--- title: 16 Quotes From Successful People About Self-Improvement description: Including Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates canonical: https://time.com/4064722/self-improvement-quotes-oprah-bill-gates/ author: The Muse article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-16T15:27:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:42:19.437Z og:title: 16 Quotes From Successful People About Self-Improvement og:description: Including Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates og:url: https://time.com/4064722/self-improvement-quotes-oprah-bill-gates/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 16 Quotes From Successful People About Self-Improvement twitter:description: Including Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 16 Quotes From Successful People About Self-Improvement by [Kaitlyn Russell / The Muse](https://time.com/author/the-muse/) ## Kaitlyn Russell / The Muse Oct 16, 2015 3:27 PM UTC by [Kaitlyn Russell / The Muse](https://time.com/author/the-muse/) ## Kaitlyn Russell / The Muse Oct 16, 2015 3:27 PM UTC All you want in life is one little thing—and that’s to reach all your goals. Well, here’s the secret to doing that: You need to work hard to improve yourself every single day, both professionally and personally. After all, that’s how successful people do it. And if you want to get on their level, you’re going to have to do the same. Now, before you break out in a sweat trying to figure out how exactly to do that, we’ve made it easy for you by compiling 16 quotes straight from the mouths of some of the most accomplished people you know, love, and admire. ### Oprah Winfrey  Oprah Winfrey at the 87th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 22, 2015. Dan MacMedan—WireImage/Getty Images ### Sheryl Sandberg  Sheryl Sandberg after hosting a 'Lean In Circle' with female members of the military at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. on Sept. 21, 2015. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images ### Angelina Jolie  Angelina Jolie at a press conference in Mardin, Turkey on June 20, 2015. AFP/Getty Images ### Maya Angelou  Maya Angelou at her 82nd birthday with friends and family in Winston-Salem, N.C. on May 20, 2010. Steve Exum—Getty Images ### Bill Gates  Bill Gates at the Clinton Global Initiative 2015 Annual Meeting in New York City on Sept. 27, 2015. J. Countess—WireImage/Getty Images ### Lori Greiner  Lori Greiner at the 2015 Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 12, 2015. Jeffrey Mayer—WireImage/Getty Images ### Mark Cuban  Mark Cuban at the "Woman In Gold" New York premiere on March 30, 2015. Andrew Toth—FilmMagic/Getty Images ### Barbara Corcoran  Barbara Corcoran at the Martha Stewart American Made Summit in New York City on Nov. 8, 2014. Andrew Toth—Getty Images for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia ### Marissa Mayer  Marissa Mayer at the Yahoo! Inc. Mobile Developer Conference in San Francisco on Feb. 19, 2015. David Paul Morris—Bloomberg ### Arianna Huffington  Arianna Huffington at Unique Lives event in Toronto on June 1, 2015. George Pimentel—Getty Images for Pandora Jewelry ### Diane Sawyer  Diane Sawyer at The Opening Night of "The Real Thing" in New York City on Oct. 30, 2014. Bruce Glikas—FilmMagic/Getty Images ### Michelle Obama  First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama at the "Let Girls Learn" Global Conversation in New York City on Sept. 29, 2015. Monica Schipper—FilmMagic/Getty Images ### Mary Kay Ash  Mary Kay Ash in Toronto. Graham Bezant—Toronto Star via Getty Images ### Melinda Gates  Melinda Gates at the AOL BUILD Speaker Series In New York City on March 10, 2015. J. Countess—Getty Images ### Barbara Walters  Barbara Walters at TIME 100 Gala in New York City on April 21, 2015. Gary Gershoff—WireImage/Getty Images ### Eleanor Roosevelt  Former United States First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in Baltimore, circa 1960. Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images _This_ [_article_](https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-improve-yourself-according-to-16-very-successful-people) _originally appeared on_ [_The Muse_](http://www.themuse.com) _More from The Muse:_ * [25 Steve Jobs Quotes That Will Change the Way You Work—in the Best Way Possible](https://www.themuse.com/advice/25-steve-jobs-quotes-that-will-change-the-way-you-workin-the-best-way-possible) * [You Can Love What You Do for a Living, But Still Think it Feels Like Work](https://www.themuse.com/advice/you-can-love-what-you-do-for-a-living-but-still-think-it-feels-like-work) * [3 Hard Truths You Should Know Before You Quit Your Job to Follow Your Dreams](https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-hard-truths-you-should-know-before-you-quit-your-job-to-follow-your-dreams) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4064722/self-improvement-quotes-oprah-bill-gates/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4064722/self-improvement-quotes-oprah-bill-gates/"},"headline":"16 Quotes From Successful People About Self-Improvement","datePublished":"2015-10-16T15:27:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:42:19.437Z","description":"Including Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates","url":"https://time.com/4064722/self-improvement-quotes-oprah-bill-gates/","keywords":["Living","Careers & Workplace","Self-Improvement","advice","career","Quotes","Success topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kaitlyn Russell / The Muse"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4064722/self-improvement-quotes-oprah-bill-gates/","name":"16 Quotes From Successful People About Self-Improvement"}}]}] ```