

81. “There are better starters than me but I’m a strong finisher.” – Usain Bolt

82. “When you become the image of your own imagination, it’s the most powerful thing you could ever do.” – RuPaul

83. “Sometimes you don’t realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness.” – Susan Gale

84. “Life is very interesting. In the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths.” – Drew Barrymore

85. “You can’t have a million-dollar dream with a minimum-wage work ethic.” – Stephen C. Hogan

86. “Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.” – Oprah Winfrey

87. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

88. “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding on the 20th.” – Julie Andrews

89. “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” – Steve Jobs

90. “Life moves fast. As much as you can learn from your history, you have to move forward.” – Eddie Vedder

91. “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.” – Anonymous

Funny Hustle Quotes to Make Things Fun

92. “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar

93. “Whatever you do, always give 100%. Unless you’re donating blood.” – Bill Murray

94. “To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone.” – Reba McEntire

95. “Do you remember what Goldie Hawn told us at the amfAR dinner? ‘You are the life you accept for yourself.’ Those are Goldie’s words. Or something someone said to her. In India. Or perhaps she read it… In any case it has always stayed with me.” – Moira Rose

96. “Sometimes, you’ve got to work a little, so you can ball a lot.” – Tom Haverford

97. “Drink some coffee, put some gangsta rap on, and handle it.” – Ice Cube

Short Hustle Quotes for Bite-Sized Wisdom

98. “Hustle plus heart will set you apart.” – Anonymous

99. “Whatever it is you do you have to master your craft.” – Snoop Dogg

100. “You do something wrong, you learn from it, you move on.” – Britney Spears

101. “Be you. Do you. For you.” – Anonymous

102. “Passion + Consistency = Success” – Lilla Liptak

103. “Stay focused on the mission.” – Naveen Jain

104. “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” – Estée Lauder

105. “Your only limit is your mind.” – Napoleon Hill

Which quotes were your favorites and why? Tell us in the comments below!

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Daniella

Daniella is the creator and author of iliketodabble.com. When their wife Alexandra and them aren’t globetrotting or playing with their 7+ animals, they are dabbling and working towards a future of financial freedom.