Motivational quotes for work are great at inspiring employees and employers. Some quotes carry thought-provoking actionable tips to stay pumped and ready to get things done.
As a leader of a big or small team, part of what you stand for is to inspire your team members to grow and perform at their best. In an ideal world, you will always have awesome team members that are self-motivated, driven to continually add value and seek opportunities to gro. In reality, your team members may have lost a little fire in them, or are one of those periods where they aren’t so motivated.
How can you inspire or motivate them into action? There are several ways to inspire and motivate your team members and one of them is through motivational quotes.
Imagine you noticed some team members aren’t that motivated, how can you inspire or motivate them into taking action? As a leader, finding the right words during a meeting pr a speech that would reach deep and pick them up can be daunting. This is where inspirational quotes for work or inspirational videos come in handy to get the mental boost into being a high-performance goal-oriented individual.
Here are 101 high-performance driven motivational quotes for employees gathered from books, movies, songs, and even TED Talks that your coworkers you’ll be delighted to hear and be proud to put as a sticker in the office. Choose out of these workplace quotes that align with your values and motivate your coworkers.
1. Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right. —Henry Ford
2. Becoming is better than being. —Carol Dweck, Mindset
3. I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing. —Herman Melville, Moby Dick
4. 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
5. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. —Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
6. Oh yes, the past can hurt. But you can either run from it, or learn from it. —Rafiki, The Lion King
7. If I had nine hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first six sharpening my axe.—Abraham Lincoln
8. The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. — John Milton, Paradise Lost
9. Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change. —Stephen Hawking
10. Leaders can let you fail and yet not let you be a failure. —Stanley McChrystal
11. Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me. —Michael Scott, The Office
12. The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me? —Ayn Rand
13. Kid, there are heroes and there are legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Follow your heart, kid, and you’ll never go wrong. —Babe Ruth, The Sandlot
14. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships. —Michael Jordan
15. There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere. —Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
16. To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to. — Kahlil Gibran
17. Do or do not. There is no try. —Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back
18. Be men, or be more than men. Be steady to your purposes and firm as a rock. This ice is not made of such stuff as your hearts may be; it is mutable and cannot withstand you if you say that it shall not. —Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
19. Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. —Judy Garland
20. The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible. —Charles Kingsleigh, Alice in Wonderland (2010)
21. Man is only truly great when he acts from the passions; never irresistible but when he appeals to the imagination. —Benjamin Disraeli, Coningsby
22. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too. —Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
23. Hey there, Mr. Grumpy Gills. When life gets you down do you wanna know what you’ve gotta do? Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do? We swim, swim. —Dory, Finding Nemo
24. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained. —Marie Curie
25. Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings. —Salvador Dali
26. If something is wrong, fix it now. But train yourself not to worry, worry fixes nothing. — Ernest Hemingway
27. Life’s like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending. —Jim Hensen
28. Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.—Robert Louis Stevenson
29. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go… —Dr. Suess, Oh the Places You’ll Go
30. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly. —Neil Gaiman, The Sandman
31. For artists, scientists, inventors, schoolchildren, and the rest of us, intrinsic motivation—the drive to do something because it is interesting, challenging, and absorbing—is essential for high levels of creativity. —Daniel H. Pink, Drive
32. In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. — Thomas Jefferson
33. Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and again and bring their friend. — Walt Disney
34. So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.—Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
35. Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler. —Albert Einstein
36. Innovation distinguishes from a leader and a follower. —Steve Jobs
37. The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it. —J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
38. Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. —George Addai
39. I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then. —Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
40. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s yours.—Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
41. There is only one way to avoid criticism. Do nothing. Be nothing. Say nothing.—Aristotle
42. It is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself. —Spoon Boy, The Matrix
43. Quality is job one. —Henry Ford
44. Write it. Shoot it. Publish it. Crochet it, sauté it, whatever. MAKE. —Joss Whedon
45. The best way out is always through. —Robert Frost
46. How many times do I have to teach you: just because something works doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. — Shuri, Black Panther
47. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. —John Quincy Adams
48. Speak softly and carry a big stick. —Theodore Roosevelt
49. Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. ―Mark Twain
50. It’s life. You don’t figure it out. You just climb up on the beast and ride.―Rebecca Wells, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
51. There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas. —Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
52. Unless someone like you care a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not. —Dr. Suess, the Lorax
53. A proud heart can survive general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone. —Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
54. You will never plough a field if you only turn it over in your mind. —Irish Proverb
55. Ignorance and fear are but matters of the mind—and the mind is adaptable. —Daniel Kish
56. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it. —Roald Dahl
57. Someone, at some point, came up with this very bad idea that an ordinary individual couldn’t make a difference in the world. I think that’s just a horrible thing. —John Skoll
58. Imitation is suicide. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
59. If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears. —Simon Sinek
60. Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. —Harper Lee
61. Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. — Thomas Jefferson
62. Very often, a change of self is needed more than a change of scene. —A.C. Benson
63. The Answer to the Great Question… Of Life, the Universe and Everything… Is… Forty-two. —Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide
64. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. —Thomas Edison
65. I’ve learned about the poetry and the wisdom and the grace that can be found in the words of people all around us when we simply take the time to listen. —Dave Isay
66. It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. —Joseph Campbell
67. Follow your passion, stay true to yourself, never follow someone else’s path unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path then by all means you should follow that. —Ellen Degeneres
68. It’s easy to solve a problem that everyone sees, but it’s hard to solve a problem that almost no one sees. —Tony Fadell
69. Learning never exhausts the mind. —Leonardo Da Vinci
70. If you’re alive, you’re a creative person. —Elizabeth Gilbert
71. My mother said to me, “If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.” Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso. —Pablo Picasso
72. The power of imagination makes us infinite. —John Muir
73. Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity. —Seneca
74. A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. — Charles Darwin
75. Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it. —Dwight D. Eisenhower
76. There are no two words in the English language more harmful than “good job.”—Terence Fletcher, Whiplash
77. Don’t persuade, defend or interrupt. Be curious, be conversational, be real. And listen. — Elizabeth Lesser
78. The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. —Buddha
79. Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. —Truman Capote
80. An innovator is one who does not know it cannot be done. —R.A. Mashelkar
81. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them. —Henry David Thoreau
82. As long as they are well-intentioned, mistakes are not a matter for shame, but for learning. —Margaret Heffernan
83. I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. —Stephen Covey
84. You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. —Jack London
85. “I’m bored” is a useless thing to say. I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless; it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to say “I’m bored.” —Louis C.K
86. If we can challenge convention, we can solve any problem. —Josh Valman
87. Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
88. In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and – SNAP – the job’s a game! —Mary Poppins
89. If you hit the target every time, it’s too near or too big. —Tom Hirshfield
90. Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. —Margaret Mead
91. You can’t change how people treat you or what they say about you. All you can do is change how you react to it. —Mahatma Gandhi
92. We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. —Plato
93. Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourselves. —Chanakya
94. What I love most about rivers is, you can’t step in the same river twice. —Pocahontas, Disney’s Pocahontas
95. Strength shows not only in the ability to persist, but in the ability to start over.—F. Scott Fitzgerald
96. It’s time to try defying gravity. —Elphaba, Wicked
97. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape. ―Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
98. Once you’ve accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you.
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
99. If you light a lamp for someone else, it will also brighten your path. —Buddha
100. Tough times never last, but tough people do. —Dr. Robert Schuller
101. I would visualize things coming to me. It would just make me feel better. Visualization works if you work hard. That’s the thing. You can’t just visualize and go eat a sandwich. —Jim Carrey
Final Thoughts
How did you enjoy these list of 101 inspiring work quotes?
Work motivational quotes from notable men and women have the potential to impact your coworkers as they have impacted me. Be creative with these quotes by sending out a daily quote of the day for work can have a tremendous impact on your team. Because it just might be the exact thing they need to hear.
Which of these was your favorite motivational quote? Are there quotes here that resonate with the values you share in your workplace? Let us know in the comments below.
