120 Motivational Quotes for College Students to Inspire You

The best inspirational quotes for college students

Today, I want to share with you some of my favorite inspirational quotes for college students.

 Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed with your studies lately? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. We’ve all been there, buried under a mountain of exams, essays, and deadlines.

But guess what? I’ve got something that might just lift your spirits and give you that extra push you need to keep going.

Today, I want to share with you some of my favorite inspirational quotes for college students. These quotes have helped me stay motivated and focused during those tough times, and I’m sure they’ll do the same for you.

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My favorite motivational quotes for college students

1. “There is no substitute for hard work.” – Thomas Alva Edison
2. “Teachers can open the door, but you must enter it yourself.” – Chinese proverb
3. “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A Milne
4. “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” – Og Mandino
5. “Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden
6. “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein
7. “Don’t wait for the opportunity. Create it.” – George Bernard Shaw
8. “You have to be odd to be No.1.” – Dr. Seuss
9. “The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest (people) of the past centuries.” – Descartes
10. “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln
11. “I am indeed a king because I know how to rule myself.” – Pietro Aretino
12. “Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction.”
13. “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be ignited.” – Plutarch
14. “Wisdom…. comes not from age, but from education and learning.” – Anton Chekhov
15. “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” – Andy McIntyre

16. “Tell me and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin
17. “Education is something we have to keep pursuing day after day.” – Premier Brian Gallant
18. “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” – Victor Hugo
19. “Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.”– Ralph Marston
20. “The man who does not read books has no advantage over the one who cannot read them.” – Mark Twain
21. “All dreams are within reach. All you have to do is keep moving towards them.” – Viola Davis
22. “Everything’s always ending. But everything’s always beginning, too.” – Patrick Ness
23. “Instruction ends in the schoolroom, but education ends only with life.” – Frederick W. Robertson
24. “A man’s mind, stretched by new ideas, may never return to its original dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
25. “Whatever you are, be a good one.” – Abraham Lincoln
26. “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” – Jennifer Dukes Lee
27. “Make the most of yourself….for that is all there is of you.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
28. “End is not the end if fact E.N.D. Means “Efforts Never Dies. – Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
29. “Self-discipline is self-caring.” – M. Scott Peck
30. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair

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31. “A little progress each day adds up to big results.” – Satya Nani
32. “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
33. “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” – Chris Grosser
34. “Your positive action combined with positive thinking results in success.” – Shiv Khera
35. “Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success.” – Virat Kohli
36. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
37. “The expert in anything was once a beginner.” — Helen Hayes
38. “How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank
39. “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
40. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Ryun
41. “An ounce of patience is worth more than tons of preaching.” – Mahatma Gandhi
42. “You never fail until you stop trying.” – Albert Einstein
43. “It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort.” – Jillian Michaels
44. “Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.” – Malala Yousafzai
45. “Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.” – Stephen Covey

46. “Procrastination is the thief of time.” – Edward Young
47. “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
48. “To be an overachiever, you have to be an over-believer.” – Dabo Swinney
49. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho
50. “Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” – Oprah Winfrey
51. “Procrastination makes easy things hard and hard things harder.” – Mason Cooley
52. “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
53. “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” – Estée Lauder
54. “You can’t have a better tomorrow if you’re still thinking about yesterday.” – Charles F. Kettering
55. “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” – Newt Gingrich
56. “That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.” – Jhumpa Lahiri
57. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X
58. “If you get tired, learn to rest not to quit.” – Banksy
59. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller
60. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss

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61. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
62. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there” – Theodore Roosevelt
63. “The best revenge is massive success.” – Frank Sinatra
64. “Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Hope for tomorrow.” – Albert Einstein
65. “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle
66. “I think it’s possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.” – Elon Musk
67. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar
68. “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” – Margaret Fuller
69. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”– Steve Jobs
70. “Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin.” – Victor Kiam
71. “Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.” – W. Clement Stone
72. “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” – Karim Seddiki
73. “Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.” – Minor Myers Jur
74. “There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don’t allow yourself to become one of them.” – Ralph Marston
75. “The noblest question in the world is: What good may I do in it?” – Benjamin Franklin

76. “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” – Carol Burnett
77. “None of us is as smart as all of us.” – Ken Blanchard
78. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison
79. “Genius is 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration.” – Thomas Edison
80. “The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow.” – Nicole
81. “You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there.” – Ed Cole
82. “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela
83. “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” – Babe Ruth
84. “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” – Margaret Mead
85. “Skill is only developed by hours and hours of work.” – Usain Bolt
86. “Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn
87. “The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.” – B.B. King
88. “If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn
89. “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” – Thomas Jefferson
90. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi

91. “Focus on doing the right things instead of a bunch of things.” – Mike Krieger
92. “I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine.” – Neil Armstrong
93. “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” – Judy Garland
94. “You don’t get what you wish for. You get what you work for.” – Daniel Milstein
95. “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” – Beverly Stills
96. “Self-discipline is the magic power that makes you virtually unstoppable.” – Dan Kennedy
97. “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – E.E. Cummings
98. “Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.” – Carol Burnett
99. “Success is the sum of all efforts, repeated day-in & day out.” – R. Collier
100. “It never gets easier. You just get better.” – Jordan Hoechlin
101. “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” – Henry Ford
102. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee
103. “I think I can. I know I can.” – Jennifer Wittwer
104. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
105. “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” – Oprah Winfrey

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106. “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln
107. “Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t pretend that you do and, at some point, you will.” – Venus Williams
108. “Learning is never done without errors and defeat.” – Vladimir Lenin
109. “Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose.” – G.K. Nielson
110. “Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.” – Dalai Lama
111. “Nothing great ever achieved without enthusiasm.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
112. “Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” – Gail Devers
113. “All progress takes place outside of your comfort zone.” – Michael John Bobak
114. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou
115. “The true success is the person who invented himself.” – Al Goldstein
116. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
117. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney
118. “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” – Walter Elliot
119. “Discipline is just choosing between what you want now and what you want most.” – Abraham Lincoln
120. “The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.” – Swati Sharma

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Why should I read these motivational quotes for college students?

With the internet overflowing with all sorts of feel-good messages, it’s easy to feel a bit skeptical. But hear me out—these quotes aren’t just your average pep talk.

They’re like little sparks of inspiration that have the power to ignite something magical inside you.

Think about it this way: We all have those moments when we’re knee-deep in deadlines, drowning in textbooks, and feeling like we’re running on empty. It happens to the best of us.

But that’s where these quotes come in handy. They’re like tiny reminders that you’re not alone and that you’ve got what it takes to conquer whatever challenges come your way.

And here’s the thing: they’re not just empty words on a screen. Each of these quotes has a story behind it—a nugget of wisdom that’s been passed down through the ages.

They’ve stood the test of time because they speak to something deep within us: our resilience, our determination, and our unwavering belief in ourselves.

So, if you’re feeling a bit stuck, a bit lost, or just in need of a little pick-me-up, give these quotes a chance. Who knows, they might just be the push you need to keep going when the going gets tough. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

What are your favorite inspirational quotes for college students?