“Baby steps count, too, as long as you’re moving forward.”
― Chris Gardner
“As long as you have a plan for how you’ll live, don’t let jealous people turn their insecurities into yours.”
― Chris Gardner
“Many have forged a path to greatness lit only by a vision in their minds.”
― Chris Gardner
“I am very, very conscious of time. I always wear two watches. People ask me, ‘Why do you do that?’ Because I was late once,and it cost me a huge opportunity.”
― Chris Gardner
“Your net worth can fluctuate, but your self-worth should only appreciate.”
― Chris Gardner
“Most of us have heard the saying, ‘Cleanliness is next to godliness.’ That’s a sentiment I value, but another virtue has inspired me to revise that saying. As far as I’m concerned, what’s next to godliness is resourcefulness.”
― Chris Gardner
“If you’re having a hard time recognizing your gifts, look to someone else you know who’s been resourceful. You may be surprised by how your own strengths rise to the surface by watching someone else.”
― Chris Gardner
“We can all learn something from people we admire.”
― Chris Gardner
“Passion is everything. In fact, you’ve got to be borderline fanatical about what you do.”
― Chris Gardner
“Fortunately, our digital age has created some wonderful tools for finding employers and showing your strengths. But when it comes to discovering or keeping a job, nothing beats good old-fashioned face time and up-to-date skills.”
― Chris Gardner
“Probably the hardest question I get asked is, ‘How do I choose between passion and practicality?’ I can’t answer that. I had to do both. I was passionate about pursuing a career in financial services. But I was also passionate about feeding my child.”
― Chris Gardner
“I cut grass, I did yard work, I did roofing, I cleaned basements to take care of my family.”
― Chris Gardner
“When I was a kid, we played a jump rope game called double Dutch – where you had to jump over two ropes swinging in opposite directions. Picking just the right moment to jump in was a practiced art form.”
― Chris Gardner
“What I love about AT&T is that they are just as passionate as I am about rebooting the American dream.”
― Chris Gardner
“My biggest hero was my mother. She told me every day that I could do or be anything. I knew it, I believed it, and I embraced it.”
― Chris Gardner
“I also often hear people say that the deck is stacked against them because of racism, sexism, or other oppressive ‘isms.’ But once you let go of the blame and excuses, you’ll see that you can alter your position on your own.”
― Chris Gardner
“If you’re lucky enough to have a permanent position, don’t feel entitled. Companies value longtime employees’ institutional memory, but to be irreplaceable, you must stay invested. Take the initiative and assume new responsibilities.”
― Chris Gardner
“When someone says, ‘You can’t,’ what it really means is that they can’t – so why should you get to?”
― Chris Gardner
“Finding gainful employment to pay for housing is hard for any veteran experiencing homelessness. It’s even more difficult for veterans who’ve also had encounters with police and stints in jail.”
― Chris Gardner
“I’m a Levi’s guy.”
― Chris Gardner
“Salespeople are the most important people in any organization. Until a salesperson gets an order, nobody in the company has a job.”
― Chris Gardner
“Business school professors don’t take selling seriously because they don’t know how to sell. It’s easy to talk about business theory and production time and just-in-time development. Selling is much more difficult.”
― Chris Gardner
“I’ve been talking to a lot of young people, especially here in America. I let them know that the people who they’re competing with for opportunities live all over the place. They’re probably not in your city, state, or country; they are hungry, and they are grinding! Some of the things that a lot of us take for granted, these people don’t.”
― Chris Gardner
“You want be young and have fun, that’s great. But while you’re having fun, someone you don’t see is studying and preparing. You might end up working for that person. No one wants to hear that! But I try to tell young people: You want to be the one signing the front of the check, not the back.”
― Chris Gardner
“Too many veterans are poor or near poor and homeless because of it.”
― Chris Gardner
“I was blessed to have the guys at Bear Stearns as mentors. They taught me a lot, but most of all, they taught me that there’s nothing wrong with selling if you’re selling the right product to the right person.”
― Chris Gardner
“I’m known to be aggressively early.”
― Chris Gardner
“I made a decision as a five-year-old boy that my kids will know who their father is.”
― Chris Gardner
“I went through pain as a child so my children wouldn’t have to.”
― Chris Gardner
“I have one of those old-fashioned mothers who told me every single day, ‘Son, you can do or be anything that you want to do or be.’ And I believed it. I bought into it 100%.”
― Chris Gardner
“I’ve said that if you’re not doing something that you’re passionate about, you’re compromising yourself every single day.”
― Chris Gardner
“I chose to embrace the spirit of my mother, who, though she had too many of her own dreams denied, deferred, and destroyed, she still instilled in me, her child, that I could have dreams and that I did have a responsibility and the power.”
― Chris Gardner
“So many men have holes in their souls the shape of their fathers. You can pass that on to your kid, or you can do something about it, and I’m seeing a lot of men doing something about it.”
― Chris Gardner
“I had never gone to college. I was not from a politically connected family. I had no money of my own. Who is going to do business with you?”
― Chris Gardner
“I’m encouraged by what I see of men trying to be there for their children.”
― Chris Gardner
“When you’re doing something you’re truly passionate about, there is no plan B.”
― Chris Gardner
“Will Smith played Chris Gardner better than Chris Gardner ever did.”
― Chris Gardner
“I hold one thing dearer than all else: my commitment to my son.”
― Chris Gardner
“I didn’t grow up in a household where dinner conversation was, ‘How did the market do today?’”
― Chris Gardner
“I had spent years in the United States military. Specifically in the U.S. Navy.”
― Chris Gardner
“Everything that I learned in the Navy, I took it with me into the next phase of my life.”
― Chris Gardner
“No matter what you accomplish, when you’re doing something you’re truly passionate about… the opportunities are always going to be bigger.”
― Chris Gardner
“My first ambition in life, I made up my mind I was going to become Miles Davis. I studied music, music theory. I played trumpet for nine years. One day, my mother explained, ‘You can’t be Miles Davis. There’s one, and he’s got that job.’”
― Chris Gardner
“The hardest thing that I had to do every day as a working single parent was child care, to have to leave my child with people that I did not know and hope everything was OK, that was the most painful part of every day.”
― Chris Gardner
“I initially moved to San Francisco to become a research associate for one of the top young heart surgeons in the country. Everything that I learned in that position is that skills, talent, and expertise are transferable.”
― Chris Gardner
“What can we be in life? Few figures in history have answered this question with as much clarity and moral authority as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
― Chris Gardner
“Remember: If you don’t schmooze, you lose. Used wisely, a bit of chitchat helps create a personal connection with your boss and colleagues.”
― Chris Gardner
“In order for you to find a job, people need to know you’re looking.”
― Chris Gardner
“My mom had to be resourceful. She grew up dirt poor in rural Louisiana.”
― Chris Gardner
“Your skills may not be anything out of the ordinary, but you can do miraculous things with what you’ve got. Maybe it’s your parenting skills, or your compassion. It may be your curiosity, your imagination or unique style of fashion. Even if it seems to be no big deal, the lesson here is we all have unique abilities and talents.”
― Chris Gardner
“Just remember, you’re never too old to have a hero.”
― Chris Gardner
“We can all look to our friends, family, and those we admire for inspiration.”
― Chris Gardner
“Don’t wait for the perfect time to start making changes to your life; the time is now.”
― Chris Gardner
“You can blame outside factors or make excuses about why things didn’t work out, but that doesn’t change anything.”
― Chris Gardner
“Nine times out of 10, extenuating circumstances aside, I believe that people are where they are by some kind of choice on their part. You need to acknowledge that, ‘Hey, I’m here because I steered my horse in this direction.’”
― Chris Gardner
“Sometimes we are so busy helping others that we forget about ourselves. Remember, it’s okay to say no and to ask others to carry their own weight.”
― Chris Gardner
“You’re never too old to do something new.”
― Chris Gardner
“My stepfather was fond of letting me know, quote, ‘I ain’t your… damn daddy.’ That was something that was painful, to put it mildly.”
― Chris Gardner
“Veterans who are homeless may not have a home, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have diverse skills that could be put to use to meet the needs of an expanding job market.”
― Chris Gardner
“Long before I achieved financial success and became the subject of a Hollywood film, I was a veteran, a single father, and a working person who was homeless.”
― Chris Gardner
“Be bold enough to find the one thing that you are passionate about. It might not be what you were trained to do. But be bold enough to do the one thing. Nobody needs to dig it but you.”
― Chris Gardner
“Passion is not something you have to talk about. People feel it.”
― Chris Gardner
“I say to people all the time, it is OK to fail. Some of the greatest successes in the history of America started out as failures.”
― Chris Gardner
“I’ve created the life I wanted.”
― Chris Gardner
“I’ve never been big on sports coats and pants. I’m a suit guy. It makes it clear who’s in charge.”
― Chris Gardner
“I do one thing – I don’t do it on purpose – but I always make other guys look underdressed.”
― Chris Gardner
“One time, I was going to be in L.A. for 10 days for a business conference, and I took eight different pairs of sandals.”
― Chris Gardner
“I’ve been saying to people for a long time, ‘If you’re not doing something you’re tremendously excited about, and you’re not feeling passionate about it, you’re compromising yourself every day.’”
― Chris Gardner
“The people who care the most about the folks in your community are living in the community. They don’t live in Washington, D.C.”
― Chris Gardner
“I’ve never considered selling anything other than profession, but it’s more than that. It’s one of the highest callings that you can aspire to. Not everyone can do it.”
― Chris Gardner
“Racism is not new. It was not invented just for you. So get bigger than that stuff.”
― Chris Gardner
“I grew up without a father.”
― Chris Gardner
“Everybody got a dream. What’s the plan?”
― Chris Gardner
“Don’t ever be afraid to hire people that are smarter than you. Just because they are smarter than you doesn’t mean they have to make more money.”
― Chris Gardner
“When you tell your kids they can be anything, you’ve got to be careful. I told my kids that, and I ended up with a music producer and an interior designer. But they’re doing it.”
― Chris Gardner
“Unfortunately, some of the best fathers are mothers.”
― Chris Gardner
“A father is everything in the world.”
― Chris Gardner
“Passion is the thing that won’t let you sleep at night because you want to get up in the morning and go do your thing.”
― Chris Gardner
“If you’re passionate about something, you can develop the abilities.”
― Chris Gardner
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