Quotes from Elon Musk

If we're going to have any chance of sending stuff to other star systems, we need to be laser-focused on becoming a multi-planet civilisation.

If anyone has a vested interest in space solar power, it would have to be me.

I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.

With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon.

You need to be in the position where it is the cost of the fuel that actually matters and not the cost of building the rocket in the first place.

A battery by definition is a collection of cells. So the cell is a little can of chemicals. And the challenge is taking a very high-energy cell, and a large number of them, and combining them safely into a large battery.

Patience is a virtue, and I'm learning patience. It's a tough lesson.

The key to making things affordable is design and technology improvements, as well as scale.

If we could do high-speed rail in California just half a notch above what they've done on the Shanghai line in China, and if we had a straight path from L.A. to San Francisco, as well as the milk run, at least that would be progress.

The X is an amazing car, but we kind of got carried away with the art and technology. Obviously, you want great art. You want great technology. But we did get a little distracted from our mission, which was to advance the cause of electric vehicles. And it probably delayed us a little bit with the Model 3 as well.

Here in the West, people often don't like listening to their leaders, even if they are right.

I'm anti-tax, but I'm pro-carbon tax.

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.

I'm not trying to be anyone's savior. I just try to think about the future and not be sad

Rockets are cool. There's no getting around that.

Mars is the only place in the solar system where it's possible for life to become multi-planetarian.

Life is too short for long-term grudges.

On one of the SpaceX flights, we had a secret payload: a wheel of cheese. We flew to orbit and brought it back, so it was the world's first 'space cheese.' It was, in part, a tribute to Monty Python.

The reality is gas prices should be much more expensive then they are because we're not incorporating the true damage to the environment and the hidden costs of mining oil and transporting it to the U.S. Whenever you have an unpriced externality, you have a bit of a market failure, to the degree that eternality remains unpriced.

I think whenever something is - whenever there's something that affects the public good, then there does need to be some form of public oversight.

I think it's very important to have a feedback loop, where you're constantly thinking about what you've done and how you could be doing it better.

The factory is the machine that builds the machine.

It's really incumbent upon us as life's agents to extend life to another planet. I think that being a multi-planet species will significantly increase the richness and scope of the human experience.

I think life on Earth must be about more than just solving problems... It's got to be something inspiring, even if it is vicarious.