Author, motivational speaker, and salesman Zig Ziglar died today, Nov. 28 in Texas, according to the Associated Press. He was 86-years-old.

Ziglar died Wednesday morning at a hospital in the Dallas suburb of Plano, said his executive assistant Laurie Magers.

Ziglar's Facebook page was one of the first places to announce the news.

"Zig Ziglar passed from this world today after a short bout with pneumonia. Though his time on earth has ended, he is speaking with Jesus now in his heavenly home. The angels in heaven are rejoicing and his family is celebrating a life well lived," said a post on Ziglar's Facebook page.

Ziglar, whose real name was Hilary, was a World War II Navy veteran who grew up in Yazoo City, Miss., and then went to work in sales for a series of companies, where his interest in motivational speaking grew. In 1968 he became a vice president and training director for the Automotive Performance company, moving to Dallas, Texas.

Ziglar was known for corporate training and motivational speeches that aimed to improve people's personal lives and careers. His company includes more than a dozen other speakers who advocate "The Ziglar Way."

Ziglar wrote more than 30 books, including "See You at the Top" and "Over the Top."

A longtime fixture of Dallas, Ziglar's speaking career spanned more than 50 years. He retired in December 2010.

Ziglar and Jean, his wife of 65 years, had lived in a retirement community in Plano, Texas for the past two years, reported the Dallas Morning News.

10 inspirational quotes from Ziglar's books

"Many marriages would be better if the husband and the wife clearly understood that they are on the same side."

"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily."

"If you go looking for a friend, you're going to find they're very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you'll find them everywhere."

"Little men with little minds and little imaginations go through life in little ruts, smugly resisting all changes, which would jar their little worlds."

"A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could"

"Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be. If we do our best, we are a success."

"Make failure your teacher, not your undertaker."

"The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want right now"

"You can have everything in life that you want if you just give enough other people what they want."

"Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes."