120 Powerful Expectations Quotes for Inspiring Success

120 quotes about expectations

Expectations can be tricky. They can help us set goals but also lead to disappointment if we’re not careful. Expectations quotes can really help us understand this balance.

Sometimes, we hold onto expectations that are too high or unrealistic. These quotes encourage us to let go of those burdens and focus on what truly matters. They remind us that it’s okay to adjust our expectations and be open to surprises along the way.

Research shows that managing your expectations can lead to greater happiness. When we accept things as they are, we can find joy in the moment!

To help you out with that, I’m excited to share some thought-provoking expectations quotes with you.

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40 positive quotes on expectations

1. “So the secret to good self-esteem is to lower your expectations to the point where they’re already met.” – Bill Watterson
2. “You are only as beautiful as the many beautiful things you do for others without expectation.” – Janelle Monae
3. “A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.” – Patricia Neal
4. “Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.” – Samuel Johnson
5. “It is easier to make our wishes conform to our means than to make our means conform to our wishes.” – Robert E. Lee
6. “If you align expectations with reality, you will never be disappointed.” – Terrell Owens
7. “The more I expect, the more unhappy I am going to be. The more I accept, the more serene I am.” – Michael J. Fox
8. “If you expect nothing from anybody, you’re never disappointed.” – Sylvia Plath
9. “Buy what’s deliverable, not what could be.” – Michael Bloomberg
10. “Anyone who loves in the expectation of being loved in return is wasting their time.” – Paulo Coelho
11. “Keep your expectations high on achievement and low on people.” – Anonymous
12. “Expect great things and great things will happen.” – Mary Kay Ash
13. “I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.” – Charles Dickens

14. “When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.” – Stephen Hawking
15. “Other people may not have had high expectations for me, but I had high expectations for myself.” – Shannon Miller
16. “Maybe she should stop reading those damn romance novels. They were giving her crazy expectations.” – Lexi Blake
17. “Life is largely a matter of expectation.” – Horace
18. “You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.” – Paulo Coelho
19. “If you’re going to say what you want to say, you’re going to hear what you don’t want to hear.” – Roberto Bolaño
20. “There’s a victory in letting go of your expectations.” – Mike White
21. “High expectations are the key to everything.” – Michael Bergdahl
22. “Live your life, sing your song. Not full of expectations. Not for the ovations. But for the joy of it.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru
23. “We must rediscover the distinction between hope and expectation.” – Ivan Illich
24. “Consciously or unconsciously, you always get what you expect.” – Robert Anthony
25. “Expect more, get less, and feel sadness or expect less, get more, and feel happiness.” – Vijay Dhameliya
26. “Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” – Buddha
27. “Do a little more every day than you are expected to do, and soon you will be expected to do more.” – Evan Esar
28. “He was swimming in a sea of other people’s expectations. Men had drowned in seas like that.” – Robert Jordan

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29. “Does your reality match your expectations? If not it’s time to change either your expectations or your reality.” – Steven Redhead
30. “I’ve always loved the idea of not being what people expect me to be.” – Dita Von Teese
31. “A thing long expected takes the form of the unexpected when at last it comes.” – Mark Twain
32. “From lean meat do not expect fat broth.” – Turkish Proverb
33. “Sometimes we expect more from others because we would be willing to do that much for them.” – Harriet Morgan
34. “Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.” – Earl Nightingale
35. “Unhappiness lies in that gap between our talents and our expectations.” – Sebastian Horsley
36. “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.” – Bruce Lee
37. “What screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it is supposed to be.” – Anonymous
38. “The curse of the romantic is a greed for dreams, an intensity of expectation that, in the end, diminishes the reality.” – Marya Mannes
39. “No expectations mean there is no risk of disappointment.” – Jude Morgan
40. “Life was easier when you stopped caring, when you stopped expecting things to get better.” – Cora Carmack

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40 inspirational expectations quotes

1. “And I’m working at trying to find a kind of language where I won’t be so easily modulated by expectation.” – Kathy Acker
2. “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.” – Bruce Lee.
3. “Never get too attached to anyone because attachment leads to expectations, and expectations lead to disappointment.” – Anonymous
4. “Expectations are resentments waiting to happen.” – Anne Lamott
5. “I can’t imagine going on when there are no more expectations.” – Dame Edith Evans
6. “You are most powerful when you are most silent. People never expect silence.” – Alison McGhee.
7. “Look. I have a strategy. Why expect anything? If you don’t expect anything, you don’t get disappointed.” – Patricia McCormick
8. “Expectation ends only in heaven.” – Kentijern
9. “We don’t want people to have expectations of us, but then we have expectations of everybody else.” – Lauryn Hill
10. “I do know one thing about me: I don’t measure myself by others’ expectations or let others define my worth.” – Sonia Sotomayor
11. “Expectations are dangerous when they are both too high and unformed.” – Lionel Shriver
12. “You can devise all the plans in the world, but if you don’t welcome spontaneity; you will just disappoint yourself.” – Abigail Biddinger
13. “Well done is better than well said.” – Benjamin Franklin

14. “Expectation wasn’t just about what people expected of you. It was about what you expected of yourself.” – Brandon Sanderson
15. “There were two ways to be happy: improve your reality, or lower your expectations.” – Jodi Picoult
16. “Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations.” – Leo Buscaglia
17. “Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.” – Edward de Bono
18. “My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.” – Michael J. Fox
19. “Just because it’s not what you were expecting, doesn’t mean it’s not everything you need right now.” – Paulo Coelho
20. “I hope you do not let anyone else’s expectations direct the course of your life.” – Julianne Donaldson
21. “Future orientation is combined with a notion and expectation of progress, and nothing is impossible.” – Alan Dundes
22. “We tend to get what we expect.” – Norman Vincent Peal
23. “A life that is burdened with expectations is a heavy life. Its fruit is sorrow and disappointment.” – Douglas Adams
24. “People live up to your expectations, not their potential.” – Stephen Young
25. “In expectation there is happiness.” – Shi-Ka-Shiu
26. “An attitude of positive expectation is the mark of a superior personality.” – Brian Tracy
27. “I find my life is a lot easier the lower I keep my expectations.” – Bill Watterson
28. “You can’t base your life on other people’s expectations.” – Stevie Wonder

29. “Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” – Alexander Pope
30. “Expectation whirls me round. The imaginary relish is so sweet That it enchants my sense.” – William Shakespeare
31. “Hope is the assurance of positive expectations.” – Lailah Gifty Akita
32. “Stay in the center, and you will be ready to move in any direction.” – Alan W. Watts
33. “There are two ways to be happy: improve your reality, or lower your expectations.” – Jodi Picoult
34. “I feel like if you don’t put too much expectations and too much high hopes into things, everything will fall into place.” – Christina Milian
35. “People who don’t expect justice don’t have to suffer disappointment.” – Isaac Asimov
36. “Become aware of your negative expectations and practice replacing them with positive expectations.” – Debbie Ford
37. “Lower your expectations of earth. This isn’t heaven, so don’t expect it to be.” – Max Lucado
38. “I’ve always got such high expectations for myself. I’m aware of them, but I can’t relax them.” – Mary Decker
39. “There is no joy involved in following others’ expectations of yourself.” – Miriam Toews
40. “Just know that your expectations are only thoughts in your head, and keep on doing what you do.” – Brad Warner

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40 sayings about expectations

1. “Positive expectations are the mark of the superior personality.” – Brian Tracy
2. “Let your dreams outgrow the shoes of your expectations.” – Ryunosuke Satoro
3. “Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.” – Paulo Coelho
4. “‘Tis silence all, And pleasing expectation.” – James Thomson
5. “Expectation is the mother of all frustration.” – Antonio Banderas
6. “I am open to the guidance of synchronicity, and do not let expectations hinder my path.” – Dalai Lama
7. “Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack.” – Brandon Sanderson
8. “You can’t expect everyone to have the same dedication as you.” – Jeff Kinney
9. “Life is so constructed, that the event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation.” – Charlotte Bronte
10. “The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” – Confucius
11. “Expect everything so that nothing comes unexpected.” – Norton Juster
12. “Loving, hating, having expectations: all these are attachments. Attachment prevents the growth of one’s true being.” – Laozi
13. “Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event.” – Brian Tracy,

14. “High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.” – Charles Kettering
15. “Imagination is your expectation.” – Anonymous
16. “When we impose unrealistic expectations on ourselves, it’s natural to force them on everyone else.” – Jen Hatmaker
17. “It’s when ordinary people rise above the expectations and seize the opportunity that milestones truly are reached.” – Mike Huckabee
18. “Mrs. Lynde says, ‘Blessed are they who expect nothing for they shall not be disappointed.” – L.M. Montgomery
19. “Don’t believe in miracles – depend on them.” – Laurence J. Peter
20. “To wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect.” – Jane Austen
21. “If you expect great things of yourself and demand little of others, you’ll keep resentment far away.” – Confucius
22. “Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise.” – Alice Walker
23. “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” – Mother Teresa
24. “Peace begins when expectation ends.” – Sri Chinmoy
25. “I have great expectations for the future because the past was highly overrated.” – Sylvester Stallone
26. “Don’t live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.” – Wendy Wasserstein
27. “A wonderful gift may not be wrapped as you expect.” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie
28. “Life… It tends to respond to our outlook, to shape itself to meet our expectations.” – Richard DeVos

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29. “Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule.” – Charles Dickens
30. “When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.” – Donald Miller
31. “I would like to say to people, open your eyes and find beauty where you normally don’t expect it.” – Jean-Paul Gaultier
32. “I think it would be worse to expect nothing than to be disappointed.” – L. M. Montgomery
33. “I’d rather be pleasantly surprised than fatally disappointed.” – Julia Glass
34. “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” – William Shakespeare
35. “There’s no straighter road to success than exceeding expectations one day at a time.” – Robin Crow
36. “Most things don’t work out as expected, but what happens instead often turns out to be the good stuff.” – Judi Dench
37. “We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.” – Voltaire
38. “My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus.” – Stephen Hawking
39. “Sometimes the unexpected happens when you don’t expect a person to come up to expectations.” – Evan Esar
40. “If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.” – Michael Jordan

FAQ: What are the benefits of reading these expectations quotes?

Gain perspective

Reading expectations quotes is like talking to a wise friend. They help you see things in new ways. It’s like putting on special glasses that help you understand life better!

Reduce stress

Life can be stressful, especially when things don’t go the way we want. These quotes can be comforting. They remind us that it’s okay if we don’t have everything figured out. This can help us feel calmer and more relaxed.

Inspire resilience

Sometimes, life can be tough and things don’t go as planned. Expectations quotes talk about getting back up when things go wrong. They encourage us to be strong, like a friend who cheers us on when we feel down.

Boost motivation

Have you ever felt lazy or tired? Quotes can be like a friendly push to help you keep going! They remind you that you can reach your goals and dreams, and that you’re capable of great things.

Improve relationships

Many expectations quotes teach us how to get along better with others. They show us how to be kind, understanding, and communicate clearly. It’s like getting helpful advice from a friend without any awkwardness!

Find inner peace

Life can get busy and crazy, but quotes can help you find your calm. They remind you to focus on what really matters and to let go of things that make you stressed.

Boost confidence

Sometimes we can feel unsure of ourselves. Quotes can be like a caring friend who reminds us how great we are. They can help us feel more confident when we try new things.

Learn from your mistakes

No one is perfect! Quotes often tell us that making mistakes is okay. They encourage us to learn from what went wrong, just like a friend who says, “It’s alright! You can do better next time!”

Did you like any of these expectations quotes?