Phil Knight Quotes

“Make history or be a part of it.”

“The cowards never started and the weak died along the way –that leaves us.”

“Play by the rules, but be ferocious.”

“Dream audaciously. Have the courage to fail forward. Act with urgency.”

“Life is growth. You grow or you die.”

“I wanted to build something that was my own, something I could point to and say: I made that. It was the only way I saw to make life meaningful.”

“Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”

“The easiest way to find out how you feel about someone. Say goodbye.”

“I'd tell men and women in their midtwenties not to settle for a job or a profession or even a career. Seek a calling.”

“Let everyone else call your idea crazy... just keep going. Don't stop.”

“You are remembered for the rules you break.”

“There were many dark days. We always knew we could fail, we knew we might fail, and sometimes we even thought we should fail, but never did we think we would fail.”

“A lot of people say, 'Well, you created a culture' — but it wasn't me. Basically, it kind of bubbles up from the people. You can't dictate a culture… it comes from within. I've got fingerprints on the culture, but it is by no means dictated by me.”

“I wanted to leave a mark on the world. I wanted to win. No, no, that's not right. I simply didn't want to lose.”

“Now that you have graduated, the goal should not be to seek a job or even a career, but to seek a calling. That search has just begun.”

“The secret to business is to build the kind of shoe professional athletes will wear, then put them on the pros. The rest of the market will follow.”

“Dare to take chances, lest you leave your talent buried in the ground.”

“Like it or not, life is a game. Whoever denies that truth, whoever simply refuses to play, gets left on the sidelines, and I didn't want that. More than anything, that was the thing I did not want.”