Carlos Slim (Mexico City, January 28, 1940) is a renowned Mexican billionaire. He is currently the sixth richest man in the world according to the prestigious magazine Forbes.

His academic career led him to a degree in civil engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Later on, he began to buy and sell real estate, businesses with which he began to amass a small fortune.

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Phrases and famous quotes from Carlos Slim

Later, he immersed himself in different businesses in telecommunications and the Internet, with which he gradually forged the largest fortune in Mexico and one of the largest in the world, coming to figure only behind the Microsoft tycoon, Bill Gates.

In today’s article we will learn the best phrases of Carlos Slim to approach the mentality of a successful entrepreneur .

1. Competition makes you better, always, always makes you better, even if the competitor wins.

You learn from everything, especially from those who are better.

2. The greatest things in life are not material.

Despite his immense economic fortune, Carlos Slim does not live on money.

3. If you’re in business, you need to understand the environment. You need to have a vision of the future and you need to know the past.

Without a strategic vision, you only have one product that, sooner or later, will perish.

4. You have to have an international reference of competence. You have to go beyond your home.

If you limit yourself to your comfort zone, you’re likely to hit the ceiling quickly.

5. When there is a crisis, that is when some are interested in getting out and we are interested in getting in.

Crises are great times to invest, since prices are at rock bottom.

6. Every moment is good for those who know how to work and have the tools to do so.

If you know how, the rest flows.

7. When I was very young, maybe 12, I started making investments.

His entrepreneurial mindset began at puberty.

8. Each person forges his or her own destiny.

According to Carlos Slim, you own your future.

9. I’ve always said that the better you are, the more responsibility you have to help others.

Humility should be greater the more successful one is.

10. It is important to give a better country to our children, but it is more important to give better children to your country.

Education is the key to everything.

11. When we decide to do something, we do it fast.

Things that are going to go well usually require a short period of reflection.

12. The only way you end poverty is with jobs.

With salaries and giving people a chance.

13. I believe that anything that has privilege has responsibility and all people who are clear about their responsibilities have commitment.

A desideratum for life.

14. In this new wave of technology, you can’t do everything yourself, you have to form alliances.

The system is so complex that it is unfeasible to want to do everything on your own.

15. Live the present intensely and fully, do not let the past be a burden, and let the future be an incentive.

So enjoy every day, without anxiety and without fear of the future.

16. Don’t let negative feelings and emotions control your mind. Emotional pain does not come from others; it is developed and conceived within us.

One of those deeper, more psychological Carlos Slim phrases.

17. Mistakes are normal and human. Make them small, accept them, correct them and forget them.

There’s no point in punishing yourself. Turn the page and move on.

18. When we face problems, they disappear. Learn from failure and let success be the silent incentive.

In line with the previous famous quote.

19. Firm and patient optimism always pays off.

Constancy, perseverance and a long look.

20. Poverty is not solved by donations.

Misunderstood solidarity is certainly not a long-term solution.

21. All companies make mistakes. The trick is to avoid the big ones.

A tip to avoid major inconveniences.

22. I don’t believe much in luck. I believe in circumstances. I believe in work.

A phrase repeated by many millionaires.

23. Use any personal crisis to become stronger.

Certainly, a bad patch should make us come out very strong.

24. The truth is, you leave this world with nothing. What you are is a temporary administrator, and you must manage well… the wealth under your care, and generate more. The surplus can be used to do many things for people.

His view of money and life.

25. Competition makes you better. It always, always makes you better, even if the competitor is stronger than you.

The competition must push you to be better.

26. Money is not a target. The objective is to make companies grow, develop, be competitive, be in different areas, be efficient in order to have a great team within the company.

Companies have their beginning and end… and the aim should not be to get rich.

27. Education and employment are the remedies for poverty.

Without these weapons, the battle is lost.

28. The best fence you can have is to create opportunities in Mexico, so that people don’t leave.

About the situation in the American country.

29. Success is not doing things well or very well and having the recognition of others. It is not an outward opinion, it is an inward state. It is the harmony of the soul and its emotions, which needs love, family, friendship, authenticity, integrity.

Brutal reflection on success.

30. Our premise is and has always been to keep very much in mind that we leave with nothing; that we can only do things in life and that the entrepreneur is a creator of wealth that he temporarily manages.

Another sentence that takes the iron out of the economic issue.

31. A job well done is not only a responsibility to society, it is also an emotional need.

When we work efficiently, we will sleep more peacefully and happily.

32. Simple structures, organizations with minimum hierarchical levels, human development and internal training of executive functions. Flexibility and speed in decisions. To operate with the advantages of the small company that are those that make big companies big.

That’s how a company should be, according to Carlos Slim.

33. What is worthwhile is to have one’s feet on the ground, the concept of family, friends; to appreciate the things that have true value, not only material, not only physical.

Ironically, a billionaire who doesn’t care about material gain.

34. A person is not successful, because he or she does well in business, does well professionally, or gets an A in school. Success is measured in how many people smile at you, how many people you love, how many admire your sincerity and the simplicity of your spirit.

A recipe for emotional success.

35. Occupation displaces worry, and the problems in dealing with it disappear.

Great play on words to guide you through your day-to-day life.

36. Problems should make us stronger; from failures we should learn and from successes we should make silent stimuli.

Focused on the future.

37. There is no challenge that we cannot meet by working together with clarity of purpose and knowledge of instruments.

Cooperation leads to the highest goals.

38. The money that comes out of the company evaporates. That’s why we reinvest the profits.

There’s no point in wasting.

39. Avoid bitter dramatic adjustments in times of crisis.

Laying off is not the solution to the company’s problems.

40. Maintain austerity in times of fat cows. This strengthens, capitalizes and accelerates the development of the company.

Great advice for successful corporations.

41. Success is about whether you’re remembered when you leave. It refers to how many people you help, how much you avoid hurting, or if there is no grudge in your heart. It is about whether your dreams are in your triumphs and whether your achievements do not hurt your fellowmen. It is about your integration with others, not your control over them.

Positive emotions and optimism in abundance.

42. All times are good for those who know how to work and have the means to do so.

One of those phrases by Carlos Slim that extols the value of perseverance and professionalism.

43. In wealth itself, the important thing is not how much you have, what you have, but what you do with it.

You decide what kind of life you want.

44. Since I was a kid, I’ve liked investments.

Another famous quote explaining his precocity with business.

45. I believe that success is not about economics.

Many other facets of life are more relevant.

46. Success depends on whether you used your head as much as your heart, whether you were generous, whether you loved children and nature, whether you cared for the elderly. It is about your kindness, your desire to serve, your ability to listen, and your courage about behavior.

Being a good person is above all else.

47. You cannot have people in your organization who are pessimistic. They will lead you to mediocrity.

Flee from the pessimism and the ashes.

48. When we meet, groups cannot compete with each other within the company. We need to go in the same direction, we don’t compete inside, we compete outside.

A great maxim for success.

49. My father used to say: Do it right and do it on time.

A great reflection from Carlos Slim’s father.

50. When you don’t have money, it’s a problem. But it’s a bigger problem when people who have excess money aren’t running businesses and making investments or creating jobs and doing things for society. All they think about is possessions.

The nouveau riche often make lousy decisions.

51. If we have to make mistakes, we make small mistakes… We prefer not to make them, of course, but small mistakes are the best.

At least they show you where not to go without wasting large amounts.

52. I learned from my father that one must continually invest and re-invest, even in times of crisis.

Always with an expansionist mentality.

53. In business, you invest when things are not in good shape. When you invest in those times, you position yourself better against the competition. When there is a recession and your competition does not invest, you are being given an advantage.

Great financial education.

54. When you live by the opinion of others, you’re dead. I don’t want to live thinking about how I’ll be remembered.

Make your own way, some will follow you and some will not.

55. It is important for business leaders to create human capital, a team with the same sense of belonging and disposition.

A great team makes everything run smoothly.

56. Profitability comes from productivity, efficiency, management, austerity and the way the business is run.

It all adds up, if you do it right.

57. Our philosophy is that you should provide non-profit money for health, nutrition, education, culture and sports.

An accurate philosophy that respects the human environment.

58. I believe that everything that has privileges has a responsibility, and all people who have a clear responsibility have a commitment to others.

About altruism.

59. There is no need to increase taxes on the rich, as they create capitalization and investment. But you need to tax speculation, that is, capital gains.

A tax write-off.

60. If you’re in the business, you’re not enjoying yourself. You’re working.

In fact, “business” is, etymologically, the negation of leisure.

61. I buy companies for strategic reasons and exploit them.

A way of accumulating assets.

62. Some people are good at letters and others are good at numbers.

Everyone is born with specific talents.

63. You can’t have thousands of universities or hundreds of thousands of teachers, but with technology and the Internet you can have excellent courses and make a digital university.

On the future of education.

64. The artistic part of all of us, I think the easiest way to appreciate this, is through architecture. The architecture is very impressive; the beauty of the buildings, temples.

His passion for architectural art.

65. It is a society of knowledge and experience. You have better experience and knowledge when you are 60, 65 and 70 years old.

Great reflection on valuing experience.

66. In business, you invest when things are not in good shape. When you invest now, you take a better position than your competitors. When there’s a recession and your competition doesn’t invest, they’re giving you an advantage.

Take advantage of these little concessions.

67. You can’t live without doing something.

You must always stay active.

68. It is important to give your children a better country, but it is more important to give your nation better children.

Important reflection.

69. I still have my laptop but I haven’t used it. I’m a paper man, not an electronic one.

It’s hard to believe that a financial genius still uses the computer.

70. When you’re convinced of what to do and what you should do, it’s not hard to do that.

Self-confidence, an essential part of business.