Richard Branson Quotes

“You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”

— Richard Branson

From his book 'Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won't Teach You at Business School', published in 2012.

I was hopeless at school because my brain did not work the way teachers wanted it to. Dyslexia made reading torture. But it forced me to learn by doing, by trying things and getting them wrong. Every Virgin company started the same way: jump in, figure it out, fall down, get up.

“opportunities come in waves. miss one and you get ready for the next.”

— Richard Branson

Interview with Forbes magazine, 2014, discussing his approach to serial entrepreneurship.

I have started over four hundred companies. Some were spectacular failures. Virgin Cola, Virgin Brides, Virgin Cars. But I never let a failure stop me from getting on the next bus. The trick is not to be right every time. The trick is to keep moving.

“Screw it, let's do it.”

— Richard Branson

Title of his 2006 autobiography, became his signature catchphrase throughout his career.

This has been my approach to every major decision. When people told me I could not start an airline, I said screw it. When they said space tourism was impossible, I said screw it. The worst that can happen is you fail, and failure teaches you more than success ever will.