Quotes
A short list of verified Elon Musk quotes. Every line below is tied to a primary source (interview video or official transcript). Unsourced internet quote-memes are omitted.
“I think it’s important to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. The normal way we conduct our lives is we reason by analogy… [With first principles] you boil things down to the most fundamental truths… and then reason up from there.”
“I do not respect the SEC. I do not respect them… but I respect the justice system.”
“Twitter is a war zone. If somebody’s going to jump in the war zone, it’s like, okay, you’re in the arena — let’s go.”
“There will come a point where no job is needed. You can have a job if you want… for personal satisfaction, but the AI will be able to do everything… We won’t have universal basic income — we’ll have universal high income.”
“In 36 months, the cheapest place to put AI will be space.”
“My prediction is that it will be by far the cheapest place to put AI. It will be space in 36 months or less.”
“Some people use their hair [to express themselves]; I use Twitter.”
Quotes are lightly punctuated for readability; ellipses mark condensation. Prefer the linked source for full wording and context. 7 quotes included · several popular attributions rejected for lack of a verified primary link.