Motivational author and speaker Zig Ziglar died on November 28, 2012 at the age of 86. He dedicated his life to teaching people the art of successful living. But he knew that there was more to life than how the world defined “success”, which most people equate with money.
I never had the privilege of meeting him personally, but I know people who have, and they say he was the real deal. Of course, I could tell that myself after reading his books and listening to him speak!
I think probably everyone in the U.S. and many around the world have heard at least one of Zig Ziglar’s famous quotes on motivation and success – even if we didn’t know it was attributable to him.
He observed that many people, having achieved success in their career, measure it by the amount of things they have that money can buy. Though sadly, in their pursuit of success their lives now contain very little of the things that money won’t buy.
Zig firmly believed that the journey to success is worth it, but it is not enough. The next step is to move from success into significance, which he discusses in A View From the Top.
Zig Ziglar Quotes on Money and Success
I dug around through my favorite Zig Ziglar quotes, and found a few that talked more directly about the topic of money. Here they are…
“Money isn’t the most important thing in life, but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale.”
“Money won’t make you happy… but everybody wants to find out for themselves.”
“Money will buy you a bed, but not a good night’s sleep, a house but not a home, a companion but not a friend.”
“If standard of living is your major objective, quality of life almost never improves, but if quality of life is your number one objective, your standard of living almost always improves.”
“When we do more than we are paid to do, eventually we will be paid more for what we do.”
“You can get everything money will buy without a lick of character, but you can’t get any of the things money won’t buy – happiness, joy, peace of mind, winning relationships, etc., without character.”
“I believe that persistent effort, supported by a character-based foundation, will enable you to get more of the things money will buy and all of the things money won’t buy.”
How has your life been impacted by Zig Ziglar’s writings and teachings?
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Great collection of quotes. I’ve listened to many of his talks on podcast and he’s a master of so many topics–especially about work and family balance.
Brent, thanks for your comment! Yes, Zig has left quite a legacy. Until recently, I didn’t know his son Tom was in the business too. I’ve heard him a bit on Kevin Miller’s “Free Agent Underground” podcast.