Who on Earth is Richard Branson?

“A business is simply an idea to make other people’s lives better.”

“Above all, you want to create something you’re proud of. This has always been my philosophy of business. I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive, then I believe you are better off not doing it.”

“As soon as something stops being fun, I think it’s time to move on. Life is too short to be unhappy. Waking up stressed and miserable is not a good way to live.”

“As usual when people warn me against doing something once my mind is made up, I grow increasingly determined to try it.”

“As you pursue your career, your efforts may sometimes meet with failure. Don’t be discouraged - one of the best ways to learn how to do anything is to make mistakes. It took time and a lot of errors before I achieved any successes.”

“Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.”

“Capitalism – which in its purest form is entrepreneurism even among the poorest of the poor – does work; but those who make money from it should put back into society, not just sit on it as if they are hatching eggs.”

“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”

“Complexity is your enemy. Any fool can make something complicated. It is hard to keep things simple.”

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.”

“Don’t think what’s the cheapest way to do it or the fastest way to do it. Think what’s the most amazing way to do it!”

“Entrepreneurship is about turning what excites you in life into capital, so that you can do more of it and move forward with it.”

“Find somebody else to run your business on a day-to-day basis.”

“Good brands reflect the histories of the time and the group of people that made them. They can not be copied. They can not be recycled.”

“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.”

“Hard work and fun is what life is all about. As soon as something stops being fun, I think it’s time to move on. Life is too short to be unhappy.”

“Having a personality of caring about people is important. You can’t be a good leader unless you generally like people. That is how you bring out the best in them.”

“How slim the line is between genius and insanity and between determination and stubbornness.”

“I became an entrepreneur by mistake. Ever since then I’ve gone into business, not to make money, but because I think I can do it better than it’s been done elsewhere. And, quite often, just out of personal frustration about the way it’s been done by other people.”

“I believe that drudgery and clock-watching are a terrible betrayal of that universal, inborn entrepreneurial spirit.”

“I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive then I believe you are better off not doing it. A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.”

“I don't think of work as work and play as play. It's all living.”

“I have always believed that the way you treat your employees is the way they will treat your customers, and that people flourish when they are praised. Sir...”

“I think that there’s a very thin dividing line between success and failure. And I think if you start a business without financial backing, you’re likely to go the wrong side of that dividing line.”

“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!”

“If you aren’t having fun, you are doing it wrong. If you feel like getting up in the morning to work on your business is a chore, then it's time to try something else.”

“If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.”

“In the same way that I tend to make up my mind about people within thirty seconds of meeting them, I also make up my mind about whether a business proposal excites me within about thirty seconds of looking at it. I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics.”

“It is only by being bold that you get anywhere. If you are a risk-taker, then the art is to protect the downside.”

“It’s so much better, where possible, to try and forgive offenders and give them a second chance, just like my mother and father did so often with me as a child.”

“Keeping it short goes a long way.”

“Life is a helluva lot more fun if you say yes rather than no.”

“Listen – it makes you sound smarter.”

“Listen more than you talk. Nobody learned anything by hearing themselves speak.”

“Listen. Take the best. Leave the rest.”

“Live for the present and the future will look after itself.”

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

“Most "necessary evils" are far more evil than necessary.”

“My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long university education that I never had – every day I’m learning something new.”

“My general attitude to life is to enjoy every minute of every day. I never do anything with a feeling of, "Oh God, I’ve got to do this today.”

“My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them.”

“Never do anything if it means you can’t sleep at night.’ It’s a good rule to follow.”

“One thing is certain in business – you and everyone around you will make mistakes.”

“Only a fool never changes his mind.”

“Records are made to be broken. It is in man’s nature to continue to strive to do just that.”

“Respect is how to treat everyone, not just those you want to impress.”

“Screw it. Let's do it.”

“Some 80% of your life is spent working. You want to have fun at home; why shouldn’t you have fun at work?”

“Success is more than luck. You have to believe in yourself and make it happen.”

“Take the competition seriously, but not yourself.”

“The best lesson I learned was to just do it. It doesn’t matter what it is, or how hard it might seem.”

“The best motto to follow is ‘Nothing ventured; nothing gained’.”

“The brave do not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.”

“The time to go into a new business is when it’s badly run by others.”

“There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work than follow your passions – in a way that serves the world and you.”

“There’s an inherent danger in letting people think that they have perfected something. When they believe they’ve “nailed it,” most people tend to sit back and rest on their laurels while countless others will be laboring furiously to better their work.”

“They encouraged me to always look for the good in people instead of assuming the worst and trying to find fault.”

“Throwing yourself into a job you enjoy is one of the life's greatest pleasures!”

“To be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground running, and if you have a good team around you and more than a fair share of luck, you might make something happen. But you certainly can’t guarantee it just by following someone else’s formula.”

“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to.”

“Unless you dream, you’re not going to achieve anything.”

“We look for opportunities where we can offer something better, fresher, and more valuable, and we seize them. We often move into areas where the customer has traditionally received a poor deal, and where the competition is complacent.”

“Whatever your goal is you will never succeed unless you let go of your fears and fly.”

“You can create a business, choose a name, but unless people know about it you’re not going to sell any products.”

“You can never go too far wrong by thinking like a customer who’s new to the business.”

“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.”

“You only live once, and I just don’t want to waste a minute of my life.”