Mary Kay Ash Quotations

No matter how busy you are, you must take time to make the other person feel important.

Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.

Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway.

When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.

We treat our people like royalty. If you honor and serve the people who work for you, they will honor and serve you.

For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.

Central banks don't have divine wisdom. They try to do the best analysis they can and must be prepared to stand or fall by the quality of that analysis.

You can have anything in this world you want, if you want it badly enough and you're willing to pay the price.

A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.

Those who are blessed with the most talent don't necessarily outperform everyone else. It's the people with follow-through who excel.

If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right.

Most people live and die with their music still unplayed. They never dare to try.

Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, 'Make me feel important.' Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life.

Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, 'Make me feel important.' Never forget this message when working with people.

A good goal is like a strenuous exercise - it makes you stretch.

The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang.

So many women just don't know how great they really are. They come to us all vogue outside and vague on the inside.

Everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don't keep it a secret.

People are definitely a company's greatest asset. It doesn't make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.

Sandwich every bit of criticism between two layers of praise.

We must have a theme, a goal, a purpose in our lives. If you don't know where you're aiming, you don't have a goal. My goal is to live my life in such a way that when I die, someone can say, she cared.

A company is only as good as the people it keeps.

Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist.

Give yourself something to work toward - constantly.

There are two things people want more than sex and money... recognition and praise.

God didn't have time to make a nobody, only a somebody.I believe that each of us has God-given talents within us waiting to be brought to fruition.

A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go farther than a great idea that inspires no one.

Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, Make me feel important. Never forget this message when working with people.

For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.

Make every day count. Make every hour count. Make every minute count. And don't stop until you have exercised your full potential, realizing your impossible dream and fulfilling your total destiny to become the person that you, and only you , are capable of being.

Every achievement, big or small, begins in your mind.

The greatest pollution problem we face today is negativity. Eliminate the negative attitude and believe you can do anything. Replace 'if I can, I hope, maybe' with 'I can, I will, I must.

The definition of successful people is simply ordinary people with extraordinary determination. You cannot keep determined people from success. If you place stumbling blocks in their way, they will use them for stepping-stones and climb to new heights. People who succeed have a goal, a dream and make their plans and follow them.

Believe in yourself and know that you can do anything in this world that you want to do if you want to do it badly enough and you are willing to travel the road. Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass.

Never give up, because you never know if the next try is going to be the one that works.

The seeds you plant in the hearts and minds of others will be what you receive in return - 100-fold. Only sow that which you wish to receive in return. Sow good, receive good! Plant seeds daily in your Mary Kay business and your Mary Kay business will return to you.

Before you ever receive the wonderful treasures of a happy life, you must first give. Give of yourself. Be of service to others. Only what you give can be multiplied back into your own life.

God didn't have time to make a nobody, only a somebody.I believe that each of us has God-given talents within us waiting to be brought to fruition.

I believe that you should praise people whenever you can; it causes them to respond as a thirsty plant responds to water.

Some people drift through their entire life. They do it one day at a time, one week at a time, one month at a time. It happens so gradually they are unaware of how their lives are slipping away until it's too late.

Dare to grow into your dreams and claim this as your motto: Let it be me.

We fall forward to succeed.

Hope is wishing for something to come true. Faith is belief that it will come true. Believe that for every problem God gives you, He will also provide you with a solution.

Listen long enough and the person will generally come up with an adequate solution.

There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened. We all have a choice. You can decide which type of person you want to be. I have always chosen to be in the first group.

When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity. You have the choice. You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser. The choice is yours and yours alone. Refuse to throw in the towel. Go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel. It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure.

Don't let the negatives of life control you. Rise above them. Use them as your stepping stones to go higher than you ever dreamed possible

The success [of Mary Kay Inc.] is much, much deeper than just dollars and cents and buildings and assets. The real success of our Company is measured to me in the lives that have been touched and given hope.

God first, family second, career third

The first step is the hardest – making a commitment to yourself, for yourself.

If you're good to your staff when things are going well, they'll rally when times go bad.

In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.

I've never yet met a person who didn't want to be appreciated ...

Some of the most successful people managers are also the best listeners.

The greatest polution problem we face today is negativity.

God does not ask your ability Or your inability. He asks only your availability.

I put a lot of emphasis on how to treat people. The reason for this is simple. The real success of our personal lives and careers can best be measured by the relationships we have with the people most dear to us - our family, friends, and coworkers. If we fail in this aspect of our lives, no matter how vast our worldly possessions or how high on the corporate ladder we climb, we will have achieved very little.

I've often said that we are doing something far more important than just selling cosmetics; we are changing lives.

Be a dreamer. Have a sense of greatness. It has been said that if you can dream it, you can do it. And I believe that. Before your dream can become a reality, you have to see it in your own mind; see its fulfillment, whatever it may be.

It is important for you to have a goal. You simply can't get there if you don't know where you are going. Begin to build in your mind a dream. The write it down and make your goal realistic. Aim high enough that you will have to stretch your ability and your potential to reach it.

Never forget, your family should always have priority over your work.

I believe every person has the ability to achieve something important, and with that in mind I regard everyone as special. A manager should feel this way about people, but it's an attitude that can't be faked. You've got to be honestly convinced that every human being is important.

I have learned to imagine an invisible sign around each person’s neck that says ‘Make me feel important,

Many women have made the mistake of changing their beliefs to accommodate their work; it must be the other way around. No circumstance is so unusual that it demands a double standard or separates us from our faith. No matter how fast the world changes, exemplary values must remain constant.

Individuals sometimes feel insignificant and doubt that one person can really make a difference in this world. Well, believe me, one person can.

You are the only boss you have. And I want you to be the most demanding boss that you can be. If you really want to make a success of this business, then you must put yourself on a schedule.

Ideas are a dime a dozen. People who implement them are priceless.

Remember, if you do the things you ought to do when you ought to do them, then someday you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them…Whatever you do or dream you can do—begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.

The only difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is extraordinary determination.

What you believe, you can achieve.

While clothes may not make the woman, they certainly have a strong effect on her self-confidence, which, I believe, does make the woman.

People fail forward to success.

It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure.

Criticize the act, not the person.

My goal in life is to live my life in such a way that when I die, someone can say, she cared

Dare to risk public criticism.

People will support that which they help to create.

God did not have time to make a nobody, so you're a somebody.

There is a way; Up, Around, Over or Through

In fact, depending on how much you earn, you can afford to pay somebody to do almost anything you don't like to do.

My priorities have always been God first, family second, career third. I have found that when I put my life in this order, everything seems to work out. God was my first priority early in my career when I was struggling to make ends meet. Through the failures and success I have experienced since then, my faith has remained unchecked.

If I'm talking to someone in a crowded room, I try to make this person feel as though we're the only ones present. I shut out everything else. I look directly at the person. Even if a gorilla were to walk into the room, I probably wouldn't notice it.

Everyone wears a sign that says "Make me feel important

Even the smallest achievements pave a way to great success.

Fear is faith that it won't work.

You can eat an elephant one bit at a time.

God didn't have time to create a nobody ...

My company mascot is the bumblebee. Because of its tiny wings and heavy body, aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly. But the bumblebee doesn't know that, so it flies anyways.

What's interesting about subscribing to a life of giving is that you become addicted.

good people managers are likely to listen more than they speak. Perhaps that's why we were given two ears and only one mouth.

By trying to live Christmas 12 months a year, we CAN make this world a better place to live - for others and for ourselves.

Most of us die with our music underplayed...We should try to step out of our comfort zones and do the things we're capable of.

We must have a theme, a goal, a purpose in our lives.

A risk-taking environment starts at the top of a corporation. If the CEO doesn't have this spirit, chances are you won't find it anywhere else in the organization.

I believe that in order to be a good leader you must understand the value of praising people to success.

One intense hour is worth a dreamy day.

You cannot keep determined people for success.

You can go as far as your mind lets you.

Nothing wilts faster than a laurel rested upon.

I believe that there is no such thing as a subordinate. If the air-conditioning ceases to work in our building, then the repair technician becomes more important than the chairman of the board. We're all people working together toward a common objective.