"If you're going to be thinking, you may as well think big"
About this Quote
The subtext is pure Trump-era capitalism: confidence reads as competence, and size reads as inevitability. “Think big” doesn’t simply mean dream; it implies dominate the frame, claim the spotlight, force the room to organize itself around your vision. That’s why the line works rhetorically. It’s not an argument with evidence, it’s an identity test. Small thinking becomes a kind of personal failure, an admission you don’t belong in the winner’s circle.
Context matters: Trump rose in a media environment that rewarded spectacle, where real estate, branding, and television all converged on the same principle - attention is currency. “Big” is also a tell. It’s measurable, photogenic, headline-ready. The quote flatters the listener into imagining themselves as a magnate, while quietly erasing the boring infrastructure of actual thinking: constraints, trade-offs, competence, and luck.
There’s a thrill in it, and a trap. It empowers by granting permission to want more, then handcuffs success to maximalism, as if restraint were simply a lack of nerve.
Quote Details
| Topic | Motivational |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Trump, Donald. (2026, January 15). If you're going to be thinking, you may as well think big. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-youre-going-to-be-thinking-you-may-as-well-6408/
Chicago Style
Trump, Donald. "If you're going to be thinking, you may as well think big." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-youre-going-to-be-thinking-you-may-as-well-6408/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"If you're going to be thinking, you may as well think big." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/if-youre-going-to-be-thinking-you-may-as-well-6408/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.






