stay hungry

present singular third person stays hungry · participle present staying hungry · participle past stayed hungry · past stayed hungry

1. idiomaticinformalTo maintain a strong motivation to achieve or compete; to avoid complacency.

   Complacency is the demise of business. Steve Jobs said it best when he said, “stay hungry”.

   2013 March 12, Deborah Sweeney, “15 Lessons I Learned From 15 Years In Business”, in forbes.com, retrieved 08 Aug 2013

   3 more examples

   They've got three Super Bowl titles under their belts, but the Pittsburgh Steelers talked about staying hungry as the full squad of veterans arrived at training camp Friday.

   1979 July 21, “Steeler Veterans Arrive”, in Youngstown Vindicator, retrieved 08 Aug 2013, page 13

   Faldo's main challenge will be to stay hungry despite the more than $10 million he has earned in business opportunities.

   1991 January 4, Jaime Diaz, “Golf: Light Mood as Golf Season Opens”, in New York Times, retrieved 08 Aug 2013

   Tyson was an apt pupil: he obsessively studied old films of boxing legends, learned the spiritual side of the warrior mentality and, he says, "restrained myself from having sex for about five years." . . . But how to stay hungry when you're dining on caviar, sycophancy and willing women?

   2008 May 17, Richard Corliss and Mary Corliss, "Cannes Gets Real" (film review of Tyson), Time (retrieved 8 August 2013)