Motivation Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old motivation quotes, motivation sayings, and motivation proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain
Thinking will not overcome fear, but action will. W. Clement Stone
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao Tzu
If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place. Nora Roberts
The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score. Bill Copeland
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people. Eleanor Roosevelt
If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. Milton Berle
I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. Thomas Edison
Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em. William Shakespeare
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney Company
It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. Lou Holtz
Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else. Les Brown
Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. Joshua J. Marine
In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. Bill Cosby
The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. Steve Jobs
Don't worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try. Jack Canfield
Good, better, best. Don't ever rest, until good is better and better is best. Janet Reno
Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises. Demosthenes
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Sir Winston Churchill
The key to success isn't much good until one discovers the right lock to insert it in. Tehyi Hsieh
Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. Thomas Jefferson
The distance is nothing when one has a motive. Jane Austen
Motivation remains key to the marathon: the motivation to begin; the motivation to continue; the motivation never to quit. Hal Higdon
Motivation will almost always beat mere talent. Norman R. Augustine
Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly. Stephen Covey
Motivation is highest when the probability of success is 50 percent: We don't get involved if the task is too easy or too hard. Judith M. Bardwick
Motivation clears the head faster than a nasal spray. William Zinsser
If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat! Just get on. Sheryl Sandberg
One very important aspect of motivation is the willingness to stop and to look at things that no one else has bothered to look at. This simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity. Edward de Bono
People need motivation to do anything. I don't think human beings learn anything without desperation. Jim Carrey