“The thing that’s worth doing is trying to improve our understanding of the world and gain a better appreciation of the universe and not to worry too much about there being no meaning.”

Innovation comes in many ways.

If you’re co-founder or CEO, you have to do all kinds of tasks you might not want to do. If you don’t do your chores, the company won’t succeed. No task is too menial.

Constantly seek criticism. A well thought out critique of what you’re doing is as valuable as gold.

If you think back to the beginning of cell phones, laptops or really any new technology, it’s always expensive.

You have to be pretty driven to make it happen. Otherwise, you will just make yourself miserable.

Run a physics sim long enough & you’ll get intelligence.

The space shuttle was often used as an example of why you shouldn’t even attempt to make something reusable. But one failed experiment does not invalidate the greater goal. If that was the case, we’d never have had the light bulb.

That’s my lesson for taking a vacation: vacation will kill you.

I always invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don’t believe in the whole thing of just using other people’s money. I don’t think that’s right. I’m not going to ask other people to invest in something if I’m not prepared to do so myself.

I started SpaceX with the expectation of failure.

I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact.

Getting there was super hard. Very proud of Tesla team!

Great companies are built on great products.

Don’t be afraid of new arenas.

I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact.

Getting there was super hard. Very proud of Tesla team!

There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.

I got a lot of support from my parents. That’s the one thing I always appreciated. They didn’t tell me I was being stupid; they told me I was being funny.

Relish love in your old age! Aged love is like aged wine; it becomes more satisfying, more refreshing, more valuable, more appreciated and more intoxicating!

Its cool that people appreciate fun stuff.

I appreciate people who make hip-hop, the way A Tribe Called Quest and Lauryn Hill and KRS-One did it.

You have to appreciate things in a different way when you know the clock is ticking, you are under tension

I look at Google and think they have a strong academic culture. Elegant solutions to complex problems.

I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active – not more happy – nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago.