Tim Ferriss is a famous author, interviewer and thought leader. He struggled with an online business after college and had uncertainty about his direction in life. Over time, he developed a focused approach to streamlining his focus for business and life and in 2007, he published his thoughts as The 4-Hour Workweek which became a surprise bestseller after being turned down by many publishing companies.
Since then, Mr. Ferris has built a brand around testing and optimizing new approaches to things. He often has experts in various fields on his podcast who share their knowledge and insights and Tim helps his millions of followers to improve their lives.
Tim has had several bestsellers – you can find them all here. And his podcast is a must listen with more than 200 million downloads.
Personally, Tim has inspired me quite a bit and these are my favorite quotes of his.
My Favorite Tim Ferriss Quotes
1. “$1,000,000 in the bank isn’t the fantasy. The fantasy is the lifestyle of complete freedom it supposedly allows.” – Tim Ferriss
2. “Alternating periods of activity and rest is necessary to survive, let alone thrive.” – Tim Ferriss
3. “People will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.” – Tim Ferriss
4. “Many a false step was made by standing still.” – Tim Ferriss
5. “You are the average of the five people you associate with most, so do not underestimate the effects of your pessimistic, unambitious, or
disorganized friends. If someone isn’t making you stronger, they’re making you weaker.” – Tim Ferriss
6. “It is predicated on the assumption that you dislike what you are doing during the most physically capable years of your life. This is a nonstarter—nothing can justify that sacrifice.” – Tim Ferriss
7. “I will take as a given that, for most people, somewhere between six and seven billion of them, the perfect job is the one that takes the least time.” – Tim Ferriss
8. “A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.” – Tim Ferriss
9. “The question you should be asking isn’t, “What do I want?” or “What are my goals?” but “What would excite me?” – Tim Ferriss
10. “To enjoy life, you don’t need fancy nonsense, but you do need to control your time and realize that most things just aren’t as serious as you make them out to be.” – Tim Ferriss
11. “If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” – Tim Ferriss
12. “The opposite of love is indifference, and the opposite of happiness is boredom.” – Tim Ferriss
13. “Most people are fast to stop you before you get started but hesitate to get in the way if you’re moving.” – Tim Ferriss
14. “Poisonous people do not deserve your time. To think otherwise is masochistic.” – Tim Ferriss
15. “Learn to be difficult when it counts. In school as in life, having a reputation for being assertive will help you receive preferential treatment without having to beg or fight for it every time.” – Tim Ferriss
16. “The fishing is best where the fewest go and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone is aiming for base hits.” – Tim Ferriss
17. “Different is better when it is more effective or more fun.” – Tim Ferriss
18. “Role models who push us to exceed our limits, physical training that removes our spare tires, and risks that expand our sphere of comfortable action are all examples of eustress—stress that is healthful and the stimulus for growth.” – Tim Ferriss
19. “Life is too short to be small.” – Tim Ferriss
20. “Remember—boredom is the enemy, not some abstract “failure.” – Tim Ferriss
21. “The goal is not to simply eliminate the bad, but to pursue and experience the best in the world.” – Tim Ferriss
22. “Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure-all.” – Tim Ferriss
23. “Information is useless if it is not applied to something important or if you will forget it before you have a chance to apply it.” – Tim Ferriss
24. “The bottom line is that you only have the rights you fight for.” – Tim Ferriss
25. “By working only when you are most effective, life is both more productive and more enjoyable. It’s the perfect example of having your cake and eating it, too.” v
26. “The golden years become lower-middle-class life revisited. That’s a bittersweet ending.” – Tim Ferriss
27. “For all their bitching about what’s holding them back, most people have a lot of trouble coming up with the defined dreams they’re being held from.”
28. “It’s lonely at the top. Ninety-nine percent of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for the mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for ‘realistic’ goals, paradoxically making them the most time and energy-consuming.” – Tim Ferriss
29. “Life is too short to think small” – Tim Ferriss
30. “If you spend your time, worth $20-25 per hour, doing something that someone else will do for $10 per hour, it’s simply a poor use of resources.” – Tim Ferriss
31. “Being able to quit things that don’t work is integral to being a winner.” – Tim Ferriss
32. “People are fond of using the its not what you know, its who you know adage as an excuse for inaction, as if all successful people are born with powerful friends.” – Tim Ferriss
33. “If you let pride stop you, you will hate life.” – Tim Ferriss
34. “Never automate something that can be eliminated, and never delegate something that can be automated or streamlined. Otherwise, you waste someone else’s time instead of your own, which now wastes your hard-earned cash.”
35. “It is possible to become world-class, enter the top 5% of performers in the world, in almost any subject within 6-12 months, or even 6-12 weeks.” – Tim Ferriss
36. “Pareto’s Law can be summarized as follows: 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs.” – Tim Ferriss
37. “Age doesn’t matter: an open mind does.” – Tim Ferriss
38. “When everything and everyone is failing, what is the cost of a little experiment outside of the norm? Most often, nothing” – Tim Ferriss
39. “The options are limitless, but each path must begin with the same first step: replacing assumptions” – Tim Ferriss
40. “The most important actions are never comfortable” – Tim Ferriss
41. “For reaching influential people, I think that in-person is the least crowded and most effective way, because they have to trust the messenger before they will endorse the message” – Tim Ferriss
42. “It’s often what you do, not how you do it, that is the determining factor. This is the difference from being effective; doing the right things, and being efficient; doing things well whether they are important” – Tim Ferriss
43. “By working only when you are most effective, life is both more productive and more enjoyable. It’s the perfect example of having your cake and eating it, too.” – Tim Ferriss
44. “Role models who push us to exceed our limits, physical training that removes our spare tires, and risks that expand our sphere of comfortable action are all examples of eustress – stress that is healthful and the stimulus for growth.” – Tim Ferriss
45. “If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” – Tim Ferriss
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46. “It is possible to become world-class, enter the top 5% of performers in the world, in almost any subject within 6-12 months, or even 6-12 weeks.” – Tim Ferriss
47. “For all their bitching about what’s holding them back, most people have a lot of trouble coming up with the defined dreams they’re being held from.” – Tim Ferriss
48. “The opposite of love is indifference, and the opposite of happiness is boredom.” – Tim Ferriss
49. “If you let pride stop you, you will hate life.” – Tim Ferriss
50. “Pareto’s Law can be summarized as follows: 80% of the outputs result from 20% of the inputs.” – Tim Ferriss
51. “The question you should be asking isn’t, “What do I want?” or “What are my goals?” but “What would excite me?” – Tim Ferriss
52. “It is possible to become world-class, enter the top 5% of performers in the world, in almost any subject within 6-12 months, or even 6-12 weeks.” – Tim Ferriss
53. “Learn to be difficult when it counts. In school as in life, having a reputation for being assertive will help you receive preferential treatment without having to beg or fight for it every time.” – Tim Ferriss
54. “The fishing is best where the fewest go and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone is aiming for base hits.” – Tim Ferriss
55. “Different is better when it is more effective or more fun.” – Tim Ferriss
56. “Age doesn’t matter: an open mind does.” – Tim Ferriss
57. “People are fond of using the its not what you know, its who you know adage as an excuse for inaction, as if all successful people are born with powerful friends.” – Tim Ferriss
58. “The bottom line is that you only have the rights you fight for.” – Tim Ferriss
59. “Remember – boredom is the enemy, not some abstract “failure.” – Tim Ferriss
60. “Information is useless if it is not applied to something important or if you will forget it before you have a chance to apply it.” – Tim Ferriss
61. “Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure-all.” – Tim Ferriss
62. “The golden years become lower-middle-class life revisited. That’s a bittersweet ending.” – Tim Ferriss
63. “If you spend your time, worth $20-25 per hour, doing something that someone else will do for $10 per hour, it’s simply a poor use of resources.” – Tim Ferriss
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Animated Overview of the The 4-Hour Work Week
Tim’s most popular book is still The Four Hour Work Week. I definitely recommend buying and reading it – it’s that good. If you want a quick and fun summary, this video is a must watch.
Summary
Tim Ferriss is incredibly inspiring. He has had an amazing career and has become one of the best interviewers out there.
You can learn more on his website and also listen to his many free podcast episodes over at Tim.blog
Image Credit: “Tim Ferriss with his new book – The 4-Hour Work week” by Brian Caldwell is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
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