Seth Godin Quotes

“Life’s too short" is repeated often enough to be a cliché, but this time it’s true. You don’t have enough time to be both unhappy and mediocre. It’s not just pointless; it’s painful.”

“A written contract benefits the party with the least power.”

“Art is what we call...the thing an artist does.

It's not the medium or the oil or the price or whether it hangs on a wall or you eat it. What matters, what makes it art, is that the person who made it overcame the resistance, ignored the voice of doubt and made something worth making. Something risky. Something human.

Art is not in the ...eye of the beholder. It's in the soul of the artist.”

“Change almost never fails because it's too early. It almost always fails because it's too late.”

“Don't find customers for your products, find products for your customers.”

“I define anxiety as experiencing failure in advance.”

“If failure is not an option, then neither is success.”

“If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.”

“If you can’t state your position in eight words, you don’t have a position.”

“If you're short on passion, it might be because your goals are too small or the fear is too big.”

“If you’re willing to do something that might not work, you’re closer to becoming an artist.”

“In every field, extraordinary benefits go to those seen as being in the top five percent. One out of twenty.”

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”

“Letting your customers set your standards is a dangerous game, because the race to the bottom is pretty easy to win. Setting your own standards – and living up to them – is a better way to profit. Not to mention a better way to make your day worth all the effort you put into it.”

“Make a ruckus.”

“People don't believe what you tell them. They rarely believe what you show them. They often believe what their friends tell them. They always believe what they tell themselves.”

“The best way to change long-term behavior is with short-term feedback.”

“To be in the top 1% takes a combination of luck and magical talent. But to be in the top 5%, one in twenty, is mostly about choices.”

“You’re competing with yourself.”

“At the age of four, you were an artist. And at seven, you were a poet.”

“Discomfort brings engagement and change. Discomfort means you're doing something that others were unlikely to do, because they're hiding out in the comfortable zone. When your uncomfortable actions lead to success, the organisation rewards you and brings you back for more.”

“If you are deliberately trying to create a future that feels safe, you will wilfully ignore the future that is likely.”

“If you need to conceal your true nature to get in the door, understand that you'll probably have to conceal your true nature to keep that job.”

“Perhaps your challenge isn't finding a better project or a better boss. Perhaps you need to get in touch with what it means to feel passionate. People with passion look for ways to make things happen.”

“The job is what you do when you are told what to do. The job is showing up at the factory, following instructions, meeting spec, and being managed.

Someone can always do your job a little better or faster or cheaper than you can.

The job might be difficult, it might require skill, but it's a job.

Your art is what you do when no one can tell you exactly how to do it. Your art is the act of taking personal responsibility, challenging the status quo, and changing people.

I call the process of doing your art 'the work.' It's possible to have a job and do the work, too. In fact, that's how you become a linchpin.

The job is not the work.”

“The problem with competition is that it takes away the requirement to set your own path, to invent your own method, to find a new way.”

“The secret to being wrong isn't to avoid being wrong! The secret is being willing to be wrong. The secret is realizing that wrong isn't fatal.”

“The tragedy is that society (your school, your boss, your government, your family) keeps drumming the genius part out. The problem is that our culture has engaged in a Faustian bargain, in which we trade our genius and artistry for apparent stability.”

“Transferring your passion to your job is far easier than finding a job that happens to match your passion.”

“Soon is not as good as now.”