Ready to get your classroom pumped for the day? Instead of struggling to find the right words, check out these motivational quotes for students. We put together this list that’s perfect for sharing with kids. You can even use these motivational quotes in your own journal or vision board. These motivational quotes are great for when your students need a little boost.
Motivational Quotes by Scientists, Inventors, and Innovators
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. —Albert Einstein
There is no substitute for hard work. —Thomas Edison
Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. —Henry Ford
Motivational Quotes by Authors, Writers, and Philosophers
Today a reader, tomorrow a leader. —Margaret Fuller
Nothing can dim the light which shines from within. —Maya Angelou
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. —Maya Angelou
Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. —Maya Angelou
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. —Unknown
Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world. —Howard Zinn
Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking. —William Butler Yeats
You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. —Martin Luther King Jr.
Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. —Martin Luther King Jr.
Procrastination is the thief of time. —Edward Young
Youth is the time to study wisdom; the old age, that of practicing it. —Jean-Jacques Rousseau
If you put off everything till you’re sure of it, you’ll never get anything done. —Norman Vincent Peale
Change your thoughts and you will change your world. —Norman Vincent Peale
Motivational Quotes by Athletes and Other Sports Figures
Never let the fear of striking out stop you from playing the game. —Babe Ruth
Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. —Gail Devers
Set tough goals and do not stop until you get there. —Bo Jackson
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. —Arthur Ashe
Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. —Jim Rohn
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. —Norman Vincent Peale
Motivational Quotes by Leaders, Activists, and Politicians
The best way to predict your future is to create it. —Unknown
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. —Frederick Douglass
If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. —Marcus Garvey
True education is about getting the best out of oneself. —Unknown
In a gentle way, you can shake the world. —Mahatma Gandhi
It always seems impossible until it’s done. —Nelson Mandela
I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. —Thomas Jefferson
The secret of success is to do the common things uncommonly well. —John D. Rockefeller
Motivational Quotes by Experts in Various Fields
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. —Zig Ziglar
In a world where you can be anything, be kind. —Jennifer Dukes Lee
None of us is as smart as all of us. —Ken Blanchard
There is always time to make right what is wrong. —Susan Griffin
A winner is just a loser who tried one more time. —George Augustus Moore
Success doesn’t come to you, you’ve got to go to it. —Marva Collins
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. —Joseph Addison
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. —Walt Disney
Teachers can open the door, but you must enter it yourself. —Chinese Proverb
There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs. —Zig Ziglar
The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. —Vince Lombardi
Be a student as long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life. —Henry L. Doherty
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone. —Michael John Bobak
Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. —Joshua J. Marine
Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another. —Walter Elliott
The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda. —John C. Maxwell
Action is the foundational key to all success. —Pablo Picasso
Begin while others are procrastinating. Work while others are wishing. —William Arthur Ward
I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. —Michael Jordan
I hear, and I forget. I see, and I remember. I do, and I understand. —Chinese Proverb
The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus. —Bruce Lee
Procrastination makes easy things hard and hard things harder. —Mason Cooley
Follow your passion. It will lead you to your purpose. —Oprah
It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. —Sir Edmund Hillary
You don’t drown by falling in the water, you drown by staying there. —Ed Cole
When the student is ready, the master appears. —Buddhist Proverb
A book is like a garden that can be carried in your pocket. —Chinese Proverb
Worry gives a small thing a big shadow. —Swedish Proverb
The expert in anything was once a beginner. —Helen Hayes
There are no traffic jams on the extra mile. —Zig Ziglar
The road to success is always under construction. —Lily Tomlin
The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. —Sydney J. Harris
Work gives you meaning and purpose, and life is empty without it. —Stephen Hawking
You can’t have a better tomorrow if you’re still thinking about yesterday. —Charles F. Kettering
Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will. —Karim Seddiki
You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. —A.A. Milne
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. —Henry David Thoreau
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. —Eleanor Roosevelt
The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be ignited. —Plutarch
Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. —John Wooden
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. —Anonymous
Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value. —Albert Einstein
Excellence is not a skill, it is an attitude. —Ralph Marston
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good. —Minor Myers Jr.
Rule no.1 is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule no. 2 is, it’s all small stuff. —Robert Eliot
Quality is not an act, it is a habit. —Aristotle
What makes greatness is starting something that lives after you. —Ralph Sockman
Good things come to people who wait, but better things come to those who go out and get them. —Unknown
Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. —Jim Ryun
The man who does not read books has no advantage over the one who cannot read them. —Unknown
The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you. —B.B. King
Learning is never done without errors and defeat. —Vladimir Lenin
You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. —Zig Ziglar
Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world. —B.B. King
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. —Beverly Sills
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated. —R. Collier
He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever. —Chinese Proverb
A man’s mind, stretched by new ideas, may never return to its original dimensions. —Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
He who opens a school door closes a prison. —Victor Hugo
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. —Andy McIntyre
The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot. —Michael Altshuler
Embrace the glorious mess that you are. —Elizabeth Gilbert
Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you. —Walt Whitman
Life has got all those twists and turns. You’ve got to hold on tight, and off you go. —Nicole Kidman
When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go. —Carol Burnett
What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is nothing impossible to they who will try. —Alexander the Great
You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script. —Oprah Winfrey
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. —Les Brown
For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end. —Michelle Obama
Spread love everywhere you go. —Mother Teresa
Do not allow people to dim your shine because they are blinded. Tell them to put some sunglasses on. —Lady Gaga
You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens. —Mandy Hale
Nothing is impossible. The word itself says “I’m possible!” —Audrey Hepburn
Belief creates the actual fact. —William James
Wake up determined, go to bed satisfied. —Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
I’m not going to continue knocking on that old door that doesn’t open for me. I’m going to create my own door and walk through that. —Ava DuVernay
Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen—that stillness becomes a radiance. —Morgan Freeman
Not having the best situation but seeing the best in your situation is the key to happiness. —Marie Forleo
It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. —Aristotle
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts. —Winston Churchill
Believe you can and you’re halfway there. —Theodore Roosevelt
All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination. —Earl Nightingale
I tell myself, “You’ve been through so much, you’ve endured so much, time will allow me to heal, and soon this will be just another memory that made me the strong woman, athlete, and mother I am today.” —Serena Williams
If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. —Roald Dahl
We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us. —Joseph Campbell
No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world. —John Keating in Dead Poets Society
Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time. —Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Don’t try to lessen yourself for the world. Let the world catch up to you. —Beyoncé
Nobody built like you, you designed yourself. —Jay-Z
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. —Albert Einstein
I care about decency and humanity and kindness. Kindness today is an act of rebellion. —Pink
Our lives are stories in which we write, direct, and star in the leading role. Some chapters are happy while others bring lessons to learn, but we always have the power to be the heroes of our own adventures. —Joelle Speranza
When it comes to luck, you make your own. —Bruce Springsteen
The only journey is the one within. —Rainer Maria Rilke
I’ve noticed when I fear something, if I just end up doing it, I’m grateful in the end. —Colleen Hoover
We generate fears while we sit. We overcome them by action. —Dr. Henry Link
I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear. —Rosa Parks
We are not our best intentions. We are what we do. —Amy Dickinson
How wild it was, to let it be. —Cheryl Strayed
I believe that if you’ll just stand up and go, life will open up for you. Something just motivates you to keep moving. —Tina Turner
You have to be where you are to get where you need to go. —Amy Poehler
I’m realizing how much I’ve diminished my own power. I’m not doing that no more. —Alicia Keys
Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined. —Toni Morrison
You do not find the happy life. You make it. —Camilla Eyring Kimball
You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible. —Deepak Chopra
It’s not what happens to us that sets us apart. It’s the decisions that we make, it’s the choices that we make, the way we decide to lead our lives—that is what defines what we truly are. —Elizabeth Smart
A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That’s why they don’t get what they want. —Madonna
Being vulnerable is a strength, not a weakness. —Selena Gomez
Whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you are withholding from the world. —Eckhart Tolle
We have to let go of who we think we should be and embrace what is. —Achea Redd
We have to be better. We have to love more, hate less. We’ve gotta listen more and talk less. We’ve gotta know that this is everybody’s responsibility. —Megan Rapinoe
In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present. —Sir Francis Bacon
Trying to grow up is hurting. You make mistakes. You try to learn from them, and when you don’t, it hurts even more. —Aretha Franklin
The power of imagination makes us infinite. —John Muir
Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye. —Helen Keller
If my mind can conceive it, if my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it. —Muhammad Ali
If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one! —Dolly Parton
Like these motivational quotes? Check out these Team-Building Quotes for Classrooms and Schools.
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