Mary Kay Quotes & Sayings

Good people managers are likely to listen more than they speak. Perhaps that's why we were given two ears and only one mouth. — Mary Kay Ash

It's an old trick now, God knows, but it works every time. At the very moment women start to expand their place in the world, scientific studies deliver compelling reasons for them to stay home. — Mary Kay Blakely

God does not ask your ability Or your inability. He asks only your availability. — Mary Kay Ash

The greatest polution problem we face today is negativity. — Mary Kay Ash

No powdery residue. But definitely suspicious. Smell." He slides a makeup catalog from beneath a microscope made out of a plate, a toilet paper roll, and an intricate arrangement of pipe cleaners. "Any ideas?"
I take a scientific whiff. "Gardenia. Looks like those Mary Kay terrorists are at it again. — Sarah Ockler

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

Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, 'Make me feel important.' Never forget this message when working with people. — Mary Kay Ash

Mary Kay was the wholesome personification of the American dream. For women everywhere, she brought the impossible dream to life by making it a reality. She was a very wise lady. She was a people person. She was very sensitive to the importance of recognizing people. — Zig Ziglar

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

There is a way; Up, Around, Over or Through — Mary Kay Ash

Central banks don't have divine wisdom. They try to do the best analysis they can and must be prepared to stand or fall by the quality of that analysis. — Mary Kay Ash

Pathetic Earthlings ... There's not enough makeup in the universe to cover those hideous, age-ravaged potato sacks that you call faces. — Mary Kay Ash

Who needs to hear today that they are not invisible or unimportant to God? - Mary Kay Moody - — Gary Chapman

We fall forward to succeed. — Mary Kay Ash

Everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don't keep it a secret. — Mary Kay Ash

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

I've often said that we are doing something far more important than just selling cosmetics; we are changing lives. — Mary Kay Ash

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

My company mascot is the bumblebee. Because of its tiny wings and heavy body, aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly. But the bumblebee doesn't know that, so it flies anyways. — Mary Kay Ash

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

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

Most of us die with our music underplayed ... We should try to step out of our comfort zones and do the things we're capable of. — Mary Kay Ash

did something funny with the definite article. — Mary-Kay Wilmers

There are two things people want more than sex & money ... recognition and praise. — Mary Kay Ash

Nothing wilts faster than a laurel rested upon. — Mary Kay Ash

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

I know firsthand how alone you can feel when you're being broken down in a relationship and forced to defend it or stay silent. Just being able to send a text message is anonymous and safe. Mary Kay and I believe that everyone deserves a safe, healthy relationship that makes you stronger and better and I want to make sure people know how to get the help they need. — Debby Ryan

Return telephone calls promptly but be judicious about the time spent on the phone. — Mary Kay Ash

I realized early on in writing the book that it needed to be from a family point of view, and that nobody outside the family would weigh in. And then well into writing it, the question became how to balance the perspectives; how to switch between chapters. — Mary Kay Zuravleff

Dylan Landis knows how to unnerve a reader, even as she's appreciating being unnerved. Rainey Royal thrums with sex and power. A brave, exquisite book. — Mary Kay Zuravleff

A mother is neither cocky, nor proud, because she knows the school principal may call at any minute to report that her child had just driven a motorcycle through the gymnasium. — Mary Kay Blakely

Technology and the internet have changed the world of publishing forever. — Mary Kay Andrews

Whenever I meet someone, I try to imagine her wearing an invisible sign that says: MAKE ME FEEL IMPORTANT. I respond to this sign immediately, and it works wonders. — Mary Kay Ash

What's interesting about subscribing to a life of giving is that you become addicted. — Mary Kay Ash

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

The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang."
~ Mary Kay — Mary Kay Ash

God did not have time to make a nobody, so you're a somebody. — Mary Kay Ash

And that point is, it doesn't matter how long you've known somebody. People change. Or you don't really know them as well as you thought you did in the first place. — Mary Kay Andrews

Listen long enough and the person will generally come up with an adequate solution. — Mary Kay Ash

If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right. — Mary Kay Ash

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

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

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

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

We treat our people like royalty. If you honor and serve the people who work for you, they will honor and serve you. — Mary Kay Ash

There's a big difference between a decisive manager and a tyrant. — Mary Kay Ash

Some of the most successful people managers are also the best listeners. — Mary Kay Ash

Ideas are a dime a dozen. People who implement them are priceless. — Mary Kay Ash

Many women have made the mistake of changing their beliefs to accommodate their work; it must be the other way around. No circumstance is so unusual that it demands a double standard or separates us from our faith. No matter how fast the world changes, exemplary values must remain constant. — Mary Kay Ash

Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist. — Mary Kay Ash

Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, "Make me feel important." Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life. — Mary Kay Ash

I put a lot of emphasis on how to treat people. The reason for this is simple. The real success of our personal lives and careers can best be measured by the relationships we have with the people most dear to us - our family, friends, and coworkers. If we fail in this aspect of our lives, no matter how vast our worldly possessions or how high on the corporate ladder we climb, we will have achieved very little. — Mary Kay Ash

Many years ago I had two small children, and I wanted to be able to be home when they got home from school. And I didn't like the direction journalism was taking. I thought if I could write books, I could work at home and have the best of both worlds. I wrote my first mystery while still working full time, and it didn't sell, but the next one did sell, so I quit my job for the world of fiction. Scary, but I've never regretted it for a single day. — Mary Kay Andrews

The DNA of the novel - which, if I begin to write nonfiction, I will write about this - is that: the title of the novel is the whole novel. The first line of the novel is the whole novel. The point of view is the whole novel. Every subplot is the whole novel. The verb tense is the whole novel. — Mary Kay Zuravleff

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. — Mary Kay Ash

Dare to risk public criticism. — Mary Kay Ash

My goal in life is to live my life in such a way that when I die, someone can say, she cared — Mary Kay Ash

If you're good to your staff when things are going well, they'll rally when times go bad. — Mary Kay Ash

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

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

It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure. — Mary Kay Ash

Our humor turns our anger into a fine art. — Mary Kay Blakely

Sandwich every bit of criticism between two layers of praise. — Mary Kay Ash

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

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

Patti Callahan Henry's THE STORIES WE TELL is a lyrical exploration of love and longing, secrets and suspicion, family and friendship, all told with the author's trademark insights into the hollows and curves of the heart and mind of a working woman who must balance the demands of motherhood, wifedom, sisterhood, and yes, the deepest cravings for artistic expression. I always love the stories PCH tells! — Mary Kay Andrews

I wasn't that interested in the dollars-and-cents part of business. My interest in starting Mary Kay Inc. was to offer women opportunities that didn't exist anywhere else. — Mary Kay Ash

Bear in mind that beauty is individual and personal, that the look and feeling you're after is one with which you can be comfortable each and every day of your life. — Mary Kay Ash

People are definitely a company's greatest asset. It doesn't make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps. — Mary Kay Ash

God didn't have time to make a nobody, only a somebody.I believe that each of us has God-given talents within us waiting to be brought to fruition. — Mary Kay Ash

From the time I was wee big, my mother was one of the first members of Mary Kay Cosmetics. Women going door-to-door and letting housewives have their own business - that was really a breakthrough. It was huge. — Robin Wright

Never, ever ask a former clergyman to say the blessing over a holiday dinner. Not if you like your dinner warm, anyway. — Mary Kay Andrews

I like being a storyteller. I'm bored with myself; I like to write about others. I have a lot of names in my songs: Karen, Margaret, Mary Kay. Even if it's about me, I want to put it through someone else. The music is the soundtrack to the story. — Jill Sobule

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

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

God didn't have time to create a nobody ... — Mary Kay Ash

I believe that in order to be a good leader you must understand the value of praising people to success. — Mary Kay Ash

A woman who will tell her age, will tell anything. — Mary Kay Ash

People fail forward to success. — Mary Kay Ash

Never forget, your family should always have priority over your work. — Mary Kay Ash

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

Criticize the act, not the person. — Mary Kay Ash

The community certainly included black English professors, like my mother, as well as black doctors and dentists, black mechanics, janitors, and contractors, black cobblers, wedding planners, real estate agents, and undertakers, several black lawyers, and a handful of black Mary Kay salespeople. As a child, however, I knew so many African Americans working in science, math, and engineering that I thought that's just what black folks did. — Margot Lee Shetterly

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

Left unattended, problems only intensify. — Mary Kay Ash

Do not desire to fit in. Desire to lead.
- Mary Kay Ash — Mary Kay Ash

I wanted to play the part that Mary Kay played, the lawyer who wanted to have baby and felt her clock ticking, because it was something I could relate to. — JoBeth Williams

I felt bad for Lulu because I've been Lulu. It's really hard when you realize the guy you've been dating is basically a high schooler at heart. It make you feel like Mary Kay Letourneau. It's the worst.
Until I was thirty, I only dated boys, as far as I can tell. I'll tell you why. Men scared the shit out of me.
Men know what they want. Men make concrete plans. Men own alarm clocks. Men sleep on a mattress that isn't on the floor. Men tip generously. Men buy new shampoo instead of adding water to a nearly empty bottle of shampoo. Men go to the dentist. Men make reservations. Men go in for a kiss without giving you some long preamble about how they're thinking of kissing you. — Mindy Kaling

No matter how busy you are, you must take time to make the other person feel important. — Mary Kay Ash

If I'm talking to someone in a crowded room, I try to make this person feel as though we're the only ones present. I shut out everything else. I look directly at the person. Even if a gorilla were to walk into the room, I probably wouldn't notice it. — Mary Kay Ash

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

So many women just don't know how great they really are. They come to us all vogue outside and vague on the inside. — Mary Kay Ash

The reason so many people fail to make lasting changes is that they don't commit to one path long enough to see results. — Mary Kay Mueller

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

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

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

I've never yet met a person who didn't want to be appreciated ... — Mary Kay Ash

Every silver lining has a cloud. — Mary Kay Ash

Sometimes listening itself may not be enough-some people must be prodded if you are to find out what they're thinking. — Mary Kay Ash

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