Quotes by Elon Musk (Page 2 of 2)

For all the supporters of Tesla over the years, and it's been several years now and there have been some very tough times, I'd just like to say thank you very much. I deeply appreciate the support, particularly through the darkest times.

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

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.

I think it's very important to have a feedback loop, where you're constantly thinking about what you've done and how you could be doing it better.

You need to be in the position where it is the cost of the fuel that actually matters and not the cost of building the rocket in the first place.

I don't spend my time pontificating about high-concept things; I spend my time solving engineering and manufacturing problems.

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.

I think there are more politicians in favor of electric cars than against. There are still some that are against, and I think the reasoning for that varies depending on the person, but in some cases, they just don't believe in climate change -- they think oil will last forever.

An asteroid or a supervolcano could certainly destroy us, but we also face risks the dinosaurs never saw: An engineered virus, nuclear war, inadvertent creation of a micro black hole, or some as-yet-unknown technology could spell the end of us.

Government isn't that good at rapid advancement of technology. It tends to be better at funding basic research. To have things take off, you've got to have commercial companies do it.

I think the high-tech industry is used to developing new things very quickly. It's the Silicon Valley way of doing business: You either move very quickly and you work hard to improve your product technology, or you get destroyed by some other company.

Automotive franchise laws were put in place decades ago to prevent a manufacturer from unfairly opening stores in direct competition with an existing franchise dealer that had already invested time, money and effort to open and promote their business.

My opinion is it's a bridge too far to go to fully autonomous cars.

I'd like to dial it back 5% or 10% and try to have a vacation that's not just e-mail with a view.

When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, 'Nah, what's wrong with a horse?' That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.

Some people don't like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.

Patience is a virtue, and I'm learning patience. It's a tough lesson.

Boeing just took $20 billion and 10 years to improve the efficiency of their planes by 10 percent. That's pretty lame. I have a design in mind for a vertical liftoff supersonic jet that would be a really big improvement.

The problem is that at a lot of big companies, process becomes a substitute for thinking. You're encouraged to behave like a little gear in a complex machine. Frankly, it allows you to keep people who aren't that smart, who aren't that creative.

We polled Tesla owners, do you want autopilot disabled or not. Not one person wanted it disabled. That's pretty telling.

The future of humanity is going to bifurcate in two directions: Either it's going to become multiplanetary, or it's going to remain confined to one planet and eventually there's going to be an extinction event.

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 life on Earth must be about more than just solving problems... It's got to be something inspiring, even if it is vicarious.

Great companies are built on great products.

I'm interested in things that change the world or that affect the future and wondrous, new technology where you see it, and you're like, 'Wow, how did that even happen? How is that possible?'

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

When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.