Most of the world loves a good quote. A good quote can be inspiring, it can be motivational, and it can change your life. And some of the most prolific people in the world are the ones that have the most profound things to say. Mark Zuckerberg, the man behind Facebook, has had plenty to say in his time. Despite his young age, he has achieved ample success. He’s gone from college student to billionaire before he was 30, and he’s not looking to ease up on his success anytime in the near future. Read on to see some of the best Mark Zuckerberg quotes.
On Being Connected
“It feels better to be more connected to all these people. You have a richer life,” he says of one of the benefits of being social on Facebook. It is something to think about. When you are connected with people, even just on the internet, it makes it easier for you to be fulfilled. When you’re seeing the successes of others online, it makes you more motivated to be successful. When you are seeing the lives of others, it makes you feel like a part of them, even if you’re far away.
On the Purpose of Facebook
“The question isn’t, ‘What do we want to know about people?’, it’s, ‘What do people want to tell about themselves,” says Zuckerberg on the reason people use Facebook. If we are all honest, we don’t really care about how people we knew 20 years ago are doing. We care about what they know we are doing. We want the people who rejected us and talked about us and weren’t nice to us to see how well we are doing. We want them to see our big houses and luxury cars and beautiful families.
On Growing
“Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough,” he says of personal growth. When you sit down and think about it, it’s a great way of looking at things. When you are growing and learning and making mistakes (breaking stuff), you’re that much closer to achieving success. You can’t have success without a few failures first. It’s what teaches you to grow and to learn and to make things happen. When you learn what doesn’t work first, you are that much closer to learning what does work.
On Motivation
“My goal was never to just create a company. A lot of people misinterpret that, as if I don’t care about revenue or profit or any of those things. But what not being “just” a company means to me is building something that actually makes a really big change in the world,” he says of his desire to create Facebook and what he wants from it. The big picture here is that it’s okay to focus on wanting to make a difference in the world. Too many people focus solely on the bottom line and forget that they are leaving their legacy behind, which is important.
On Privacy
“People have really gotten more comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people – and that social norm is just something that has evolved over time,” he says of the way people view their privacy. Even the most private people are opening up and sharing more on Facebook. It’s become a way for people to blossom and open up and share more of their personal lives and their feelings and their desires in life. It’s not just about finding a way to share, it’s about becoming a more outspoken and open person.
On Creation
“I mean, the real story is actually pretty boring, right? I mean, we just sat at our computers for six years and coded,” said Zuckerberg behind the real way that Facebook was created. The point of this quote is that success isn’t just something that happens overnight or that comes with a lot of excitement. It’s something that requires real work, real dedication and real time to focus on. Zuckerberg’s success came from six years of working behind the scenes to create something amazing. Hard work in any form is the same way; hard work.
On What People Do On Facebook
“They’re keeping up with their friends and family, but they’re also building an image and identity for themselves, which in a sense is their brand. They’re connecting with the audience that they want to connect to. It’s almost a disadvantage if you’re not on it now,” he says of what people are doing with Facebook. He’s exactly right. People are using Facebook to create their brand. It’s how our employers see us, it’s how our friends and family and potential mates see us. It’s all about branding. We’re all marketing managers when it comes to Facebook.
On Relevance
“A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now that people dying in Africa,” he says of how people view the world and what’s important in their lives. People are more concerned with what affects them now and what they see. Zuckerberg understands that and he understands that most of us don’t see the relevance in things outside of our immediate lives. This is something to think about. What’s important in the world is far more than just what’s happening in your world right now, even though it seems irrelevant.
On Doubt
“This is a perverse thing, personally, but I would rather be in the cycle where people are underestimating us. It gives us latitude to go out and make big bets that excite and amaze people,” he says on his doubters. There is something to be said about people who don’t believe we can accomplish our dreams and do what we want. There are people who just assume that we are going to fail, and it makes it even more rewarding and fun to do the exact opposite, which is what we’re talking about here.
On Perfections
“Done is better than perfect,” he says of getting things done and not being a perfectionist. The truth here is not that things should be done half-heartedly or without actual hard work, but that they should be done. It’s not okay to want to be perfect, but it is okay to want to be done and to have done your best in the process. The real meaning behind this one is that if you spend all your time focusing on being perfect, you’re never going to achieve anything because you are never going to finish what you started.
On Being Afraid
“What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” he asks of his employees. It’s a simple question with a simple answer; everything you ever dreamed of doing. So….what’s stopping you from doing things now? Fear? Fear is not tangible. Fear cannot hurt you. Sure, you don’t love rejection and you don’t love to hear people tell you no or critique you or turn you down, but the fear of asking or the fear of trying is just going to make it impossible for you to make any of your dreams come true. Sure, they could say no – but they could also say yes.
On Being Heard
“We encourage you to participate and make your voice heard,” he says of using Facebook. When people can hear your voice, you get a say. When you get a say, you become more confident. When you become more confident, you can do anything you want. The reality here is that Facebook is working to ensure that you have some of the most prolific things to say and that you have the ability to make your voice heard in a world when so many people are more focused on what they have to say than what anyone else has to say.
On Mistakes
“Almost any mistake you can make in running a company, I’ve probably made,” says Zuckerberg. This is something very wise. It says a lot about Facebook’s CEO that he can look at himself and realize that he’s made mistakes. Most people are afraid of mistakes and failure, but he has the confidence to admit to making mistakes and to admit that he’s not perfect, which is a very powerful thing. It shows the world that it’s okay to be imperfect, and his makes have helped him become more successful.
On Learning
“I started the site when it was 19. I didn’t know much about business back then,” is a great quote for people to remember. No one is an expert when they begin their career or any aspect of life. We go into things blind and we work our butts off to learn. We become experts that way. Zuckerberg was a teenager when he launched the most successful social media website in the world, and he didn’t let his lack of knowledge or experience stop him from making his billions. He went for it and he succeeded. It’s a good life lesson.
On Passion
“If you just work on stuff you like and you’re passionate about, you don’t have to have a master plan with how things will play out,” he says of working hard. What this means is that sometimes you can just work with your passion and things will work out in the long run. You don’t always have to have a day by day plan of action. It’s good to have goals, but focusing on your passion is usually what helps you meet your goals and succeed in life, so that’s what you focus on doing in life.
On Surprise
“There’s lots of stuff none of us have ever seen before. That’s good in some ways, but limiting in other ways,” he says of the surprises that life often throws our ways. Sometimes we’ve never seen something that it’s something that comes as a surprise when it does happen. However, that doesn’t make it impossible for us to work hard and learn more about it. What we haven’t seen yet can make it difficult for us to proceed, but it doesn’t have to make it difficult for us to learn and grow when we do encounter it.
On Billionaires
“Keep following them and reading every story about them or see their interviews and they might tell you,” he says of learning how to become a billionaire and a worldwide success. It’s a pretty simple lesson, really. If you want to be successful and great, you have to listen to what the people that are already living that reality have to say. After all, they’ve been there and done that and they have the best advice to offer. You’re not going to listen to someone who hasn’t become successful tell you how to do it, so why not listen to those who have?
On Expression
“I think that people just have this core desire to express who they are. And I think that’s always existed,” he says of expression. Facebook works because people feel this way. They want to tell the world who they are and what they believe in and what they feel. They want people to know who they are and doing this on Facebook provides them with a platform. People can read what they have to say and not have worry that no one is listening to them because they know it’s being read.
On Risk
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk…in a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks,” he says of taking risks. It’s a valid point. The biggest risk in life is not taking any risks. You simply cannot succeed if you are not willing to step outside your comfort zone and make an effort to take risks on things you feel are worth it. If everything were simple, life would be easy. Since life isn’t easy, risks are something we have to take in order to succeed.
On Confidence
“I’m CEO, #^&@*,” is what he has to say on his business card. It’s not a great word and it’s a bit inappropriate, but he makes no qualms about expressing exactly who he is, what he wants to accomplish and what he has accomplished in life. It’s a pretty good feeling to be able to say that about yourself, and it’s something that more people should do. When you can state who you are and what you’ve done in life with that kind of confidence, it’s a good indicator you’ve made it. It’s also a good indicator that you know who you are, what you want and how to get it.
(Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for MerchantCantos)
