Growth mindset encourages students to think about challenges and mistakes as learning opportunities. It’s another phrase for the idea that when you fall, you get back up again (and again and again). Use these quotes from historical and modern figures (including some from the researcher who pioneered the growth mindset phrase, Carol Dweck) to inspire students. While fostering a growth mindset isn’t the only way to help students succeed, sharing these quotes to motivate your students may be a good place to start!
Our Favorite Growth Mindset Quotes
The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. –Carol Dweck
Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them. –Ann Landers
Starting each day with a positive mindset is the most important step of your journey to discovering opportunity. –Jay Samit
I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint, and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you. –Oprah Winfrey
Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. -Proverb
Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity. –Louis Pasteur
A fixed mindset, creates a tendency to avoid challenges, to ignore useful negative feedback and leads such people to plateau early and not achieve their full potential. -N. R. Narayana Murthy
A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals. –Larry Bird
Staying curious and open is what makes growth possible, and it requires practice to maintain that mindset. To keep learning, we have to avoid the temptation to slide into narrow, safe views of what we do. –Scott Berkun
Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better? -Carol Dweck
A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject. –Winston Churchill
It is less important, I believe, where you start. It is more important how and what you learn. If the quality of the learning is high, the development gradient is steep, and, given time, you can find yourself in a previously unattainable place. -N. R. Narayana Murthy
As the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined. -Proverb
Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor. –Brian Tracy
I can assert that it is this belief in learning from experience, a growth mindset, the power of chance events, and self-reflection that have helped me grow to the present. -N. R. Narayana Murthy
Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from it. –John Wooden
Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success. -Dale Carnegie
Why seek out the tried and true, instead of experiences that will stretch you? -Carol Dweck
It doesn’t matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going. –Brian Tracy
Sheer persistence is the difference between success and failure. –Donald Trump
Making the absolute best of ourselves is not an easy task. It is a pleasurable pursuit…but it requires patience, persistence, and perseverance. –Sarah Ban Breathnach
The best way to predict your future is to create it. –Abraham Lincoln
We like to think of our champions and idols as superheroes who were born different from us. We don’t like to think of them as relatively ordinary people who made themselves extraordinary. -Carol Dweck
Persistence is the great measure of individual human character. –Brian Tracy
You can change all things for the better when you change yourself for the better. –Jim Rohn
Attitude, humor and action (persistence) will whip fears and rejection. Fear of failure doesn’t exist, if you believe it doesn’t. –Jeffrey Gitomer
Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence. –Patrick Lencioni
Discipline is the bridge between thought and accomplishment. –Jim Rohn
Almost everything has been tried and found to succeed for somebody…The only element I find common to all successful writers is persistence-an overwhelming determination to succeed. –Sophy Burnham
I prefer a dash of daring and persistence to perfection. –A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
The view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be. –Carol Dweck
Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is: Did I make my best effort? If so, he says, You may be outscored but you will never lose. -Carol Dweck
It’s okay to be discouraged. It’s not okay to quit. -Ryan Holiday
You are always free to choose what you do first, what you do second, and what you do not at all. –Brian Tracy
To know you want to quit but to plant your feet and keep inching closer until you take the impenetrable fortress you’ve decided to lay siege to in your own life—that’s persistence. –Ryan Holiday
I don’t believe in luck…. It’s persistence, hard work, and not forgetting your dream. –Janet Jackson
You’re in charge of your mind. You can help it grow by using it in the right way. –Carol Dweck
Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time. –Marabel Morgan
Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations. –Steve Jobs
Change involves three things: First, a dissatisfaction with self – a felt void or need; second, a decision to change to fill the void or need; and third, a conscious dedication to the process of growth and change – the willful act of making the change, doing something. –Leo Buscaglia
Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found. –Anne Morrow Lindbergh
The constant abrasion and decay of our lives makes the soil of our future growth. –Henry David Thoreau
Become the change you want to see—those are words I live by. –Oprah Winfrey
What allows genius to flower is not neurosis but its opposite, ego strength, meaning (among other things) ordinary, Sunday-school virtues such as tenacity and above all the ability to survive disappointment. –Joan Acocella
The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity. -Amelia Earhart
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. –Franklin D. Roosevelt
The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life and the procedure. The process is its own reward. –Amelia Earhart
If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. –Samuel Johnson
Never underestimate the determination of a kid who is time rich and cash poor. –Cory Doctorow
The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. –Carol Dweck
Determination, energy, and courage appear spontaneously when we care deeply about something. We take risks that are unimaginable in any other context. –Meg Wheatley
The habit of giving up when the present task is half finished and try something else is one of the chief causes of failure. –Christian D. Larson
Nothing is impossible in this world. Firm determination, it is said, can move heaven and earth. Things appear far beyond one’s power, because one cannot set his heart on any arduous project due to want of strong will. –Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. –Ralph Waldo Emerson
Hard times build determination and inner strength. –Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Llama
There is nothing brilliant or outstanding in my record, except perhaps this one thing. I do the things I believe ought to be done. And when I make up my mind to do a thing, I act. –Theodore Roosevelt
With engineering, I view this year’s failure as next year’s opportunity to try it again. Failures are not something to be avoided. You want to have them happen as quickly as you can so you can make progress rapidly. –Gordon Moore
I don’t mind losing as long as I see improvement or I feel I’ve done as well as I possibly could. –Carol Dweck
All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. –Samuel Beckett
Belief in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy. –Norman Vincent Peale
Time passes unhindered. When we make mistakes, we cannot turn the clock back and try again. All we can do is use the present well. -Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
In adversity keep motivated, for often the best comes from difficulty. –Norman Vincent Peale
Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it. –Oprah Winfrey
Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. –A.A. Milne
I had not achieved a success; but I provoked an uproar; and the sensation was so agreeable that I resolved to try again. –George Bernard Shaw
Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do. –Benjamin Spock
Sometimes you may feel like you are just about to realize your goal only to fall short. That is no reason to quit. Defeat happens only to those who refuse to try again. –Nick Vujicic
Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence. –Hal Borland
No mistake or failure is as bad as to stop and not try again. –John Wanamaker
It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about. –Dale Carnegie
First and foremost, let us remember that change has never been quick. Change has never been simple, or without controversy. Change depends on persistence. Change requires determination. –Barack Obama
Be the jockey, not the horse. -Proverb
Never has man reached his destination by persistence in deviation from the straight path. –Mahatma Gandhi
What can I learn from this? What will I do next time I’m in this situation? -Carol Dweck
Persistence, persistence, and persistence. The Power can be created and maintained through daily practice—continuous effort. –Bruce Lee
Your thoughts make you what you are; by changing our thoughts we can change our lives. –Dale Carnegie
If you find yourself lacking in persistence, this weakness may be remedied by building a stronger fire under your desires. –Napoleon Hill
Persistence isn’t very glamorous. If genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, then as a culture we tend to lionize the 1 percent. We love its flash and dazzle. But great power lies in the other 99 percent. –Susan Cain
Failure has been correctly identified as the line of least persistence. –Zig Ziglar
If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive. –Dale Carnegie
Not realizing what you want is a problem of knowledge. Not pursuing what you want is a problem of motivation. Not achieving what you want is a problem of persistence. –John C. Maxwell
Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent. –Steve Martin
In every human endeavor, persistence is everything. –Joan Rivers
Let’s not imitate others. Let’s find ourselves and be ourselves. –Dale Carnegie
When you chase a dream, you learn about yourself. You learn your capabilities and limitations and the value of hard work and persistence. –Nicholas Sparks
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve. –Benjamin Franklin
What people see as fearlessness is really persistence. Because I am focused on the solution, I don’t see the danger. –Wangari Maathai
A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. –Elbert Hubbard
You can make an audience see nearly anything if you yourself believe in it. –Mary Renault
You can’t do your best when you’re doubting yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will? –Michael Jackson
Have passion for what you do; believe in yourself and your product and your customer; persevere; delegate; listen. Have fun. Today, I add: “Do good.” –Richard Branson
To believe yourself brave is to be brave; it is the one only essential thing. –Mark Twain
Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself. –Oprah Winfrey
It is your own assent to yourself, and the constant voice of your own reason, and not of others, that should make you believe. –Blaise Pascal
I attribute my success to this—I never gave or took any excuse. –Florence Nightingale
I worked half my life to be an overnight success, and still it took me by surprise. –Jessica Savitch
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out. –Robert Collier
It takes twenty years to make an overnight success. –Eddie Cantor
Every failure is a step to success. –William Whewell
A minute’s success pays the failure of years. –Robert Browning
All our dreams can come true—if we have the courage to pursue them. –Walt Disney
Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, reassessing and regrouping. –Julia Margaret Cameron
Once your mindset changes, everything on the outside will change along with it. –Steve Maraboli
It’s a lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself. –Muhammad Ali
The greater the obstacle, the greater the glory in overcoming it; and difficulties are but the maids of honor to set off the virtue. –Molière
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. –Thomas Paine
The better your attitude and the harder you work, the luckier you get. –Robert G. Allen
There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. –Colin Powell
Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. –Og Mandino
The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success. –Paramahansa Yogananda
Move from apathy to action. Aim at becoming better than me. Luck will favour those who are prepared –N. R. Narayana Murthy
For every failure, there’s an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour. –Mary Kay Ash
There is much to be said for failure. It is much more interesting than success. –Max Beerbohm
A journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step. –Proverb
If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain. –Dolly Parton
But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail. -William Shakespeare, Macbeth
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. –Martin Luther King Jr.
The fatal metaphor of progress, which means leaving things behind us, has utterly obscured the real idea of growth, which means leaving things inside us. –G. K. Chesterton
There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now. –James Baldwin
Letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would,’ like the poor cat i’ the adage. –William Shakespeare, Macbeth
Passion presented with a greater challenge achieves a greater goal. –Aberjhani
Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly. –John F. Kennedy
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. –Thomas H. Palmer
I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that do not work. –Thomas Edison
If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere. –Frank Clark
