Selected Greatest Salesman Quotes
The Greatest Salesman in the World- is a book written by Og Mandino. It tells the story of Hafid, a poor camel boy in the middle east during the ancient times, who became an extremely wealthy businessperson and even managed to win the heart and marry the woman he loved.
The book serves as a guide to salesmanship and how to achieve success & happiness in life. It was first published in 1968 and was republished by Bantam Books in 1983. A hardcover edition was published by Buccaneer Books in June, 1993. The Success Motivation Institute purchased the rights to produce audio versions of the book.
Selected Greatest Salesman Quotes:
“As a child I was slave to my impulses; now I am slave to my habits, as are all grown men.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Life
“Experience is comparable to fashion; an action that proved successful today will be unworkable and impractical tomorrow. Only principles endure.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Life
“Manners and graces, for they are the sugar to which all are attracted.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Life
“Never feel shame for trying and failing for he who has never failed is he who has never tried.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Life
“There are two kinds of discontented in this world, the discontented that works and the discontented that wrings its hands. The first gets what it wants and the second loses what it has. There is no cure for the first but success and there is no cure at all for the second. The very worst of my vices and bad habits will abate of themselves if they are brought to an accounting every day.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Life
“Only a habit can subdue another habit.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Life
“My actions are ruled by appetite, passion, prejudice, greed, love, fear, environment, habit, and the worst of these tyrants is habit. Therefore, if I must be a slave to habit let me be a slave to good habits. My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Life, Goals
“My procrastination which has held me back was born of fear and now I recognize this secret mined from the depths of all courageous hearts. Now I know that to conquer fear I must always act without hesitation and the flutters in my heart will vanish. Now I know that action reduces the lion of terror to an ant of equanimity. I will act now.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Life, Goals
“If I waste today I destroy the last page of my life.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Life, Goals
“for when an act becomes easy through constant repetition it becomes a pleasure to perform and if it is a pleasure to perform it is man’s nature to perform it often. When I perform it often it becomes a habit and I become its slave and since it is a good habit this is my will. Today I begin a new life.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Life, Goals
“Furthermore, you are embarking on the loneliest profession in the world. Even the despised tax collectors return to their homes at sundown and the legions of Rome have a barracks to call home. But you will witness many setting suns far from all friends and loved ones. Nothing can bring the hurt of loneliness upon a man so swiftly as to pass a strange house in the dark and witness, in the lamplight from within, a family breaking evening bread together. “It is in these periods of loneliness that temptations will confront thee,” Pathros continued. “How you meet these temptations will greatly affect your career. When you are on the road with only your animal it is a strange and often frightening sensation. Often our perspectives and our values are temporarily forgotten and we become like children, longing for the safety and love of our own. What we find as a substitute has ended the career of many including thousands who were considered to have great potential in the art of selling. Furthermore, there will be no one to humor you or console you when you have sold no goods; no one except those who seek to separate you from your money pouch.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Business
“Obstacles are necessary for success because in selling, as in all careers of importance, victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats. Yet each struggle, each defeat, sharpens your skills and strengths, your courage and your endurance, your ability and your confidence and thus each obstacle is a comrade-in-arms forcing you to become better … or quit. Each rebuff is an opportunity to move forward; turn away from them, avoid them, and you throw away your future.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Business, Success, Problems
“Truly, many times have you heard me say that the rewards are great if one succeeds but the rewards are great only because so few succeed. Many succumb to despair and fail without realizing that they already possess all the tools needed to acquire great wealth. Many others face each obstacle in their path with fear and doubt and consider them as enemies when, in truth, these obstructions are friends and helpers.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Business, Success, Problems, Wealth
“love all manners of men for each has qualities to be admired even though they be hidden. With love I will tear down the wall of suspicion and hate which they have built round their hearts and in its place will I build bridges so that my love may enter their souls. I will love the ambitious for they can inspire me! I will love the failures for they can teach me. I will love the kings for they are but human; I will love the meek for they are divine. I will love the rich for they are yet lonely; I will love the poor for they are so many. I will love the young for the faith they hold; I will love the old for the wisdom they share. I will love the beautiful for their eyes of sadness; I will love the ugly for their souls of peace.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Love, Goals
“Most of all I will love myself. For when I do I will zealously inspect all things which enter my body, my mind, my soul, and my heart.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Love, Goals
“Again. I will love the sun for it warms my bones; yet I will love the rain for it cleanses my spirit. I will love the light for it shows me the way; yet I will love the darkness for it shows me the stars. I will welcome happiness for it enlarges my heart; yet I will endure sadness for it opens my soul. I will acknowledge rewards for they are my due; yet I will welcome obstacles for they are my challenge.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Love, Goals
“The rewards are great if one succeeds but the rewards are great only because so few succeed.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Success
“Victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Success, Problems, Life
“Which two, among a thousand wise men, will define success in the same words; yet failure is always described but one way. Failure is man's inability to reach his goals in life, whatever they may be.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Success, Problems, Goals
“In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in the difference of their habits. Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which precedeth all others is—I will form good habits and become their slave.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Success, Life, Goals
“I determine to render more and better service, each day, than I am being paid to render. Those that reach the top are the ones who are not content with doing only what is required of them.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Success, Life, Goals
“Hafid, so far as material wealth is concerned, there is only one difference between myself and the lowliest beggar outside Herod’s palace. The beggar thinks only of his next meal and I think only of the meal that will be my last. No, my son, do not aspire for wealth and labor not only to be rich. Strive instead for happiness, to be loved and to love, and most important, to acquire peace of mind and serenity.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Wealth, Happiness, Love, Goals
“I will consider each day’s effort as but one blow of my blade against a mighty oak.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“Will capitalize on this difference for it is an asset to be promoted to the fullest.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“I will greet this day with love in my heart. And how will I speak? I will laud mine enemies and they will become friends; I will encourage my friends and they will become brothers. Always will I dig for reasons to applaud; never will I scratch for excuses to gossip. When I am tempted to criticize I will bite on my tongue; when I am moved to praise I will shout from the roofs.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“No longer will I judge a man on one meeting; no longer will I fail to call again tomorrow on he who meets me with hate today.
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“I will live this day as if it is my last. And if it is not, I shall fall to my knees and give thanks.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“Just as nature made no provision for my body to tolerate pain neither has it made any provision for my life to suffer failure. Failure, like pain, is alien to my life. In the past I accepted it as I accepted pain. Now I reject it and I am prepared for wisdom and principles which will guide me out of the shadows into the sunlight of wealth, position, and happiness far beyond my most extravagant dreams until even the golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides will seem no more than my just reward.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“And most of all I will love myself. For when I do I will zealously inspect all things which enter my body, my mind, my soul, and my heart. Never will I overindulge the requests of my flesh, rather I will cherish my body with cleanliness and moderation. Never will I allow my mind to be attracted to evil and despair, rather I will uplift it with the knowledge and wisdom of the ages. Never will I allow my soul to become complacent and satisfied, rather I will feed it with meditation and prayer. Never will I allow my heart to become small and bitter, rather I will share it and it will grow and warm the earth.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“If I feel depressed I will sing. If I feel sad I will laugh. If I feel ill I will double my labor. If I feel fear I will plunge ahead. If I feel inferior I will wear new garments. If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice. If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come. If I feel incompetent I will remember past success. If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals. Today I will be master of my emotions.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“I was not delivered unto this world in defeat, nor does failure course in my veins. I am not a sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd. I am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep. I will hear not those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious. Let them join the sheep. The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“I will persist until I succeed. I was not delivered into this world into defeat, nor does failure course in my veins. I am not a sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd. I am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep. The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny. I will persist until I succeed.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“I will form good habits and become their slave.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“Only action determines my value in the market place and to multiply my value I will multiply my actions.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“Let others build a cave with their clay. I will build a castle with mine.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“I will become a firefly and even in the day my glow will be seen in spite of the sun. Let others be as butterflies who preen their wings yet depend on the charity of a flower for life.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“Within me burns a flame which has been passed from generations uncounted and its heat is a constant irritation to my spirit to become better than I am, and I will.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“Never feel shame for trying and failing for he who has never failed is he who has never tried.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“I will live this day as if it is my last. …I will waste not a moment mourning yesterday’s misfortunes, Yesterday’s defeats, yesterday’s aches of the heart, for why should I throw good after bad?” I will live this day as if it is my last. This day is all I have and these hours are now my eternity. I greet this sunrise with cries of joy as a prisoner who is reprieved from death. I lift mine arms with thanks for this priceless gift of a new day. So too, I will beat upon my heart with gratitude as I consider all who greeted yesterday’s sunrise who are no longer with the living today. I am indeed a fortunate man and today’s hours are but a bonus, undeserved. Why have I been allowed to live this extra day when others, far better than I, have departed? Is it that they have accomplished their purpose while mine is yet to be achieved? Is this another opportunity for me to become the man I know I can be?”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Goals
“Time teaches all things to him who lives forever but I have not the luxury of eternity.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Intelligence/Wisdom, Time
“Nature already has supplied me with knowledge and instinct far greater than any beast in the forest and the value of experience is overrated, usually by old men who nod wisely and speak stupidly.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Intelligence/Wisdom, Nature
“Poverty may be a privilege and even a way of life for the monk in the desert,for he has only himself to sustain and none but his god to please, but I consider poverty to be the mark of lack of ability or lack of ambition. I am not deficient in either of these qualities!”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Wealth
“Wealth, my son, should never be your goal in life. Your words are eloquent but they are mere words. True wealth is of the heart, not of the purse.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Wealth, Goals
“And so long as I can laugh never will I be poor.”
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Wealth, Happiness
“Wealth is good when it brings joy to others.”