Top 33 Chris Gardner Quotes

Unfortunately, some of the best fathers are mothers.

Remember: If you don’t schmooze, you lose. Used wisely, a bit of chitchat helps create a personal connection with your boss and colleagues.

I had spent years in the United States military. Specifically in the U.S. Navy.

I made a decision as a five-year-old boy that my kids will know who their father is.

I went through pain as a child so my children wouldn’t have to.

Don’t ever be afraid to hire people that are smarter than you. Just because they are smarter than you doesn’t mean they have to make more money.

I grew up without a father.

What I love about AT&T is that they are just as passionate as I am about rebooting the American dream.

I hold one thing dearer than all else: my commitment to my son.

Fortunately, our digital age has created some wonderful tools for finding employers and showing your strengths. But when it comes to discovering or keeping a job, nothing beats good old-fashioned face time and up-to-date skills.

When you tell your kids they can be anything, you’ve got to be careful. I told my kids that, and I ended up with a music producer and an interior designer. But they’re doing it.

My first ambition in life, I made up my mind I was going to become Miles Davis. I studied music, music theory. I played trumpet for nine years. One day, my mother explained, ‘You can’t be Miles Davis. There’s one, and he’s got that job.’

Nine times out of 10, extenuating circumstances aside, I believe that people are where they are by some kind of choice on their part. You need to acknowledge that, ‘Hey, I’m here because I steered my horse in this direction.’

Passion is everything. In fact, you’ve got to be borderline fanatical about what you do.

Too many veterans are poor or near poor and homeless because of it.

As long as you have a plan for how you’ll live, don’t let jealous people turn their insecurities into yours.

You want be young and have fun, that’s great. But while you’re having fun, someone you don’t see is studying and preparing. You might end up working for that person. No one wants to hear that! But I try to tell young people: You want to be the one signing the front of the check, not the back.

Everything that I learned in the Navy, I took it with me into the next phase of my life.

You’re never too old to do something new.

I’m known to be aggressively early.

I initially moved to San Francisco to become a research associate for one of the top young heart surgeons in the country. Everything that I learned in that position is that skills, talent, and expertise are transferable.

One time, I was going to be in L.A. for 10 days for a business conference, and I took eight different pairs of sandals.

You can blame outside factors or make excuses about why things didn’t work out, but that doesn’t change anything.

Your net worth can fluctuate, but your self-worth should only appreciate.

If you’re lucky enough to have a permanent position, don’t feel entitled. Companies value longtime employees’ institutional memory, but to be irreplaceable, you must stay invested. Take the initiative and assume new responsibilities.

Racism is not new. It was not invented just for you. So get bigger than that stuff.

I’ve never considered selling anything other than profession, but it’s more than that. It’s one of the highest callings that you can aspire to. Not everyone can do it.

I’ve been saying to people for a long time, ‘If you’re not doing something you’re tremendously excited about, and you’re not feeling passionate about it, you’re compromising yourself every day.’

We can all look to our friends, family, and those we admire for inspiration.

I’ve created the life I wanted.

I am very, very conscious of time. I always wear two watches. People ask me, ‘Why do you do that?’ Because I was late once,and it cost me a huge opportunity.

The hardest thing that I had to do every day as a working single parent was child care, to have to leave my child with people that I did not know and hope everything was OK, that was the most painful part of every day.

We can all learn something from people we admire.