Graduation is a significant milestone in life, a moment of celebration and pride for parents, friends, and family. It marks an ending but also a new and exciting beginning filled with hope and anticipation.
In this post, I want to share 160 of the best, most thoughtful, and often humorous inspirational graduation quotes. These timeless sayings can help you celebrate someone you love, whether in a card, at a graduation party, or on social media like Instagram.
For those graduating, I hope these quotes will assist you with yearbook entries, celebrating your friends, finding motivation, comfort during uncertain times, maintaining a positive perspective, and having a few laughs when needed.
Inspirational Graduation Quotes for a Son or Daughter
“Your life is your story, and the adventure ahead of you is the journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential.”
– Kerry Washington
“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
“Don’t ever doubt yourselves or waste a second of your life. It’s too short and you’re too special.”
– Ariana Grande
“A bright future beckons. The onus is on us, through hard work, honesty and integrity, to reach for the stars.”
– Nelson Mandela
“Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.”
– Lou Holtz
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”
– Judy Garland
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
– Norman Vincent Peale
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.”
– Malala Yousafzai
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
“It is not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success.”
– Nelson Mandela
“When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.”
– Carol Burnett
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
– Steve Jobs
“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.”
– Henri Bergson
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…”
– Dr. Seuss
“You don’t become what you want, you become what you believe.”
– Oprah Winfrey
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
– A.A. Milne
“The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.”
– Les Brown
“Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead.”
– Nora Ephron
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
– Robert Collier
“What could we accomplish if we knew we could not fail?”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
– John D. Rockefeller
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”
– Neale Donald Walsch
“Accept no one’s definition of your life. Define yourself.”
– Harvey Fierstein
“Learn from every mistake because every experience, encounter, and particularly your mistakes are there to teach you and force you into being more who you are.”
– Oprah Winfrey
“In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”
– Mother Teresa
Inspirational Graduation Quotes for a High School Senior
“Don’t try so hard to fit in, and certainly don’t try so hard to be different, just try hard to be you.”
– Zendaya
“Embrace your uniqueness for it is what makes you truly beautiful.”
– Dove Cameron
“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
– Dr. Seuss
“I’ve always done whatever I want and been exactly who I am.”
– Billie Eilish
“Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship.”
– Omar N. Bradley
“You change the world by being yourself.”
– Yoko Ono
“The beginning is always today.”
– Mary Shelley
“Celebrate endings – for they precede new beginnings.”
– Jonathan Lockwood Huie
“A star is a rock that never gave up on its dream to rise.”
– Matshona Dhliwayo
“Through discipline comes freedom.”
– Aristotle
“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!’”
– Audrey Hepburn
“What we learn with pleasure we never forget.”
– Alfred Mercier
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
– C.S. Lewis
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
– Abraham Lincoln
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
– Arthur Ashe
“Trust your gut, keep throwing darts at the dartboard. Don’t listen to the critics – and you will figure it out.”
– Will Ferrell
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
– Nelson Mandela
“Don’t be afraid of fear. Because it sharpens you, it challenges you, it makes you stronger; and when you run away from fear, you also run away from the opportunity to be your best possible self.”
– Ed Helms
“Everything’s always ending. But everything’s always beginning, too.”
– Patrick Ness
“Your perspective is unique. It’s important and it counts. Try not to compare it to anyone else.”
– Glenn Close
“Fight for what makes you optimistic about the world. Find it, insist on it, dig into it, go after it.”
– Jennifer Garner
“If you have found that thing, that purpose in life that gives you access to maximum enthusiasm, trust that!”
– Sterling K. Brown
“Your education is not a race. Go at your own pace. Stop if you need to.”
– Roderick Paige
“You have to believe in yourself when no one else does.”
– Serena Williams
“Our fate lives within us; you only have to be brave enough to see it.”
– Merida (from the movie Brave)
Inspirational Graduation Quotes for University
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.”
– Estée Lauder
“I am a firm believer that you don’t achieve greatness on your own. There is always someone there to lend a hand.”
– Greg Louganis
“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”
– Malcolm X
“You get whatever accomplishment you are willing to declare.”
– Georgia O’Keeffe
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”
– Helen Keller
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.”
– Sylvia Plath
“Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.”
– W.P. Kinsella
“Am I good enough? Yes, I am.”
– Michelle Obama
“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.”
– Tony Robbins
“I scorched the earth with my talent and I let my light shine.”
– André Leon Talley
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.”
– Colin Powell
“Be the best of whatever you are.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Forever is composed of nows.”
– Emily Dickinson
“A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere.”
– Joyce Meyer
“Passion first and everything will fall into place.”
– Holly Holm
“You’re off to great places. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So … get on your way.”
– Dr. Seuss
“Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.”
– Aisha Tyler
“Today’s accomplishments were yesterday’s impossibilities.”
– Robert H. Schuller
“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.”
– Arthur C. Clarke
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
– Helen Keller
“There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.”
– Ray Goforth
“The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”
– John Dewey
“It is absolutely still possible to make a difference.”
– Michelle Obama
“Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
– Lao Tzu
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”
– Walt Disney
Short Inspirational Graduation Quotes
“Be persistent and never give up hope.”
– George Lucas
“Be kind to yourself a little more every day.”
– Dua Lipa
“Confidence is the most beautiful thing you can possess.”
– Sabrina Carpenter
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
– Henry David Thoreau
“The road to success is always under construction.”
– Lily Tomlin
“Make a career of humanity.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.
“Be so good they can’t ignore you.”
– Steve Martin
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
– Wayne Gretzky
“Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself.”
– David McCullough Jr.
“Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.”
– Minor Myers, Jr.
“Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
– Yoda
“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.”
– Fred DeVito
“Becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim.”
– Michelle Obama
“Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor.”
– Jackson Browne
“Life has no remote…get up and change it yourself.”
– Mark A. Cooper
“Get busy living or get busy dying.”
– Stephen King
“Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.”
– Dolly Parton
“Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary.”
– Gerard Way
“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”
– B.B. King
“Nothing is going to be handed to you. You have to make things happen.”
– Florence Griffith-Joyner
“Be bold, be courageous, be your best.”
– Gabrielle Giffords
“Follow your fear.”
– Tina Fey
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
– Dr. Seuss
“Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”
– Gloria Steinem
“Success is falling nine times and getting up ten.”
– Jon Bon Jovi
“Success is loving life and daring to live it.”
– Maya Angelou
“Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors.”
– Louisa May Alcott
“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”
– Dolly Parton
Funny Inspirational Graduation Quotes
“Don’t allow people to dim your shine because they are blinded. Tell them to put on sunglasses.”
– Lady Gaga
“Now that you’ve graduated, just remember: Bosses don’t usually accept notes from your mother.”
– Melanie White
“Nobody else is paying as much attention to your failures as you are… to everyone else, it’s just a blip on the radar screen, so just move on.”
– Jerry Zucker
“Summer vacation does kind of set up an adulthood of disappointment. That first job, you’re like, ‘I have to go to work in July? What is this, Russia?’”
– Jim Gaffigan
“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.”
– Albert Einstein
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
– Ferris Bueller
“I look to the future because that is where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.”
– George Burns
“Try not to have a good time … This is supposed to be educational.”
– Lucy Van Pelt
“People don’t turn down money. It’s what separates us from the animals.”
– Jerry Seinfeld
“When all else fails, there’s always delusion.”
– Conan O’Brien
“Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they’re looking for ideas.”
– Paula Poundstone
“A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.”
– Frank Zappa
“Do not take life too seriously – you will never get out of it alive.”
– Elbert Hubbard
“You’re only given a little spark of madness, you mustn’t lose it.”
– Robin Williams
“You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the water slide overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.”
– Tina Fey
“All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.”
– Jane Wagner
“If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving definitely isn’t for you.”
– Steven Wright
“Never follow anyone else’s path. Unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost
