Top 50 Chip Gaines Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “I told myself that I was going to live the rest of my life as if it were Saturday.”

— Chip Gaines

2. “Even locked doors can be unlocked in time.”

— Chip Gaines

3. “If I populate my life with people just like me, then my world is going to be mighty small, indeed – maybe one person deep in all directions. If there are no opposing views, no fresh vantage points, then there is no stretching beyond myself. No growth. No change.”

— Chip Gaines

4. “Nobody remembers if you cross the finish line bruised and bloody. They just remember that you stayed the course. Don’t get hung up on how ugly the race may have looked. In the end, all that matters is that you finish.”

— Chip Gaines

5. “Listen to me here: if you’re going to make a bet, bet on yourself. Of course you won’t always win. Life doesn’t work that way. But if you don’t at least try, how could you ever know what’s on the other side?”

— Chip Gaines

6. “The truth is, we don’t have to agree on everything to be friends, but a lot of people – a lot of people – seem to think we do. That popular and toxic lie has taken our beautiful planet and turned it into a battleground. The assumption is, if you don’t think like me, not only are you wrong, but you are bad and possibly even evil.”

— Chip Gaines

7. “Perhaps you can’t quit your day job, and I understand that. But never, ever quit your day dream.”

— Chip Gaines

8. “I’m not going to survive anymore. I’m going to thrive.”

— Chip Gaines

9. “Life isn’t safe, remember. But life can be wonderful if you choose adventure rather than fear.”

— Chip Gaines

10. “Jo gets a pretty strong sense about where God is leading her, and until she feels a certain peace, she doesn’t move.”

— Chip Gaines

11. “There are plenty of things worth rushing into the unknown for. But don’t be dumb. Save your courage for when it counts.”

— Chip Gaines

12. “Not one of us is getting any younger, and waiting for your “perfect moment” or for the “most convenient time” could very well turn into a missed opportunity.”

— Chip Gaines

13. “It is no easy thing to trust in God, to walk away from a career, to give it all up not knowing if you can ever get it back or even come close. But I did it. I heeded his voice, and somehow I found peace about it. We.”

— Chip Gaines

14. “I don’t sit around and allow the what-ifs and the worst-case scenarios to control me. There are so many things that can knock us down, so why waste one minute worrying about what we can’t control?”

— Chip Gaines

15. “Each time you muster up what it takes and go for it, the next go-round becomes that much easier. Real and important changes begin with small, courageous acts.”

— Chip Gaines

16. “One match does not define a legacy.”

— Chip Gaines

17. “It was such a blessing to find myself thriving in the middle of the pain. Unless you find a way to do that, there’s always going to be this fake illusion that once you get there – wherever “there” is for you – you’ll be happy.”

— Chip Gaines

18. “I’m convinced that seeing the bad in the world and in people isn’t difficult or wise or insightful – it’s lazy. Finding the good in every scenario typically takes a lot more work. But the rewards of peace and joy and hope are so worth the effort.”

— Chip Gaines

19. “I wonder sometimes if we know ourselves a lot better than we think we do when we’re children. We get into our teen years and college years, and so many of us let others redefine who we are, or we get lost along the way and have no idea what we really want to do with our lives. But once we finally figure it out, it often seems easy to look back into our childhoods and find a few clues that say, “Hey, maybe you were headed in that direction all along.”

— Chip Gaines

20. “Complacency is the enemy, and getting started is as triumphant as crossing the finish line.”

— Chip Gaines

21. “You know how hurt people hurt people? Well, scared people scare people. And thus, the cycle of fear continues on.”

— Chip Gaines

22. “What makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning? What puts a smile on your face, the kind you can’t wipe off if you tried? What fascinates you? Motivates you? Overwhelms you in the very best sense? If you don’t know, I suggest not wasting one more single day until you find out.”

— Chip Gaines

23. “When we abandon our true purpose, the thing God made us to do, we’re not the only ones who suffer. There’s a ripple effect. It really does change everything for everyone.”

— Chip Gaines

24. “Who wouldn’t want to spend their time with someone who loves them for who they are, and believes the very best about them? Someone who encourages them to fight for their dreams and is the very first one to jump in and fight by their side when needed?”

— Chip Gaines

25. “This is a really important point to understand: when you aren’t trying to avoid failure, fear loses its foothold. The courage to take a chance is half the battle. The other half? Viewing failure as a teacher and not an enemy.”

— Chip Gaines

26. “Your goal is too far off to have a straight line of sight to it, but I’m going to need you to keep it firmly fixed in your mind’s eye. The only way this is going to work, the only way that you’re gonna get there, is one foot in front of the other. You have to keep moving forward. And when you think you are about to die – trust me, it’s just a tiny bit further.”

— Chip Gaines

27. “Sometimes worrying about something is much worse than the actual thing you’re worrying about. So really, what’s the point in worrying?”

— Chip Gaines

28. “For people with a winner mentality, there’s a positive waiting for you no matter the outcome. For those with a loser mentality, if there’s a negative outcome anywhere along the way, you perceive that you’ve lost. That’s why I always say winning and losing isn’t an event; it’s a mind-set.”

— Chip Gaines

29. “Now when someone spills a glass of milk, I don’t worry so much about the mess. Instead, I try to focus on my relationship with the one who spilled the milk.”

— Chip Gaines

30. “Live a life worthy of being written down, so that at the next go-round, I’m reading your story!”

— Chip Gaines

31. “I wonder if being angrily shouted at or arrogantly debated with has ever swayed a single person? Are human hearts moved by being ridiculed and mocked? When people fling accusations with the presumption of knowing another person’s intentions, what possible outcome could they be hoping for? Who would ever move to their enemy’s camp under such treatment?”

— Chip Gaines

32. “As for me, all I’ve ever wanted, when you get right down to it, is to change the world. I don’t literally mean the whole wide world. That would be nice, I guess, but what I really care about is changing the world around me. This means pouring into the lives of my wife and my kids, my employees, my friends, and my acquaintances. That’s the ripple effect I’ve always hoped to put into motion.”

— Chip Gaines

33. “When something seems insurmountable to most, we shrug, because we eat “insurmountable” for breakfast.”

— Chip Gaines

34. “I was thirty years old and still living by the seat of my pants. I probably should have had my life together a little bit more by then. But the thing was, my friends all had these stressed-out lives, and they came to our place and it felt like we were just living this laid-back, beautiful, no-stress life. We made being poor look fun.”

— Chip Gaines

35. “I sure hope no one from Child Protective Services reads this book. They can’t come after me retroactively, can they?”

— Chip Gaines

36. “The thing about walking closely with God is it has to be a minute-by-minute, day-by-day kind of relationship. No formula can suffice. You have to keep listening, keep following, keep being willing to act and to move on when it’s time.”

— Chip Gaines

37. “One thing I learned there on that beautiful front porch was if I wanted to be successful, if I wanted to do important work one day, I would have to increase my capacity. I had to learn to manage disappointment.”

— Chip Gaines

38. “The people I love are the only things I hold precious. And my fretting over our safety or future or even our health won’t add a day to our lives – but it might well diminish the days that we’ve got.”

— Chip Gaines

39. “One pretty amazing thing we learned early on was that the more time we spent together, the better our relationship was.”

— Chip Gaines

40. “I’m smart enough to know that when you put in the effort and find a new passion and get back on track, good things are bound to happen.”

— Chip Gaines

41. “A job is something you do for money. Your life’s work is done for a bigger purpose, to fulfill a calling or a dream.”

— Chip Gaines

42. “It is no easy thing to trust in God, to walk away.”

— Chip Gaines

43. “If all I’m doing is creating beautiful spaces, I’m failing. But if I’m creating beautiful spaces where families are thriving, then I’m really doing something.”

— Chip Gaines

44. “What’s never going to change? Our values, our priorities, our commitment to each other and our family. But I hope that literally every other part of our lives changes. I hope that every new season and situation of life changes me.”

— Chip Gaines

45. “When an uncovered passion sits dormant inside you and then someone calls it out, all of a sudden that’s all you can think about.”

— Chip Gaines

46. “Maybe I wasn’t destined to be valedictorian, but I always knew I could rely on my ability to work harder than anyone else.”

— Chip Gaines

47. “God’s grace lasts as long as it is required. But when the grace and peace start to go, it’s a good time to evaluate if God is still in what you’re doing.”

— Chip Gaines

48. “We were created to live passionately – all of us, no matter our personality type or circumstance. The human heart was made to swell and jump and stir; that’s a fact. It took me a while to figure out what makes my heart feel that way. But that is perhaps one of the most crucial things to know about ourselves.”

— Chip Gaines

49. “I believe with all my heart that it’s only after working side by side with another person that you earn the right to speak into that person’s life. It’s a basis of friendship that can forge a path toward common ground.”

— Chip Gaines

50. “How can I make my life matter?”

— Chip Gaines