James C. Collins Quotes

Making a living and having a life are not the same thing. Making a living and making a life that's worthwhile are not the same thing. Living the good life and living a good life are not the same thing. A job title doesn't even come close to answering the question. "What do you do?".

In the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then you might gain that great tranquility that comes from knowing that you've had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.

If you make money, you might not make meaning.

I don't want to be 60 years old standing on stage telling some jokes. I want my life to mean something.

Follow your passion. Nothing - not wealth, success, accolades or fame - is worth spending a lifetime doing things you don't enjoy.

I have a rich, full, textured life.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

You only have one life and if you're not doing what you love, what's the point?

The only durable sense of success is if you've followed your calling.

I want to live a fulfilling life.

Everyone wants to be happy at the end of the day. If we can pursue what we really want to do, we don't get bored of life.

The secret to living long is to have something to live for.

I love my life, because I’ve seen my purpose.

I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life'.

Living meaningfully is what brings joy.

I know many lives worth living.

Retiring isn't even a word I'd understand. Taking what makes you feel alive, and everyone's looking for ways of making them feel alive, in whatever they do - relationships, business or work - and not just being a voice for a money making business.

I would much rather live a life of purpose than one in which I might have other things but not that.

Make sure, as often as possible, you are doing something you’d be happy to die doing.

Life is long if it is full.

Learning to earn a living is only half the job. The other half is to make life worthwhile and meaningful.

Happiness is living by inner purpose.

Real success is finding your life work in the work that you love. That's it. Don't worry about making a living, don't worry about popularity or fame. Make what you do ... count more than what you own.

I feel blessed. So many men and women search and search but never find their passion, their calling, their sense of mission that would ignite their hearts and fill their lives with meaning and joy.

A long, healthy, and happy life is the result of making contributions, of having meaningful projects that are personally exciting and contribute to and bless the lives of others.