Whether you're trying to write the perfect graduation card or find some personal inspiration, we have graduation quotes to entertain, teach, love, and inspire graduates.
100 Graduation Quotes That Will Inspire You to Pursue Your Dreams
Updated on Aug. 08, 2024
Joy, fear, excitement, anxiety, relief, stress, pride, and perhaps even a little surprise—graduating can inspire a host of different emotions. And that’s just what the parents go through during the ceremony!
The graduates themselves may ride a similar rollercoaster, and it can be easy for everyone to feel like they are in uncharted waters. But the graduating class of 2022 is not the first to graduate into a challenging and exciting situation, nor will it be the last. Whether you are cheering on a new graduate or you are the grad yourself, reading graduation quotes can help you feel less alone.
These graduation quotes will bring laughter, inspiration, and motivation to achieve goals. They’ll deliver wise advice and smart warnings, and help overcome fears about the future.
On This Page
Funny graduation quotes
1. “You will never have more energy or enthusiasm, hair, or brain cells than you have today.” —Tom Magliozzi
2. “So, what’s it like in the real world? Well, the food is better, but beyond that, I don’t recommend it.” —Bill Watterson
3. “If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.” —Muhammad Ali
4. “If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito.” —Betty Reese
5. “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
6. “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” —Winston Churchill
7. “To those of you who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you too may one day be president of the United States.” —George W. Bush
8. “Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” —Will Rogers
9. “My dear terrified graduates, you are about to enter the most uncertain and thrilling period of your lives.” —Lin-Manuel Miranda
10. “The unfortunate, yet truly exciting, thing about your life is that there is no core curriculum. The entire place is an elective.” —Jon Stewart
11. “Every year, many, many stupid people graduate from college. And if they can do it, so can you.” —John Green
12. “You are graduating from college. That means that this is the first day of the last day of your life. No, that’s wrong. This is the last day of the first day of school. Nope, that’s worse. This is a day.” —Andy Samberg
13. “Be wise, because the world needs wisdom. If you cannot be wise, pretend to be someone who is wise, and then just behave like they would.” —Neil Gaiman
14. “Commencement speeches were invented largely in the belief that outgoing college students should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated.” —Gary Trudeau
15. “At graduation you get to wear a cap and gown, but it’s a good idea to also wear something underneath it.” —Greg Tamblyn
Inspirational graduation quotes
16. “The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse.” —Edward Koch
17. “Cynicism has never won a war, or cured a disease, or started a business, or fed a young mind, or sent men into space. Cynicism is a choice. Hope is a better choice.” —Barack Obama
18. “That clock you hear is the sound of your own heart. Sink your teeth into this life, and don’t get let go.” —Lin-Manuel Miranda
19. “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible.'” —Audrey Hepburn
20. “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” —Anne Frank
21. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
22. “I encourage you to live with life. Be courageous, adventurous. Give us a tomorrow, more than we deserve.” —Maya Angelou
23. “Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered.” —Michelle Obama
24. “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” —Dr. Seuss
25. “So long as your desire to explore is greater than your desire to not screw up, you’re on the right track.” —Ed Helms
26. “If I must give any of you advice it would be to say yes. Say yes, and create your own destiny.” —Maya Rudolph
27. “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” —C.S. Lewis
28. “Life is my college. May I graduate well and earn some honors!” —Louisa May Alcott
29. “Remember this: You are awesome. I’m not suggesting you be boastful, but I am suggesting that believing in yourself is the first necessary step to coming even close to achieving your potential.” —Sheryl Sandberg
30. “The meaning of life is to find your gift, the purpose of life is to give it away.” —Joy J. Golliver
31. “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” —Dr. Seuss
32. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
33. “Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you know.” —Winnie the Pooh
College graduation quotes
34. “I couldn’t wait for success. I went ahead without it.” —Jonathan Winters
35. “You cannot dream of becoming something you do not know about. You have to learn to dream big. Education exposes you to what the world has to offer, to the possibilities open to you.” —Sonia Sotomayor
36. “Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.” —Albert Einstein
37. “There will be times when your best isn’t good enough. There can be many reasons for this, but as long as you give your best you’ll be OK.” —Robert De Niro
38. “If at first you don’t succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.” —William Lyon Phelps
39. “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. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” —Steve Jobs
40. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” —Vidal Sassoon
41. “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” —Wayne Gretzky
42. “You will stumble and fall, you will experience both disaster and triumph, sometimes in the same day. But it’s really important to remember that like a hangover, neither triumphs nor disasters last forever.” —Helen Mirren
Nothing lasts forever. Repeat as many times as it takes to believe it, and read these life is short quotes.
43. “You can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.” —Arnold Schwarzenegger
44. “If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses. So whatever your dream is right now, if you don’t achieve it, you haven’t failed and you’re not some loser.” —Stephen Colbert
45. “Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” —John F. Kennedy
46. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” —Albert Schweitzer
47. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” —Mahatma Gandhi
48. “Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
49. “Patience! The windmill never strays in search of the wind.” —Andy J. Sklivis
Setting big goals can feel more exciting and produce greater results. Use these “dream big” quotes to get inspired.
High school graduation quotes
50. “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” —Mark Twain
51. “The Lord gave us two ends: One to sit on, and the other to think with. Success depends on which one we use the most.” —Ann Landers
52. “Empathy has gotten me so much farther in not only my life but in my career.” —Ryan Reynolds
53. “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” —Stephen King
54. “Your inexperience is an asset in that it will make you think in original, unconventional ways. Accept your lack of knowledge, and use it as your asset.” —Natalie Portman
55. “Understand that one day you will have the power to make a difference, so use it well.” —Mindy Kaling
56. “You must have some vision for your life. Even if you don’t know the plan, you have to have a direction in which you choose to go.” —Oprah
57. “You will find the key to success under the alarm clock.” —Benjamin Franklin
58. “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” —E. E. Cummings
Need a little more motivation? These empowering strength quotes will give you courage and confidence.
59. “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” —Oprah
Learning to be grateful for what you have is one of the most important adulting skills you can develop.
60. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” —Arthur Ashe
61. “Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor.” —Jackson Browne
62. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” —Maya Angelou
63. “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” —Thomas Jefferson
64. “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” —Abraham Lincoln
65. “Every person you meet knows something you don’t—learn from them.” —H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
66. “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.” —George Washington Carver
67. “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” —James Freeman Clarke
68. “Keep your face toward the sunshine, and shadows will always fall behind you.” —Walt Whitman
69. “Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Short graduation quotes
70. “It doesn’t matter that your dream came true if you spent your whole life sleeping.” —Jerry Zucker
71. “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” —Frank A. Clark
72. “Change takes courage.” —Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
73. “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” —Michael Jordan
74. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” —Babe Ruth
75. “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” —Kenji Miyazawa
76. “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.” —Rosa Parks
77. “You don’t have to be fearless, just don’t let the fear stop you.” —Charlie Day
78. “May your choices reflect your hopes not your fears.” —Nelson Mandela
79. “Worry is like a rocking chair—it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.” —Erma Bombeck
80. “The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces.” —Will Rogers
81. “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” —Michael Altschuler
82. “Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” —John F. Kennedy
83. “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” —Margaret Thatcher
84. “The future is not an inheritance, it is an opportunity and an obligation.” —Bill Clinton
85. “Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.” —Mark A. Cooper
86. “Graduates, we need you to save the world.” —Pierce Brosnan
87. “Your schooling may be over, but remember that your education still continues.” —Unknown
88. “Be allergic to failure and addicted to success.” —Daniel Roberts
89. “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” —Vincent Van Gogh
90. “You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.” —Mahatma Ghandi
91. “I make my weaknesses my strengths and my strengths stronger.” —Lisa Fernandez
92. “When someone does something good, applaud! You will make two people happy.” —Samuel Goldwyn
93. “Curiosity is the key to creativity.” —Akio Morita
94. “Education is the ability to meet life’s situations.” —Dr. John G. Hibben
95. “Don’t underestimate the power of your dreams.” —Corinna Kong
96. “If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it.” —Ronnie Lott
97. “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” —Judy Garland
98. “Education is something we have to keep pursuing day after day.” —Premier Brian Gallant
99. “We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.” —Nelson Mandela
100. “Set your goals, take the action, live your dreams.” —Catherine Pulsifer
