Top 90 Barbara Corcoran Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “People imitate their leader. Lead by example.”

— Barbara Corcoran

Featured in: Friday Quotes for Work, Small Business Quotes

2. “Stop putting it off! Procrastination breeds guilt, guilt breeds depression, and depression breeds failure.”

— Barbara Corcoran

Featured in: Procrastination Quotes

3. “Confidence is overrated. It’s when we’re uncomfortable and looking for answers that we learn and grow the most.”

— Barbara Corcoran

4. “My best successes came on the heels of failures.”

— Barbara Corcoran

5. “Don’t you dare underestimate the power of your own instinct.”

— Barbara Corcoran

6. “The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend time feeling sorry for themselves.”

— Barbara Corcoran

7. “When you feel stuck and can’t seem to move ahead, always remember that you don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going!”

— Barbara Corcoran

8. “Buyers decide in the first eight seconds of seeing a home if they’re interested in buying it. Get out of your car, walk in their shoes and see what they see within the first eight seconds.”

— Barbara Corcoran

9. “Home staging used to be optional. Today, it’s a necessity in selling a house.”

— Barbara Corcoran

10. “Don’t be afraid to go for positions, jobs or take on clients just outside of your knowledge base. It’s when you’re uncomfortable that you learn and grow the most.”

— Barbara Corcoran

11. “Always choose attitude over experience. Always.”

— Barbara Corcoran

12. “A good organization is like a box of crayons. You need different colors of the spectrum, but all the crayons should fit in the box.”

— Barbara Corcoran

13. “The biggest challenge in business is not the competition, it’s what goes on inside your own head.”

— Barbara Corcoran

14. “People want to do business with someone they like. If people like you, they’re going to want to do business with you. And if they don’t you’re going to have an almost insurmountable obstacle to overcome.”

— Barbara Corcoran

15. “Insecurity is a wonderful motivator.”

— Barbara Corcoran

16. “All the best things that happened to me happened after I was rejected. I knew the power of getting past no.”

— Barbara Corcoran

17. “I have a theory and I really believe it. I think your worst weakness can become your greatest single strength.”

— Barbara Corcoran

18. “The power of publicity is more important than advertising.”

— Barbara Corcoran

19. “Don’t get cocky just because you’ve had a good run. You can lose your business as fast as you’ve earned it.”

— Barbara Corcoran

20. “The story of my billion-dollar business starts like this. I borrowed $1,000 from a friend.”

— Barbara Corcoran

Featured in: Quotes About Stories

21. “Innovation and creativity are the juiciest parts of running a business.”

— Barbara Corcoran

22. “Instead of assuming everything you’re being told is the truth, ask plenty of questions.”

— Barbara Corcoran

23. “Leaders come in two flavors, expanders and containers. The best leadership teams have a mix of both.”

— Barbara Corcoran

24. “A funny thing happens in real estate. When it comes back, it comes back up like gangbusters.”

— Barbara Corcoran

25. “If you want to be noticed, dress the part.”

— Barbara Corcoran

26. “When you’re building a business, you’re either all in, or you’re not.”

— Barbara Corcoran

27. “Taking chances almost always makes for happy endings.”

— Barbara Corcoran

28. “Failure is my specialty.”

— Barbara Corcoran

29. “In business, you’re the Chief Salesman. Create a sense of demand, rather than waiting to have demand.”

— Barbara Corcoran

30. “Every single thing I learned about marketing and building my business, I learned from my mom, and she had never been in the workforce. She just had great practical sense.”

— Barbara Corcoran

31. “Every failure has an equally big upside if you are willing to stay in the game.”

— Barbara Corcoran

32. “I’ve never had a really creative idea sitting at my desk. All the big ideas that made a difference happened when I was playing outside.”

— Barbara Corcoran

33. “I was a hot-dog stand lady, I was an orphan housemother, I was a waitress 3 or 4 times. All of those jobs did not have good bosses. They basically told you what to do, when to do and when to hop. And I just didn’t like that very much.”

— Barbara Corcoran

34. “I hadn’t learned to read by third grade, which wasn’t unusual for some kids. I knew something was wrong because I couldn’t see or understand the words the way the other kids did. I wasn’t the least bit bothered – until I was sent back to the second-grade classroom for reading help after school.”

— Barbara Corcoran

Featured in: Reading Quotes

35. “If you’re having fun, you wind up innovating.”

— Barbara Corcoran

Featured in: Fun Quotes

36. “My mother’s genius was to put her finger on the gifts she saw in each of us, and make every one of us believe that that gift was uniquely ours.”

— Barbara Corcoran

37. “I gave up years ago on the concept that you could actually have balance in your life, I think it’s a phantom chase.”

— Barbara Corcoran

38. “Figure out what past efforts amounted to nothing and label them your “not to do” list. Post the list where you’ll see it.”

— Barbara Corcoran

39. “I was well motivated. What I wanted to do was work for myself. I had twenty two jobs before I started my business at the age of twenty three and I didn’t want one more boss telling me what to do. So I was motivated simply because I didn’t want a boss.”

— Barbara Corcoran

40. “That ability to pop back up is true of anyone who succeeds in their field.”

— Barbara Corcoran

41. “Home staging is no longer optional in this real estate market, it is a must!”

— Barbara Corcoran

42. “Money is not the only thing that motivates employees. It’s about making them happy.”

— Barbara Corcoran

43. “A complainer is like a Death Eater because there’s a suction of negative energy. You can catch a great attitude from great people.”

— Barbara Corcoran

44. “You can’t study to be an entrepreneur. Sometimes, you just have to jump.”

— Barbara Corcoran

45. “Refinancing doesn’t reduce your debt, it just restructures it, so be clear about what you want to achieve with a refi.”

— Barbara Corcoran

46. “I became a larger than life figure for one reason only. When you’re quoted in the ‘Wall Street Journal,’ the ‘New York Times,’ constantly as the expert in the business people assume you’re a lot bigger than you are. And then I had to run like hell to catch up with my own image.”

— Barbara Corcoran

47. “If you stand back and analyze the best way to do something, you’ll be standing there forever. Follow your gut and jump right in!”

— Barbara Corcoran

48. “I love myself. Anything that has my name I’m tickled to death.”

— Barbara Corcoran

49. “It’s rumored that doing well in real estate is to be able to close a deal. I did not find that to be the case for myself, I was probably the worst closer out there and I didn’t find that was true of my top super stars either.”

— Barbara Corcoran

50. “You may not like the idea of putting money into a home when you’re moving out. But it’s demanded by the market. You need to show it off. You don’t have to rip out the kitchen and bathroom. But maybe replace the tiles or the countertops. Get professional advice.”

— Barbara Corcoran