285 Motivational Quotes for Success (With Real Sources and Meanings)

The best motivational quotes for success do one job: they turn a feeling into a next step. Below you will find 285 motivational quotes for success, sorted by the situation you are in right now, from a tough Monday to a failed exam to a business that is not taking off yet.

Most quote lists stop at the quote. This one goes further in three ways:

• Real sources. Famous lines are checked. Where a quote is widely misattributed (yes, including two of the most shared “Churchill” lines), we tell you who actually said it.
• Meaning, not just words. The top quotes come with a one-line lesson you can act on today.
• A way to use them. A simple 5-step system, backed by psychology research, so a quote changes what you do, not just how you feel for ten seconds.

Top 10 Motivational Quotes for Success (With Meanings)

If you only read one section, read this one. These ten motivational quotes for success have verified sources and each one carries a lesson you can use today.

Why Motivational Quotes Actually Work (and When They Backfire)

A quote works when it reminds you of what you value and points you to a specific action. It backfires when it only makes you feel good about a future you have not started building. Psychology research supports both sides.

What the research says helps

• Self-affirmation. Reflecting on your core values makes people less defensive and more open to change. A major review by Geoffrey Cohen and David Sherman (Annual Review of Psychology, 2014) found these small value reminders can improve performance under pressure. A quote that matches your values works the same way.
• If-then plans. Peter Gollwitzer’s research on “implementation intentions” shows that linking a goal to a specific cue (“If it is 7 a.m., then I write 300 words”) makes people far more likely to follow through. A 2006 meta-analysis of 94 studies found a medium-to-large effect.
• Borrowed proof. A quote from someone who failed first, like Jordan, Ford or Rowling, gives your brain evidence that setbacks are normal, not final.

When quotes backfire

• Positive fantasy. Psychologist Gabriele Oettingen found that people who only imagine a smooth, successful future often put in less effort. The fix is her WOOP method: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan.
• Affirmations you do not believe. A 2009 study by Joanne Wood and colleagues (Psychological Science) found that repeating “I am a lovable person” made people with low self-esteem feel worse. If a quote feels like a lie, pick one about effort instead of identity.

The takeaway: choose quotes that name an action or a value, and pair each one with a plan. Section 21 shows you exactly how.

Powerful Motivational Quotes for Success

These powerful motivational quotes for success focus on the three things every success story shares: belief, effort and refusing to stop. Read them when you need a jolt of energy.

1. “The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well.” — John D. Rockefeller Jr.
2. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” — popularized by Vidal Sassoon
3. “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” — Maya Angelou
4. “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” — attributed to Henry Ford
5. “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” — Steve Jobs
6. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” — attributed to John D. Rockefeller
7. “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” — Chris Grosser
8. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” — attributed to Walt Disney
9. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” — Sam Levenson
10. “If you want to achieve greatness, stop asking for permission.” — Anonymous
11. “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” — Thomas Paine, The American Crisis (1776)
12. “Fortune favors the bold.” — Latin proverb, found in Virgil’s Aeneid
13. “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” — Steve Martin
14. “Success is not for the chosen few, but for the few who choose it.” — Anonymous
15. “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” — Steve Jobs
16. “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” — Estée Lauder
17. “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” — Vincent van Gogh, letter to his brother Theo (1882)
18. “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” — Jimmy Johnson
19. “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.” — popularized by Vince Lombardi
20. “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving.” — Conrad Hilton

Famous Success Quotes from History’s Greatest Achievers

Every quote here comes with where it was actually said or written. That matters: if you share a quote on a slide, a caption or in a speech, a real source makes you look credible, not careless.

1. “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.” — Theodore Roosevelt, “Citizenship in a Republic” speech, Paris (1910)
2. “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.” — Winston Churchill, speech at Harrow School (1941)
3. “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” — Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement (2005), borrowed from the back cover of the Whole Earth Catalog
4. “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 5
5. “Well done is better than well said.” — Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack (1737)
6. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 64
7. “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” — Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, Letter 13
8. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” — Samuel Beckett, Worstward Ho (1983)
9. “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” — Vincent van Gogh, letter to Theo (1883)
10. “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” — Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols (1889), later made famous by Viktor Frankl
11. “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” — Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (1946)
12. “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” — Theodore Roosevelt, “The Strenuous Life” speech (1899)
13. “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” — Michael Jordan
14. “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” — Isaac Newton, letter to Robert Hooke (1675)
15. “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” — Warren Buffett
16. “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” — Martin Luther King Jr., Spelman College speech (1960)
17. “If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun.” — A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Wings of Fire (1999)
18. “Dream is not that which you see while sleeping; it is something that does not let you sleep.” — A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
19. “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” — Bill Gates, The Road Ahead (1995)
20. “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.” — Rosa Parks, Quiet Strength (1994)

Quotes About Success and Hard Work

Hard work is the one success factor fully in your control. These motivational quotes for success remind you that effort compounds, even when you cannot see the results yet.

1. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” — Colin Powell
2. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” — Tim Notke, high school basketball coach
3. “Nothing will work unless you do.” — Maya Angelou
4. “Dreams don’t work unless you do.” — John C. Maxwell
5. “Work hard in silence; let success be your noise.” — Anonymous (often credited to Frank Ocean)
6. “The more I practice, the luckier I get.” — attributed to golfer Gary Player
7. “There is no substitute for hard work.” — Thomas Edison
8. “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” — Dwayne Johnson
9. “I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.” — Estée Lauder
10. “Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.” — Gordon B. Hinckley
11. “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” — Stephen King
12. “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” — Vince Lombardi
13. “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” — Theodore Roosevelt, Labor Day speech (1903)
14. “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” — Bill Bradley
15. “Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen.” — Wayne Huizenga
16. “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” — Dale Carnegie
17. “Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.” — Denzel Washington
18. “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” — Chuck Close
19. “There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.” — attributed to Zig Ziglar
20. “Hard work keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit.” — Helena Rubinstein

Discipline and Consistency Quotes

Motivation gets you started; discipline keeps you going on the days you do not feel like it. This is the section most quote lists skip, and the one that matters most for long-term success.

1. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” — Jim Rohn
2. “We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” — Jim Rohn
3. “Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.” — Jim Rohn
4. “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” — James Clear, Atomic Habits
5. “Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.” — John C. Maxwell
6. “It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.” — Tony Robbins
7. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” — Robert Collier
8. “Discipline equals freedom.” — Jocko Willink
9. “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar
10. “No man is free who is not master of himself.” — Epictetus
11. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” — Bruce Lee
12. “Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity.” — Bruce Lee
13. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” — Billie Jean King
14. “The only discipline that lasts is self-discipline.” — Bum Phillips
15. “First we make our habits, then our habits make us.” — attributed to John Dryden
16. “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.” — modern version of a 16th-century proverb
17. “Consistency is harder when no one is clapping for you. You must clap for yourself during those times.” — Anonymous
18. “Self-discipline is the magic power that makes you virtually unstoppable.” — Dan Kennedy
19. “Don’t break the chain.” — productivity rule credited to Jerry Seinfeld
20. “With self-discipline, almost anything is possible.” — attributed to Theodore Roosevelt

Try this: pick quote 4 from this list. Write down one tiny action that “votes” for the person you want to be, and do it before noon today.

Short Motivational Quotes for Success

Short motivational quotes for success are the easiest to remember and the best for Instagram captions, WhatsApp status, phone wallpapers and sticky notes. Every line here is six words or fewer. Lines without a name are original to this article, so you can use them freely.

1. “Success is never accidental.” — Jack Dorsey
2. “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” — Muhammad Ali
3. “Failure is success in progress.” — Anonymous (often wrongly credited to Einstein)
4. “Done is better than perfect.” — Facebook office poster, made famous by Sheryl Sandberg
5. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” — Japanese proverb
6. “Action cures fear.” — David J. Schwartz, The Magic of Thinking Big
7. “Success is survival.” — Leonard Cohen
8. “Begin anywhere.” — John Cage
9. “Start ugly. Finish strong.”
10. “Effort now, results later.”
11. “Do it scared.”
12. “Progress, not applause.”
13. “Show up. Then show up again.”
14. “Less wishing, more doing.”
15. “Your excuses are not your story.”
16. “Earn your confidence daily.”
17. “Slow is still forward.”
18. “Build quietly.”
19. “Discipline over mood.”
20. “Today counts.”
21. “One more rep.”
22. “Be the proof.”
23. “Hungry, humble, consistent.”
24. “Plan it. Do it. Repeat.”
25. “Bet on yourself.”

Motivational Quotes to Never Give Up

Almost every success story includes a moment where quitting looked smart. These motivational quotes for success are for that moment.

1. “Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” — George S. Patton
2. “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.” — Maya Angelou
3. “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all.” — J.K. Rowling, Harvard commencement (2008)
4. “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” — Earl Nightingale
5. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” — Vince Lombardi
6. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” — attributed to Thomas Edison
7. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — popular paraphrase of Thomas Edison
8. “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” — Dale Carnegie
9. “A river cuts through rock not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” — Jim Watkins
10. “Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.” — Elon Musk
11. “Everything negative—pressure, challenges—is all an opportunity for me to rise.” — Kobe Bryant
12. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” — Henry Ford
13. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'” — Muhammad Ali
14. “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” — Robert F. Kennedy
15. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.” — attributed to Arnold Schwarzenegger
16. “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” — Walter Elliot
17. “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.” — Vince Lombardi
18. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” — Robert H. Schuller
19. “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.” — attributed to Zig Ziglar
20. “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” — Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery (1901)

Deep Motivational Quotes for Success (Mindset and Self-Belief)

Deep motivational quotes for success work on the root cause: how you see yourself and your situation. Change that, and your actions change with it.

1. “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” — Charles R. Swindoll
2. “Becoming is better than being.” — Carol Dweck, Mindset (2006)
3. “You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” — Marcus Aurelius, popular rendering of Meditations
4. “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” — Willie Nelson
5. “Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” — Jamie Paolinetti
6. “Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.” — Dr. Joyce Brothers
7. “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” — Epictetus, Discourses
8. “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” — Plutarch (paraphrase of On Listening)
9. “If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” — Jim Rohn
10. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” — George Addair
11. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” — attributed to William James
12. “Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.” — Epictetus
13. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” — Les Brown (often misattributed to C.S. Lewis)
14. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” — Zig Ziglar
15. “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.” — William James
16. “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” — Suzy Kassem
17. “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities!” — Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking (1952)
18. “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” — Carl Jung, letter (1916)
19. “The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.” — Hasidic proverb
20. “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” — Helen Keller

Quotes About Achieving Goals and Taking Action

A goal without action is a daydream. These motivational quotes for success push you from planning mode into doing mode.

1. “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” — Karen Lamb
2. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” — Zig Ziglar
3. “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” — Tony Robbins
4. “Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.” — Joel A. Barker
5. “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.” — Dale Carnegie
6. “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” — Ralph Marston
7. “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” — Henry Ford
8. “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat. Just get on.” — Eric Schmidt’s advice to Sheryl Sandberg, shared in Lean In
9. “Dreams without goals are just dreams, and ultimately they fuel disappointment.” — Denzel Washington, Dillard University commencement (2011)
10. “The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost, “A Servant to Servants” (1914)
11. “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
12. “Today’s accomplishments were yesterday’s impossibilities.” — Robert H. Schuller
13. “Goals are dreams with deadlines.” — Diana Scharf Hunt
14. “If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.” — Mario Andretti
15. “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Success Quotes for Students

Students face a special kind of pressure: exams, rankings and comparison. These success quotes for students keep the focus on learning, which is what lasts after the grades are forgotten.

1. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” — Nelson Mandela (2003)
2. “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” — B.B. King
3. “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” — John Wooden
4. “The expert in anything was once a beginner.” — Helen Hayes
5. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” — attributed to Mahatma Gandhi
6. “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” — Beverly Sills
7. “Learning never exhausts the mind.” — attributed to Leonardo da Vinci
8. “Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.” — Richard Feynman
9. “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” — Pablo Picasso
10. “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing.” — Pelé
11. “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” — Zig Ziglar
12. “A man of genius makes no mistakes; his errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.” — James Joyce, Ulysses (1922)
13. “Strive for progress, not perfection.” — Anonymous
14. “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” — attributed to Benjamin Franklin
15. “Grades measure a semester. Habits measure a life.” — Original

Success Quotes for Entrepreneurs and Business

Business success comes from solving real problems, moving fast and surviving long enough to get good. These business success quotes come from founders and investors who did exactly that.

1. “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” — Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder
2. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” — Bill Gates, Business @ the Speed of Thought (1999)
3. “Make something people want.” — Paul Graham, Y Combinator motto
4. “The biggest risk is not taking any risk.” — Mark Zuckerberg (2011)
5. “Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.” — Tony Hsieh, Zappos
6. “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” — Warren Buffett
7. “Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.” — Warren Buffett
8. “If you never want to be criticized, for goodness’ sake don’t do anything new.” — Jeff Bezos
9. “I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying.” — Jeff Bezos
10. “Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.” — Seth Godin
11. “Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard.” — Guy Kawasaki
12. “The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” — Thomas Edison
13. “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” — Elon Musk
14. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.” — Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement (2005)
15. “In the end, a vision without the ability to execute it is probably a hallucination.” — Steve Case, AOL co-founder

Teamwork and Workplace Success Quotes

No big success is a solo act. Use these in team meetings, office posters, Slack channels or a manager’s weekly note.

1. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller
2. “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” — Michael Jordan
3. “Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” — Steve Jobs, 60 Minutes (2003)
4. “Teamwork makes the dream work.” — John C. Maxwell
5. “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” — attributed to Henry Ford (origin uncertain)
6. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” — popular proverb (origin unverified)
7. “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” — Phil Jackson
8. “None of us is as smart as all of us.” — Ken Blanchard
9. “Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” — Vince Lombardi
10. “I’ve been blessed to find people who are smarter than I am, and they help me to execute the vision I have.” — Russell Simmons
11. “Hire character. Train skill.” — Peter Schutz, former Porsche CEO
12. “Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.” — Simon Sinek

Motivational Quotes for Women

These motivational quotes for success come from women who built careers, movements and legacies, often against the odds.

1. “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” — Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868)
2. “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” — Dolly Parton
3. “You can’t be what you can’t see.” — Marian Wright Edelman
4. “Success isn’t about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.” — Michelle Obama (2012)
5. “Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” — Nora Ephron, Wellesley College commencement (1996)
6. “I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.” — Malala Yousafzai (2013)
7. “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” — Malala Yousafzai, United Nations speech (2013)
8. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker
9. “I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.” — attributed to Florence Nightingale
10. “Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for.” — Jennifer Lopez
11. “I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as making a ‘life’.” — Maya Angelou
12. “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” — attributed to Oprah Winfrey

Motivational Quotes for Men

These motivational quotes for success focus on character, responsibility and the quiet strength it takes to keep going.

1. “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 10
2. “The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger
3. “Everybody wants to be a beast, until it’s time to do what real beasts do.” — Eric Thomas
4. “Though one may conquer a thousand times a thousand men in battle, yet he indeed is the noblest victor who conquers himself.” — Dhammapada, verse 103
5. “Do not pray for an easy life; pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” — Bruce Lee
6. “Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.” — Jerzy Gregorek
7. “Comfort is the enemy of achievement.” — Farrah Gray
8. “A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.” — attributed to Mahatma Gandhi
9. “Success isn’t owned. It’s leased, and rent is due every day.” — J.J. Watt
10. “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” — attributed to Confucius
11. “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain, Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894)
12. “I’m not telling you it is going to be easy. I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.” — Art Williams

Morning and Monday Motivation Quotes

How you start the day often decides how you spend it. Read one of these before you open your email. Need a lift at the end of the week too? See our Friday motivational quotes for work.

1. “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” — Admiral William H. McRaven, University of Texas commencement (2014)
2. “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Solitude (1870)
3. “Lose an hour in the morning, and you will spend all day looking for it.” — Richard Whately
4. “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” — Marcus Aurelius, popular rendering of Meditations
5. “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
6. “Every morning brings new potential, but if you dwell on the misfortunes of the day before, you tend to overlook tremendous opportunities.” — Harvey Mackay
7. “The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” — Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop (1841)
8. “Monday is a fresh start. Treat it like one.” — Original
9. “Your Monday morning thoughts set the tone for your whole week.” — Germany Kent
10. “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” — Jim Rohn
11. “The early morning has gold in its mouth.” — proverb, popularized by Benjamin Franklin
12. “Make each day your masterpiece.” — John Wooden

Funny Motivational Quotes About Success

Humor lowers stress, and lower stress makes it easier to start. Share these when the team needs a laugh before a deadline.

1. “The road to success is always under construction.” — Lily Tomlin
2. “I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.” — Lily Tomlin (written by Jane Wagner)
3. “If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving definitely isn’t for you.” — Steven Wright
4. “Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?” — Edgar Bergen
5. “Success is like reaching an important birthday and finding you’re exactly the same.” — Audrey Hepburn
6. “Behind every successful man is a woman. Behind her is his wife.” — Groucho Marx
7. “People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” — attributed to A.A. Milne
8. “Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door.” — Kyle Chandler
9. “I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” — Groucho Marx
10. “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” — attributed to the Dalai Lama
11. “Doing nothing is very hard to do… you never know when you’re finished.” — Leslie Nielsen
12. “The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” — attributed to Jean Giraudoux

Quotes That Redefine Success

Success is not only money or titles. These quotes help you define it on your own terms, which is the first step to actually feeling successful when you get there.

1. “Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.” — Roy T. Bennett
2. “Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.” — George Sheehan
3. “Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.” — John Wooden
4. “Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.” — Dalai Lama
5. “Success is loving life and daring to live it.” — Maya Angelou
6. “Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.” — David Frost
7. “Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” — Les Brown
8. “Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.” — attributed to Dale Carnegie
9. “Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?'” — Brian Tracy
10. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” — attributed to Albert Schweitzer

Original Success Quotes You Won’t Find Anywhere Else

These 15 original motivational quotes for success were written for this article. Use them in posts, presentations or journals. A link back is appreciated.

1. “Motivation is a spark. Discipline is the fuel line.”
2. “Nobody claps for the first hundred reps. Do them anyway.”
3. “Your future self is watching what you do today. Give them something to thank you for.”
4. “Success is rarely a leap. It is usually a staircase you climb in the dark.”
5. “Every expert you admire once searched for the basics.”
6. “Comparison steals the hours you could have spent improving.”
7. “A bad day of effort still beats a perfect day of planning.”
8. “If the goal scares you, shrink the step, not the goal.”
9. “Talent gets noticed. Reliability gets promoted.”
10. “Results are delayed feedback. Keep sending the signal.”
11. “You are not behind. You are on a different clock.”
12. “Failure is the fee you pay for experience. Don’t pay it twice for the same lesson.”
13. “Quiet consistency is louder than loud promises.”
14. “The work you avoid is usually the work that will change you.”
15. “Make your habits so small you can’t fail, then let time make them big.”

Famous Success Quotes That Are Commonly Misattributed

Some of the most shared success quotes online were never said by the person they are credited to. If you use quotes in a speech, a presentation or a brand post, check this table first. The quotes are still good; only the names are wrong.

Rule of thumb: if you cannot find a quote in a book, speech, letter or interview with a date, write “attributed to” or “Anonymous.” Reliable places to check are Quote Investigator, the International Churchill Society and Monticello for Jefferson.

How to Use Motivational Quotes: A 5-Step System

To make a quote change your behavior, pick one, connect it to a specific action and a specific trigger, then review it weekly. Here is the full system in five steps.

1. Pick one quote per goal, not ten. Too many quotes blur together. Choose the single line that matches your biggest goal this month.
2. Rewrite it in your own words. “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment” becomes “My 6 a.m. study hour is my bridge.” Personal wording makes it yours.
3. Attach an if-then plan. Use Gollwitzer’s format: “If [trigger], then [action].” Example: “If I open my laptop, then I write the first sentence before checking email.”
4. Name the obstacle. Follow Oettingen’s WOOP method. Write the one thing most likely to stop you, and what you will do when it shows up.
5. Place it where the action happens. Put a student quote on the study desk, a fitness quote on the gym bag, a sales quote on the CRM dashboard. Review and swap it every Sunday.

Where to put your quote

• Phone lock screen: you see it dozens of times a day.
• First page of your planner or journal: you read it before planning the day.
• Sticky note on your monitor: it sits exactly where the work happens.
• Team channel pinned message: it sets the tone for the whole week.

Which Quote Do You Need Today?

Match the quote to your situation. A failure quote will not help when your problem is procrastination.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

The right motivational quote for success is the one you act on today. Pick one line from this list, rewrite it in your own words, attach an if-then plan and put it where the work happens.

Then do the smallest version of the action. A quote gives you direction; only repetition gives you results.

Your next step: bookmark this page and come back each Monday for fresh motivational quotes for success. For a gentler start to your day, read our good morning blessings, or share your favorite quote in the comments below.