It’s not easy to be a social entrepreneur. You’re not motivated by money alone. You want to use your mind, talent and skills to make the world a better place.
You have to build a business that tackle social problems as well as generate profits. These inspirational quotes can help during tough times.
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. — Barack Obama
Changing the world can be overwhelming and scary. It’s important to understand the motivation behind your business. You can be passionately committed to your business when you have a purpose much bigger than yourself. Having a high level of conviction and passion can help you break through any barriers to your success.
You have the power to make great things happen!
36 Inspirational Quotes for Social Entrepreneurs
- “History shows us that the people who end up changing the world – the great political, social, scientific, technological, artistic, even sports revolutionaries – are always nuts, until they are right, and then they are geniuses.” — John Eliot
- “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” — Albert Einstein
- “Social entrepreneurs identify resources where people only see problems. They view the villagers as the solution, not the passive beneficiary. They begin with the assumption of competence and unleash resources in the communities they’re serving..” — David Bornstein
- “The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs
- “Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.” — Oprah Winfrey
- “You will not do incredible things without an incredible dream.” — John Eliot
- “Think big. Having a big vision is very important in entrepreneurship. It’s better to have a vision that is giant-sized than one that is too small. The bigness of the vision often attracts other like-minded individuals who can see into the possibilities, and therefore this type of thinking attracts opportunities for growth.” — Linda Rottenberg
- “All great changes are preceded by chaos.” — Deepak Chopra
- “What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. They are the driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities, refuse to give up, and remake the world for the better.” — David Bornstein
- “Conducting your business in a socially responsible way is good business. It means that you can attract better employees and that customers will know what you stand for and like you for it.” — M. Anthony Burns
- “Steve Jobs taught me that some things need to be believed to be seen. Skeptics refuse to believe in something until they see it. If you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to believe in your idea. This is why Steve Jobs changed the world while most people waited for the world to change.” — Guy Kawasaki
- “We need to reverse three centuries of walling the for-profit and non-profit sectors off from one another. When you think for-profit and non-profit, you most often think of entities with either zero social return or zero return on capital and zero social return. Clearly, there’s some opportunity in the spectrum between those extremes. What’s missing is the for-profit finance industry coming in to that area. Look at the enormous diversity of the for-profit financial industry as opposed to monolithic nature of the non-profit world; it’s quite astonishing.” — Bill Drayton
- “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” — Albert Einstein
- “Each time someone stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.” — Robert F. Kennedy
- “We do not hear the term ‘compassionate’ applied to business executives or entrepreneurs, certainly not when they are engaged in their normal work. Yet in terms of results in the measurable form of jobs created, lives enriched, communities built, living standards raised, and poverty healed, a handful of capitalists has done infinitely more for mankind than all the self-serving politicians, academics, social workers, and religionists who march under the banner of ‘compassion’.” — Nathaniel Branden
- “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man adapts the world to himself. All progress depends upon the unreasonable man.” — George Bernard Shaw
- “Multitudes of people, drifting aimlessly to and for without a set purpose, deny themselves such fulfillment of their capacities, and the satisfying happiness which attends it. They are not wicked; they are only shallow. They are not mean or vicious; they simply are empty — shake them and they would rattle like gourds. They lack range, depth, and conviction. Without purpose, their lives ultimately wander into the morass of dissatisfaction. As we harness our abilities to a steady purpose and undertake the long pull toward its accomplishment, rich compensations reward us. A sense of purpose simplifies life and therefore concentrates our abilities; and concentration adds power.” — Kenneth Hildebrand
- “Your work is to discover your work and then, with all your heart, to give yourself to it.” — Buddha
- “Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.” — Belva Davis
- “20 years from now you will be disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the one’s you did. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover” — Mark Twain
- “Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way.” — Les Brown
- “Everyone suffers some injustice in life, and what better motivation than to help others not suffer in the same way.” — Bella Thorne
- “Consult not your fears, but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” — Pope John XXIII
- “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” — Woodrow Wilson
- “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.” — John F. Kennedy
- “True happiness involves the full use of one’s power and talents.” — John W. Gardner
- “You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you.” — Eckhart Tolle
- “Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” — George Herbert
- “Don’t give up. Don’t lose hope. Don’t sell out.” — Christopher Reeve
- “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe
- “If you can dream it, you can do it.” — Walt Disney
- “Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.” Arnold H. Glasow
- “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” — Steve Jobs
- “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” — Henry David Thoreau
- “There is no passion to be found playing small… in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” — Nelson Mandela
Your Time Is Limited; So, Don’t Waste Your Life Living Someone Else’s Life ~Steve Jobs