Inspirational quotes can encourage us to pursue our goals, overcome obstacles, and realize our full potential.
One famous quote about success comes from Winston Churchill, who said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” This highlights the resilience needed to keep moving forward despite setbacks.
However, the concept of success can sometimes put pressure on the human mind and gain a negative connotation. There is no universal standard of success; it varies from person to person, and what matters most is our personal growth and fulfillment.
In this article, I have put together a diverse selection of motivational quotes from well-known individuals that teach us to persevere, believe in ourselves, and work hard towards our goals. Let these quotes inspire you to redefine success on your own terms and stay committed to your journey.
If someone’s not attacking you that means you’re not doing your job effectively.
Sean Hannity, american radio talk show host and best-selling author
No matter how great we think we are, we’re nothing but the temples of Ozymandias-we’re ruins in the making.
William Shatner, Canadian author, director, producer, screenwriter
I never thought about heaven per se. I think when you’re dead, you’re dead. If anything happens after that, you just hope you don’t go to hell.
Helen Thomas, American reporter and author
When my oldest boy was about 14, I started to talk to him about some of the mistakes I made in life, just to put a few dents in that shiny armor.
Denzel Washington, American actor and film producer
I think people sometimes don’t pay enough attention to what they do. I’ve done well, but the reason is pretty simple: I’ve worked my ass off. The toughest thing a performer can do is make it look as if it comes easy.
Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter and actor
Success? I don’t know what that word means. I’m happy. But success, that goes back to what in somebody’s eyes success means. For me, success is inner peace. That’s a good day for me.
Denzel Washington, American actor, film producer
As human beings we have unlimited potential and imagination. The worst thing you can do is be a conformist and buy into conformity. It’s the worst possible thing. It’s better to be outrageous. It’s better to hang out with the sages, the people open to possibilities, even the psychotics. You never know where you’ll find the geniuses of our society.
Deepak Chopra, Indian-Ameriacn author
Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose.
G.K. Nielson, Author
Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.
Dwayne Johnson, Actor and Former Professional Wrestler
The only thing standing between you and outrageous success is continuous progress.
Dan Waldschmidt, Business Strategist
I never dreamt of success. I worked for it.
Estée Lauder, Businesswoman and Founder of Estée Lauder Companies
Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.
Conrad Hilton, Hotelier and Founder of Hilton Hotels
Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.
David Rockefeller, Businessman and Philanthropist
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.
Helen Keller, Author and Activist
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, Media Executive and Talk Show Host
The idea is that one’s temperament improves with age; that you learn to deal better with people and become more benevolent and loving. That’s not necessarily true. I try to stay loose but sometimes the best thing to do is get yourself away and take a good nap.
Robert Duvall, American actor and filmmaker
Success has two letters: D-O!
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, writer
Don’t find fault, find a remedy.
Henry Ford, American inventor and business magnate
You know WHAT you are doing – think about WHY you are doing it!
Simon Sinek, author and motivational speaker
If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.
Tony Robbins, motivational speaker
Life is getting up one more time than you’ve been knocked down.
John Wayne, American actor
I know what it’s like to lose. But I don’t know how to give up.
Grant Cardone, Entrepreneur
Be brave, dare to do something! You can only do it right.
Unknown
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
Arthur Ashe, Tennis Player and Civil Rights Activist
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
Steve Jobs, entrepreneur, founder of Apple
Don’t be afraid to start over again. This time you’re not starting from scratch, you’re starting from experience.
Unknown
Only in a headwind can you reach unimagined heights.
Unknown
You’ve only lost when you stop trying.
Unknown
Only the weak are sent on easy paths.
Hermann Hesse, writer
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
Robert Collier, Author
The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
Thomas Edison, Inventor and Businessman
If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress – Goals.
Barack Obama, politician
Work smarter, not harder.
Unknown
Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.
Pelé, Professional Footballer
If you fight, you can lose. If you don’t fight, you’ve already lost.
Bertolt Brecht, playwright
You can’t overtake anyone if you only ever follow in their footsteps.
Unknown
Should. Should have. Could. Dignity. Do it!
Unknown
Work becomes a joy when passion and creativity come first.
Unknown
It is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.
Elon Musk, entrepreneur, CEO of Tesla
In all my conversations and research, what I have learned is that successful and fulfilled leaders are not waiting for anything to happen.
Thomas Edison, inventor
You have to do exactly what you think you can’t do.
Eleanor Roosevelt, politician
If it seems too difficult at first glance, take another look.
Unknown
Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
Tim Notke, basketball coach
You don’t have to be top-notch to get started. But you have to start in order to become great.
Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker
If you really want to grow, you have to compete against yourself. Not against the others.
Unknown
We should all be the leaders we would have wanted ourselves to be.
Simon Sinek, author and motivational speaker
The best thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side.
Margaret Carty, author
Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.
Unknown
Individuals can be decisive for the success of a team, but they always remain part of the team.
Unknown
The only thing stopping us from realizing our ambitions for the future are the doubts we have today.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, politician
A company is only as good as its employees.
Unknown
The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.
Thomas Edison, inventor
Always remember that we only really work for ourselves. If someone can like or use it in the episode, that’s fine too. The purpose of life is life itself.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, writer
True heros are made of hard work and integrity.
Hope Solo, former American soccer goalkeeper
It is only through hard work that progress can be made and change can occur.
Shonda Rhimes, American television producer
Sympathetic words come quickly and easily from the lips, but they are endless sources of comfort.
Mother Teresa, Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary
Let none falter, who thinks he is right, and we may succeed. Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing.
Abraham Lincoln, American politician and 16th President of the United States
Elevate true productivity over the appearance of hard work.
Scott Belsky, American entrepreneur and author
The key to successful modern employee management is motivation, not authority.
Ken Blanchard, American author and motivational speaker
An entrepreneur is someone who will jump off a cliff and assemble an airplane on the way down.
Reid Hoffman, American internet entrepreneur
When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.
Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla
Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.
Isaac Newton, english mathematician
Good work makes you feel good, particularly good work makes you feel particularly good. Success is inextricably linked to a feeling of satisfaction.
Mark Sanborn, author and professional speaker
Success has two ingredients: Luck and hard work.
Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder and CEO of Asana
The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.
Mark Zuckerberg, internet entrepreneur and co-founder of Meta
It doesn’t matter who you used to be; what matters is who you decide to be today. You are not your mistakes. You are not your mishaps. You are not your past.
Brian Tracy, Canadian-American motivational speaker and author
If you give up, you are bound to fail.
Gena Showalter, American author
Never let the fear of failure get in your way.
Babe Ruth, professional American baseball player
Every failure also has something positive – the motivation to do better next time.
Barbara Corcoran, American businesswoman
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Denis Waitley, American motivational speaker
Never give up on your dreams, otherwise your dreams will give up on you.
John Wooden, American basketball player and coach
Storms don’t scare me because they teach me how to adjust my sails.
Louisa May Alcott, American novelist
Always do exactly what you think you can’t do. And if it doesn’t work: try again and do it better. People who never fail have never faced big challenges.
Oprah Winfrey, American talk show host
There is no such thing as failure. Failure is life trying to steer you in a different direction. True strength lies in the ability to persevere, even when no one believes in your success.
Chris Bradford, British author
Anything is possible, you just have to want it enough.
J.M. Barrie, Scottish novelist, playwright and creator of Peter Pan
Be brave. Be prepared to take risks. There is no substitute for experience.
Paulo Coelho, Brazilian novelist
No matter what, expect the unexpected. And whenever possible BE the unexpected.
Lynda Barry, American cartoonist, author and teacher
It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. You only have to be right once and then everyone can tell you that you are an overnight success.
Mark Cuban, American entrepreneur and television personality
Between being able to and actually doing something lies an ocean, and on its bottom rests all too often the wreck of willpower.
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian author
The most effective way to do something is to do it.
Amelia Earhart, American aviation pioneer and author
If you can dance in the rain, the world is your oyster.
Amy Poehler, American actress and comedian
You don’t have to be the best to start, but you have to start to become the best.
Zig Ziglar, American author and motivational speaker
Normal is nothing more than a cycle on a washing machine.
Whoopi Goldberg, American actress and comedian
Laziness can be agonizing because you never know when you’ll be done with it.
Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and comedian
Be as persistent as a stamp. Keep at it until you reach your goal.
Josh Billings, American comedian from the 19th century
Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
Alleged quote from Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist
The road to success is an eternal construction site.
Lily Tomlin, American actress and comedian
There is no elevator to success you have to take the stairs.
Joe Girard, American businessman and motivational speaker
Motivation will almost always beat mere talent.
Norman Ralph Augustine, Aerospace Business Executive
Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goals: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.
Louis Pasteur, Chemist and Microbiologist
Dreams are lovely. But they are dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that makes things happen.
Shonda Rhimes, Television Producer and Screenwriter
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Wayne Gretzky, Professional Ice Hockey Player
Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.
Tony Robbins, Life Coach and Author
Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.
Augusta F. Kantra, Author
You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeat, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.
Maya Angelou, Poet and Civil Rights Activist
To err is human. Blaming the computer, even more so.
Robert Orben, American comedy writer
Obstacles can’t stop you. Problems can’t stop you. Most of all, other people can’t stop you. Only you can stop you.
Jeffrey Gitomer, Business Trainer and Author
Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.
Og Mandino, Author
Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead 20 years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.
Diana Ross, Singer and Actress
Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.
Peter Drucker, Management Consultant and Author
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.
Walt Disney, Film Producer and Entrepreneur
Do not whine. Do not complain. Work harder.
Joan Didion, Author
Developing a good work ethic is key. Apply yourself at whatever you do, whether you’re a janitor or taking your first summer job, because that work ethic will be reflected in everything you do in life.
Tyler Perry, Actor and Filmmake
Without hustle, talent will only carry you so far.
Gary Vaynerchuk, Entrepreneur and Author
The future depends on what you do today.
Mahatma Gandhi, Leader of Indian Independence Movement
Work harder than you think you did yesterday.
Alex Elle, Author and Wellness Consultant
All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.
Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States
Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.
Booker T. Washington, Educator and Author
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