You can't find returns in investments you haven't made.
Interpretation
Investments require action to yield returns, both financially and personally.
This quote emphasizes the necessity of taking risks and making investments—whether in business, relationships, or personal growth—in order to achieve positive outcomes. It suggests that without putting in the effort or resources, one should not expect to see any results or benefits, highlighting the importance of proactivity in achieving success.
In practice
In a financial seminar to emphasize the importance of investing wisely.
You can talk all you want about having a clear purpose and strategy for your life, but ultimately this means nothing if you are not investing the resources you have in a way that is consistent with your strategy. In the end, a strategy is nothing but good intentions unless it's effectively implemented.
...it's easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time.
Disruptive innovations create jobs, efficiency innovations destroy them.
Focus is scary—until you realize that it only means turning your back on markets you could never have anyway. Sharp focus on jobs that customers are trying to get done holds the promise of greatly improving the odds of success in new-product development.
Don't worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people.
Whenever we have thanked these men and women for what they have done for us, without exception they have expressed gratitude for having the chance to help - because they grew as they served.
It's passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election.
I've worked hard, but this business can be tough, and I just consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the career that I have, and to still be having so much fun playing drums and making music.
To invest successfully, you need not understand beta, efficient markets, modern portfolio theory, option pricing or emerging markets. You may, in fact, be better off knowing nothing of these. That, of course, is not the prevailing view at most business schools, whose finance curriculum tends to be dominated by such subjects. In our view, though, investment students need only two well-taught courses - How to Value a Business, and How to Think About Market Prices.
My ambition didn't grow out of nowhere. It was planted in me by a community that nurtured me.
Focus on the impact you make versus the title you have.
It wasn't an excuse. It was a fact. He'd had to make his way alone, and no one - not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses - ever makes it alone.
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