Elon Musk

If you're trying to create a company, it's like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion.

To make an embarrassing admission, I like video games. That's what got me into software engineering when I was a kid. I wanted to make money so I could buy a better computer to play better video games — nothing like saving the world.

I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact.

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.

The factory is the machine that builds the machine.

There have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Why do you want to live? What's the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future? If the future does not include being out there among the stars and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing.

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

The rumours of the demise of the U.S. manufacturing industry are greatly exaggerated.

There's a silly notion that failure's not an option at NASA. Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.

When I was in college, I wanted to be involved in things that would change the world.