“I started SpaceX with the expectation of failure.”

A company is a group of people organized to create a product or service, and that product or service is only as good as the people in the company.

Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.

I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.

Best place to view is from the beach. Excitement guaranteed!

The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.

Talent is extremely important. It’s like a sports team, the team that has the best individual player will often win, but then there’s a multiplier from how those players work together and the strategy they employ.

There’s a tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their ass-covering.

When space travel becomes as common as air travel, the future of civilization will be assured.

You shouldn’t do things differently just because they’re different. They need to be better.

I think that’s the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.

Never trust cynics, as they excuse their own bad deeds by telling themselves everyone does it.

Elevator music is underrated.

I read books and talked to people. I mean that’s kind of how one learns anything. There’s lots of great books out there & lots of smart people.

I always like going South; somehow, it feels like going downhill.

It is a mistake to hire huge numbers of people to get a complicated job done.

The extension of life beyond Earth is the most important thing we can do as a species.