Elon Musk Quotes

South African American entrepreneur and inventor best known for founding SpaceX

SpaceX is only 12 years old now. Between now and 2040, the company's lifespan will have tripled. If we have linear improvement in technology, as opposed to logarithmic, then we should have a significant base on Mars, perhaps with thousands or tens of thousands of people. I'm trying to construct a world that maximises the probability that SpaceX continues its mission without me. Particularly Instagram, people look like they have a much better life than they really do. People basically seem like they are way better-looking than they really are, and they are way happier-seeming than they really are. The problem with car dealerships is you've already decided what you want to buy before you even go there, and you're really just going there to talk through some annoying negotiation. I've been to Disneyland, like, 10 times. I'm getting really tired of Disneyland. A utility can handle up to 20% of production from solar and that helps the grid because it produces electricity when needed. Solar power peaks in the middle of the day and that's also when air conditioning is running and businesses are operating, so power production matches usage. Tesla is becoming a real car company. The factory is the machine that builds the machine. The key to making things affordable is design and technology improvements, as well as scale. I think a lot of the American people feel more than a little disappointed that the high-water mark for human exploration was 1969. The dream of human space travel has almost died for a lot of people. In the early days of aviation, there was a great deal of experimentation and a high death rate. Stationary storage will be as big as the car business long term. The growth rate will probably be several times what it is for the car business. Generally, the view that I've had on Twitter is if you're on Twitter, you're in, like, the meme - you're in meme war land. If you're on Twitter, you're in the arena. And so, essentially, if you attack me, it is therefore OK for me to attack back. We are the first species capable of self-annihilation. If you look at our current technology level, something strange has to happen to civilisations, and I mean strange in a bad way. And it could be that there are a whole lot of dead, one-planet civilisations. If you don't have sustainable energy, you have unsustainable energy. The fundamental value of a company like Tesla is the degree to which it accelerates the advent of sustainable energy faster than it would otherwise occur. With DNA, you have to be able to tell which genes are turned on or off. Current DNA sequencing cannot do that. The next generation of DNA sequencing needs to be able to do this. If somebody invents this, then we can start to very precisely identify cures for diseases. We could definitely make a flying car - but that's not the hard part. The hard part is, how do you make a flying car that's super safe and quiet? Because if it's a howler, you're going to make people very unhappy. I had so many people try to talk me out of starting a rocket company, it was crazy. It is theoretically possible to warp spacetime itself, so you're not actually moving faster than the speed of light, but it's actually space that's moving. Starting a business is not for everyone. Starting a business - I'd say, number one is have a high pain threshold. If I'm not in love, if I'm not with a long-term companion, I cannot be happy. There have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Why do you want to live? What's the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future? If the future does not include being out there among the stars and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing. We're already cyborgs. Your phone and your computer are extensions of you, but the interface is through finger movements or speech, which are very slow. It's very important to like the people you work with. Otherwise, your job is going to be quite miserable. I'm interested in things that change the world or that affect the future and wondrous, new technology where you see it, and you're like, 'Wow, how did that even happen? How is that possible?' The value of beauty and inspiration is very much underrated, no question. But I want to be clear: I'm not trying to be anyone's savior. I'm just trying to think about the future and not be sad. Rockets are cool. There's no getting around that. I'd rather be optimistic and wrong than pessimistic and right. I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness to make sure it continues into the future.

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