“I started SpaceX with the expectation of failure.”

If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.

If you’re trying to create a company, it’s like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion.

Humans need to be a multiplanet species.

With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon.

If something’s important enough, you should try. Even if you – the probable outcome is failure.

Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death.

Fear is a hard thing to deal with. I feel it quite strongly. If I think something is important enough, I’ll make myself do it in spite of fear. But it can really sap the will. I hate fear, I wish I had it less.

For me it was never about money, but solving problems for the future of humanity.

Mars is the only place in the solar system where it’s possible for life to become multi-planetarian.

People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.

Goal of government should be to maximize the happiness of the people. Giving each person money allows them to decide what meets their needs, rather than the blunt tool of legislation, which creates self-serving special interests.

Work like hell.

Only the heart senses beauty.

Starting and growing a business is as much about the innovation, drive and determination of the people who do it as it is about the product they sell.

Self-driving cars are the natural extension of active safety and obviously something we should do.

When people really understand it’s do or die . If we work hard and pull through, it’s going to be a great outcome; people will give it everything they’ve got.