101 Motivational Mary Kay Ash Quotes

Mary Kay Ash was an American businesswoman and the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.

Though she passed away in 2001, Mary Kay Ash is recognized by many as America’s greatest businesswoman. According to Wikipedia her net worth is a staggering $71.2 billion.

Having retired from a successful sales career, Mary Kay decided to start Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc in 1963, with her life savings of $5,000 and the help of her son.

She wanted to help women be successful in the male dominated business arena at the time and she did that very successfully.

She built an independent sales force of women that today is over 3 million all over the globe.

Mary Kay has very inspiring principles that not only made her very successful, but also the women she wanted to help. Things like following the golden rule and making people feel important… You’ll see them in the Mary Kay Ash quotes below and also her book, The Mary Kay Way.

Mary Kay was a highly motivating and inspirational woman and so I’ve put together the best Mary Kay Ash quotes that you can use to fuel your motivation.

If you like them, please make sure you share this post. 🙂

101 Mary Kay Ash Quotes

1. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

2. The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang. – Mary Kay Ash

3. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

4. Give yourself something to work toward – constantly. – Mary Kay Ash

5. People fall forward to success. – Mary Kay Ash

6. A good goal is like a strenuous exercise – it makes you stretch. – Mary Kay Ash

7. Most people live and die with their music still unplayed. They never dare to try. – Mary Kay Ash

8. Dare to risk public criticism. – Mary Kay Ash

9. Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn’t know it so it goes on flying anyway. – Mary Kay Ash

10. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

11. There are two things people want more than sex and money… recognition and praise. – Mary Kay Ash

12. You can have anything in this world you want, if you want it badly enough and you’re willing to pay the price. – Mary Kay Ash

13. Those who are blessed with the most talent don’t necessarily outperform everyone else. It’s the people with follow-through who excel. – Mary Kay Ash

14. Do you know that within your power lies every step you ever dreamed of stepping and within your power lies every joy you ever dreamed of seeing? Within yourself lies everything you ever dreamed of being. Become everything that God wants you to be. It is within your reach. Dare to grow into your dreams and claim this as your motto: Let it be me. – Mary Kay Ash

15. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

16. A strong beginning is a good thing only when coupled with a strong finish. – Mary Kay Ash

17. Think about it, no one can win a race in which he had given up. You can’t win a battle for which you have surrendered. – Mary Kay Ash

18. I was taught to put my best into anything I did and I can honestly say I’ve always done that. Still, there are many times when I failed, when I was disappointed. – Mary Kay Ash

19. We didn’t set the world on fire from the first day. Disappointments, setbacks and work created the company as it is today. – Mary Kay Ash

20. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

21. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. – Mary Kay Ash

22. If you act enthusiastic, you will become enthusiastic. A mediocre mind that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one. – Mary Kay Ash

23. Over the years, I have observed that nearly all high achievers know how to make good of those 1440 minutes in each day. – Mary Kay Ash

24. An average person with average talents and average ambition can outstrip the most brilliant genius in our society; if that person has clear focused goals. – Mary Kay Ash

25. God didn’t have time to create a nobody, just a somebody. I believe that each of us has God given talents within us waiting to be brought to fruition. Each person is unique and special. – Mary Kay Ash

26. The greatest pollution problem we face today is negativity. Eliminate the negative attitude and believe you can do anything. Replace ‘if I can’ or ‘I hope’ or ‘maybe’ with ‘I can,’ ‘i will’ and ‘I must”. – Mary Kay Ash

27. Forcing myself to think positively did wonders for my spirit. I was able to overcome the discontent inside me, and my old enthusiasm slowly returned. – Mary Kay Ash

28. Never rest on your laurels. Nothing wilts faster than a laurel sat upon. – Mary Kay Ash

29. 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 pay the price. Often during my childhood, I heard those words from my mother, always urging me on to greater heights! They became so firmly implanted in my mind that they became the theme of my childhood and of my life. – Mary Kay Ash

30. 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. That is the law of the harvest, the law of the ten-fold return. If you give nothing, even if it is multiplied, you receive nothing. – Mary Kay Ash

31. Unlike many people who start a new business, money was not my prime motivation – not that I was so well off that it wasn’t a consideration; in fact, I had put my lifetime savings on the line. – Mary Kay Ash

32. I believe that most successful people are ordinary people with extraordinary determination. – Mary Kay Ash

33. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

34. People change and even products change. But over the course of time it’s the strength of a company’s philosophy that will determine whether or not it endures. – Mary Kay Ash

35. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

36. Dare to grow into your dreams and claim this as your motto: Let it be me. – Mary Kay Ash

37. Every achievement, big or small, begins in your mind. – Mary Kay Ash

38. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

39. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

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

41. Even the smallest achievements pave a way to great success. – Mary Kay Ash

42. In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia. – Mary Kay Ash

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

44. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

45. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

46. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

47. The first step is the hardest – making a commitment to yourself, for yourself. – Mary Kay Ash

48. People will support that which they help to create. – Mary Kay Ash

49. There is a way; Up, Around, Over or Through. – Mary Kay Ash

50. Do not desire to fit in. Desire to lead. – Mary Kay Ash

51. What the world thinks of me is none of my business. – Mary Kay Ash

52. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

53. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

54. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

55. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

56. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

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

58. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

59. I’ve never yet met a person who didn’t want to be appreciated… – Mary Kay Ash

60. You can eat an elephant one bit at a time. – Mary Kay Ash

61. My definition of happiness is having something to do what you love to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to. – Mary Kay Ash

62. If you have an idea and I have an idea – then we EACH have JUST ONE idea…but if you share your idea with me and I do the same…we EACH have TWO ideas! – Mary Kay Ash

63. One of the secrets of success is to refuse to let temporary setbacks defeat us. – Mary Kay Ash

64. Faith is a twenty-four hour a day commitment. – Mary Kay Ash

65. You can go as far as your mind lets you. – Mary Kay Ash

66. There’s a big difference between a decisive manager and a tyrant. – Mary Kay Ash

67. Left unattended, problems only intensify. – Mary Kay Ash

68. You never really fail until you stop wanting. – Mary Kay Ash

69. In fact, depending on how much you earn, you can afford to pay somebody to do almost anything you don’t like to do. – Mary Kay Ash

70. What’s interesting about subscribing to a life of giving is that you become addicted. – Mary Kay Ash

71. Your attitude determines your altitude. It really is true that If you think you can, you can; and if you think you can’t – you’re right. – Mary Kay Ash

72. Everyone has obstacles to overcome, but those with great faith can conquer whatever stands in the way. – Mary Kay Ash

73. Think in terms of what’s good for the other person and success will seek you out. – Mary Kay Ash

74. 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. – Mary Kay Ash

75. Leaders teach. They motivate. They care. Leaders make sure that the way to success is always broad enough and straight enough for others to follow. – Mary Kay Ash

76. One intense hour is worth a dreamy day. – Mary Kay Ash

77. Fear is faith that it won’t work. – Mary Kay Ash

78. Real leaders aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. – Mary Kay Ash

79. Each of us wants to feel good about himself or herself, but to me it is just as important to make others feel the same way. – Mary Kay Ash

80. Be the kind of person who can always be counted on to do what you say you’ll do. – Mary Kay Ash

81. Help other people get what they want – and you’ll get what you want. – Mary Kay Ash

82. The most important justification for being in business is service to others. Every new business must be built upon the premise, since wanting to make money or desiring to ‘dabble’ in a favorite pastime are not enough to sustain such a venture. The business must fulfill a need. – Mary Kay Ash

83. In business everything is subject to change – people, products, buildings, machinery, everything – except principles. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, in matters of principle, stand like a rock; in other matters, swim with the current. So, while I strongly advocate flexibility, when it comes to principles we must stand firm. – Mary Kay Ash

84. I do believe in encouraging a person to compete with herself… at Mary Kay Cosmetics, we’ve made that philosophy a company policy. – Mary Kay Ash

85. Make people who work for you feel important. If you honor and serve them, they’ll honor and serve you. – Mary Kay Ash

86. Nothing happens until somebody sells something! – Mary Kay Ash

87. To me, P and L doesn’t only mean profit and loss – it also means people and love. – Mary Kay Ash

88. Let people know that you appreciate their performance and they will respond by doing even better. – Mary Kay Ash

89. Recognition is the most powerful of all motivating techniques. – Mary Kay Ash

90. When you listen, the benefit is twofold: You receive the necessary information, and you make the other person feel important. – Mary Kay Ash

91. True leaders establish success patterns that make everyone think success. – Mary Kay Ash

92. People often resist change when they don’t participate in the decision-making process. Some of the best leaders ‘plant the seed’ that permits others to propose the idea and take credit for it! – Mary Kay Ash

93. Never, absolutely never, compromise your principles. – Mary Kay Ash

94. We are meant to use and increase whatever God has given us. And when we do, we shall be given more. – Mary Kay Ash

95. You can’t stand still. You either go forward or backward. – Mary Kay Ash

96. Every person should have a lifetime self-improvement program. – Mary Kay Ash

97. Nobody wins ‘em all. If you come down on them too hard for losing, they’ll stop sticking their necks out. – Mary Kay Ash

98. The more enjoyment people derive from their work, the better they will produce. – Mary Kay Ash

99. You must develop the ability to know the difference between a real problem and an imaginary one. – Mary Kay Ash

100. I believe that work if often the best antidote for grief. – Mary Kay Ash

101. People are happiest when they have goals, small and large, because they can look forward to attaining them. – Mary Kay Ash

Which of these Mary Kay Ash Quotes are your favourite? Let me know in the comments below.