201 Motivational Quotes for Work

Even the hardest workers can need motivation every now and then. Some use longer-form methods like a motivational podcast or even a self-help book. But for some, just a kickass motivational quote can do the trick.

Here are our top 201 motivational quotes for work. We hope that they help you in these hard and confusing times.

Motivational Quotes for Work – Famous Quotes

1. “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” – George Lorimer
2. “Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you’re willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.” -Lou Holtz
3. “I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” -Henry David Thoreau
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. “Someday is not a day of the week.” -Janet Dailey
6. “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” -Muhammad Ali
7. “You get to decide where your time goes. You can either spend it moving forward, or you can spend it putting out fires. You decide. And if you don’t decide, others will decide for you.” -Tony Morgan
8. “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” – Thomas Jefferson
9. “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” – Paulo Coelho
10. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

Inspirational Quotes For the Day

Here are 10 work quotes to inspire you:

1. “One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast. I think that applies to everything in life. We live as though there aren’t enough hours in the day but if we do each thing calmly and carefully we will get it done quicker and with much less stress.” – Viggo Mortensen
2. “Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
3. “The future depends on what you do today.” – Mahatma Gandhi
4. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth
5. “We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” – Arianna Huffington
6. “One day or day one. You decide.” – Unknown
7. “No one is to blame for your future situation but yourself. If you want to be successful, then become “Successful.”― Jaymin Shah
8. “Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.”― Thomas Edison
9. “Invest in your dreams. Grind now. Shine later.” – Unknown
10. “Work like there is someone working twenty-four hours a day to take it away from you.” – Mark Cuban

Motivational Quotes For Work to Fight Burnout

1. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
2. “I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.” – Marissa Mayer
3. “How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank
4. “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together” – Vincent Van Gogh
5. “Very often, a change of self is needed more than a change of scene.’ – A.C. Benson
6. “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lou Holtz
7. “If you believe it’ll work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you don’t believe it’ll work out, you’ll see obstacles.” – Wayne Dyer
8. “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt
9. “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius
10. “Do more than is required. What is the distance between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their lives and careers merely following? The extra mile.” – Gary Ryan Blair

Motivational Quotes For Work – Monday Blues Edition

1. “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” – Dale Carnegie
2. “Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.” – William Patten
3. “Talent means nothing, while experience, acquired in humility and with hard work, means everything.” – Patrick Suskind
4. “You will never plough a field if you only turn it over in your mind.” – Irish Proverb
5. “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton
6. “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
7. “This is the real secret of life – to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” – Alan Wilson Watts
8. “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Kurt Cobain
9. “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
10. “Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.” – Albert Einstein

Motivational Quotes For Work to De-stress

1. “Happiness is the real sense of fulfillment that comes from hard work.” – Joseph Barbara
2. “Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.” – Peter Drucker
3. “In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt
4. “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.” – Seneca
5. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison
6. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas Edison
7. “The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson
8. “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” – Earl Nightingale
9. “The big secret in life is that there is no secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.” – Oprah Winfrey
10. “Amateurs sit around and wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work.” – Stephen King

Inspirational Quotes for Work

1. “Nothing will work unless you do.” – Maya Angelou
2. “Don’t limit your challenges. Challenge your limits.” – Unknown
3. “When written in Chinese the word “crisis” is composed of two characters – one represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” – John F Kennedy
4. “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein
5. “Dreams don’t work unless you do.” – John C. Maxwell
6. “What defines us is how well we rise after falling.” – Lionel from Maid in Manhattan Movie
7. “Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden
8. “We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough.” – Helen Keller
9. “Every champion was once a contender that didn’t give up.” – Gabby Douglas
10. “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

Motivational Quotes for Work to Help You Focus

These are 10 inspirational quotes for work to reignite your passion for your career:

1. “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” – Suzy Kassem
2. “Focus on being productive instead of busy.” – Tim Ferriss
3. “I didn’t get there by wishing for it, but by working for it.” – Estee Lauder
4. “You’re so much stronger than your excuses” – Unknown
5. “I choose to make the rest of my life, the best of my life.” – Louise Hay
6. “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
7. “Don’t let what you can’t do interfere with what you can do.” – Unknown
8. “Twenty years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you did not do than the ones you did.” – Mark Twain
9. “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” – C.S. Lewis
10. “I can and I will. Watch me.” – Carrie Green

Motivational Quotes for Work to Be Present

1. “There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you.” – Derek Jeter
2. “I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse.” – Florence Nightingale
3. “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” ― Paulo Coelho
4. “If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.” – Olin Miller
5. “I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey
6. “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourselves.” – Chanakya
7. “If you don’t pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves.” – David Allen
8. “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
9. “Whatever you do, do it with all your might. Work at it, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well as now.” – Margaret Fuller
10. “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.” – Pirates of the Caribbean

Motivational Quotes for Work to Get Pumped Up

1. “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” – Muhammad Ali
2. “Your ability to discipline yourself to set clear goals, and then to work toward them every day, will do more to guarantee your success than any other single factor.” – Brian Tracy
3. “Spend eighty percent of your time focusing on the opportunities of tomorrow rather than the problems of yesterday.” – Brian Tracy
4. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie
5. “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” – Truman Capote
6. “There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” – Denis Waitley
7. “Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose.” – G.K. Nielson
8. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
9. “The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” – M. Scott Peck
10. “It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.” – Colin Powell

Short Motivational Quotes for Work

These are some short inspirational quotes for work to help you move forward:

1. “The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost
2. “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln
3. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
4. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis
5. “Practice makes progress not perfect.” – Unknown
6. “A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.” – Nelson Mandela
7. “I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.” – Maya Angelou
8. “You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.” – Jim Rohn
9. “Work hard and don’t give up hope. Be open to criticism and keep learning. Surround yourself with happy, warm, and genuine people.” – Tena Desae
10. “You can control two things: your work ethic and your attitude about anything.” – Ali Krieger

Motivational Quotes for Work – How to Achieve Your Dreams

1. “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne Johnson
2. “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers
3. “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal. Nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson
4. “Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier
5. “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” – Dale Carnegie
6. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison
7. “What we fear of doing most is usually what we most need to do.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
8. “It’s not what you say out of your mouth that determines your life, it’s what you whisper to yourself that has the most power.” – Robert T. Kiyosaki
9. “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.” – Henry Ford
10. “The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire, the size of your dream, and how you handle disappointment along the way.” – Robert Kiyosaki

Motivational Quotes for Success at Work

1. “Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.” – Joyce Brothers
2. “Motivation comes from working on things we care about.” – Sheryl Sandberg
3. “If today you are a little bit better than you were yesterday, then that’s enough.” – David A. Bednar
4. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela
5. “If you can’t make a mistake you can’t make anything.” – Marva Collin
6. “Stay true to yourself, yet always be open to learning. Work hard, and never give up on your dreams, even when nobody else believes they can come true but you. These are not cliches but real tools you need no matter what you do in life to stay focused on your path.” – Phillip Sweet
7. “If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives.” – Lemony Snicket
8. “Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing, and dream while others are wishing.” – William Arthur Ward
9. “Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso
10. “I never dreamt of success. I worked for it.” – Estee Lauder

Motivational Quotes for Work – Manifest Your Vision

These are 10 inspirational quotes for work to help you manifest a new reality:

1. “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” – Napoleon Hill
2. “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”― Maya Angelou
3. “Dreams are the seeds of change. Nothing ever grows without a seed, and nothing ever changes without a dream.” – Debby Boone
4. “Your positive action combined with positive thinking results in success.” – Shiv Khera
5. “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” ― Pele
6. “If you talk about it, it’s a dream. If you envision it, it’s possible. If you schedule it, it’s real.” – Tony Robbins
7. “Forget your excuses. You either want it bad or don’t want it at all.” – Unknown
8. “The key to success is to start before you are ready.” – Marie Forleo
9. “I want to be remembered as the one who tried.” – Dr. Dorothy Height
10. “Stop being afraid of what could go wrong, and start being excited about what could go right.” – Tony Robbins

Motivational Quotes for Work – How to Cope with Failure

1. “Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm” – Winston Churchill
2. “Why do we grieve failures longer than we celebrate wins?” – Komal Kapoor
3. “Failure isn’t the end of the road. It’s a big red flag saying to you ‘Wrong way. Turn around.'” – Oprah Winfrey
4. “Whenever you feel like a failure, just remember that even Coca Cola only sold 25 bottles their first year” – Unknown
5. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein
6. “You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so… get on your way!” – Dr. Seuss
7. “When thinking about life, remember this: no amount of guilt can change the past and no amount of anxiety can change the future.” – Unknown
8. “A negative mind will never give you a positive life.” – Unknown
9. “Everything is hard before it is easy.” – Goethe
10. “At the end of the day we can endure much more than we think we can.” – Frida Kahlo

Motivational Quotes for Work – Rules to Live By

Here are some work quotes you can swear by:

1. “Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.” – Carol Burnett
2. “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll
3. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
4. “When the pain of an obstacle is too great, challenge yourself to be stronger.” – Unknown
5. “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers
6. “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” – Marcus Aurelius
7. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller
8. “The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has been before.’ – Albert Einstein
9. “The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” – Brian Herbert
10. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger

Motivational Quotes for Work – Be a Champion

Here are the work quotes for motivating you to be your best self:

1. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” – Fred DeVito
2. “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” – Colin Powell
3. “You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.” – Zig Ziglar
4. “One thing’s for sure, if you don’t play, you don’t win.” – Kylie Francis
5. “Winning means you’re willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else.” – Vince Lombardi
6. “Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships.” – Michael Jordan
7. “When I win and when I lose, I take ownership of it, because I really am in charge of what I do.” – Nicki Minaj
8. “A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.” – Billie Jean King
9. “Competing at the highest level is not about winning. It’s about preparation, courage, understanding, nurturing your people, and heart. Winning is the result.” – Joe Torre
10. “A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.” – Nelson Mandela

Motivational Quotes for Work – Carry On

1. “Words can inspire, thoughts can provoke, but only action truly brings you closer to your dreams.” – Brad Sugars
2. “Don’t stop when you’re tired. Stop when you are done.” – Unknown
3. “Don’t tell people about your dreams. Show them your dreams.” – Unknown
4. “It might not be easy but it’ll be worth it.” – Unknown
5. “Make your fear of losing your greatest motivator.” – Unknown
6. “You will never always be motivated, so you must learn to be disciplined.” – Unknown
7. “I’m not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey
8. “The sun himself is weak when he first rises and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” – Charles Dickens
9. “Do or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda
10. “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

Motivational Quotes for Work – You Can Do It

These are inspirational quotes for work to help you believe in yourself:

1. “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” – Salvador Dali
2. “If something is wrong, fix it now. But train yourself not to worry, worry fixes nothing.” – Ernest Hemingway
3. “Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly.” – Neil Gaiman 
4. “So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.” – Norton Juster
5. “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.” – J.M. Barrie
6. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addai
7. “Learning never exhausts the mind.” – Leonardo Da Vinci
8. “The power of imagination makes us infinite.” – John Muir
9. “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
10. “As long as they are well-intentioned, mistakes are not a matter for shame, but for learning.” -Margaret Heffernan

Motivational Quotes for Work – Inspire Yourself

1. “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London
2. “Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
3. “Strength shows not only in the ability to persist but in the ability to start over.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. “I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.” – Charles Dickens
5. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” – Dr. Robert Schuller
6. “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
7. “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.” – Conan O’Brien
8. “Do you think miners stand around all day talking about how hard it is to mine for coal? They do not. They simply dig.” – Cheryl Strayed
9. “Don’t be afraid of hard work. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Don’t let others discourage you or tell you that you can’t do it. In my day I was told women didn’t go into chemistry. I saw no reason why we couldn’t.” – Gertrude B. Elion
10. “If you know you are on the right track, if you have this inner knowledge, then nobody can turn you off… no matter what they say.” – Barbara McClintock

Popular Work Quotes

Here are the last 11 office work quotes for you:

1. “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” – Thomas Jefferson
2. “The best leaders are those most interested in surrounding themselves with assistants and associates smarter than they are. They are frank in admitting this and are willing to pay for such talents.” – Antos Parrish
3. “We can’t take any credit for our talents. It’s how we use them that counts.” – Madeleine L’Engle
4. “Failure it appears is not the regret that haunts most people; it is the choice not to risk failure at all.” – Dr. John Izzo
5. “It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.” – Henry Ford
6. “You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.” – Jim Rohn
7. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
8. “I wouldn’t be where I am now if I didn’t fail… a lot. The good, the bad, it’s all part of the success equation.” – Mark Cuban
9. “I just love it when people say I can’t do it, there’s nothing that makes me feel better, because all my life, people have said that I wasn’t going to make it.” – Ted Turner
10. “Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor.” – Rumi
11. “You can’t have a million-dollar dream on a minimum wage work ethic.” – Unknown

Motivational quotes for work can only do so much. There are a number of companies can do to make the lives of their employees much more comfortable, especially in the tough times we’re currently living in. 

Give employees the flexibility to deal with remote working issues like bereavement, parental duties, and maybe even a sabbatical to rejuvenate them. As a completely remote team, we understand how keeping up morale can be hard. Reach out to us @HarmonizeHQ and we’d love to exchange strategies.