Let’s be real—work can be tough. Some days, you’re flying. Other days, it’s a grind.
The right words, at the right moment, can make all the difference.
Whether you’re trying to spark a new idea, push through a tough project, or rally your team, a powerful quote can turn things around.
Work Quotes for the Day
So, here we go. Whether you’re looking for a little pick-me-up, or something to share with your team, these 100 quotes are here to keep the energy high and the momentum going.
Ready? Let’s dive in and grab some motivation.
1. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”
– Henry David Thoreau
2. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
– John D. Rockefeller
3. “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”
– Thomas Jefferson
4. “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.”
– Chris Grosser
5. “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
6. “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
– Winston Churchill
7. “Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.”
– Roy T. Bennett
8. “Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.”
– Frank Ocean
9. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
– Vidal Sassoon
10. “Do what you love and success will follow. Passion is the fuel behind a successful career.”
– Meg Whitman
11. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
12. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
– Tim Notke
13. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
– Steve Jobs
14. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”
– Zig Ziglar
15. “Success is not in what you have, but who you are.”
– Bo Bennett
16. “Dream big. Start small. Act now.”
– Robin Sharma
17. “Perseverance is not a long race; it’s many short races one after the other.”
– Walter Elliot
18. “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
19. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.”
– Steve Jobs
20. “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
– Conrad Hilton
Want more? Stick with it because we’ve got 80 more quotes to go. These words can fuel your day, uplift your team, and help push through those tough moments when work feels heavier than it should.
Let’s keep rolling with more powerful quotes to push you through the day and keep that momentum going!
21. “Quality is not an act, it is a habit.”
– Aristotle
22. “Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking.”
– William Butler Yeats
23. “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.”
– Ralph Marston
24. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
– Peter Drucker
25. “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.”
– Scott Belsky
26. “Success is what happens after you have survived all your mistakes.”
– Anora Lee
27. “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.”
– Dale Carnegie
28. “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”
– Jim Rohn
29. “Don’t count the days, make the days count.”
– Muhammad Ali
30. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
– Arthur Ashe
31. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.”
– Sam Levenson
32. “Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
– Joshua J. Marine
33. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
– Robert Collier
34. “If you want to achieve greatness, stop asking for permission.”
– Anonymous
35. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”
– Colin Powell
36. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”
– Henry David Thoreau
37. “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”
– Steve Martin
38. “Don’t limit your challenges. Challenge your limits.”
– Anonymous
39. “Action is the foundational key to all success.”
– Pablo Picasso
40. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
– Wayne Gretzky
We’re almost halfway there! These quotes are all about pushing boundaries and staying committed to the work. Let’s keep going and see what the next set can do for your mindset.
41. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill
42. “Dream it. Believe it. Build it.”
– Anonymous
43. “Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.”
– John Wooden
44. “Stay positive, work hard, make it happen.”
– Anonymous
45. “Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.”
– Richard Branson
46. “I never dreamed about success, I worked for it.”
– Estée Lauder
47. “Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.”
– Jim Rohn
48. “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
49. “Action is the antidote to despair.”
– Joan Baez
50. “Work gives you meaning and purpose, and life is empty without it.”
– Stephen Hawking
50 down, 50 to go! These quotes don’t just push you to keep moving—they remind you that perseverance and a focused mindset are key. Ready for the next half?
51. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
– Winston Churchill
52. “Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”
– Buddha
53. “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”
– Will Rogers
54. “The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces.”
– Will Rogers
55. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
– Mark Twain
56. “I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.”
– Florence Nightingale
57. “Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.”
– Christian D. Larson
58. “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.”
– Jimmy Johnson
59. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”
– Zig Ziglar
60. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.”
– Albert Schweitzer
Let’s keep going—20 more to go, and they’re just getting better. You’ll want to save these to remind yourself and your team of what it takes to keep winning.
61. “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
– Walt Disney
62. “Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.”
– Jim Rohn
63. “Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.”
– Chris Grosser
64. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
– C.S. Lewis
65. “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
66. “Go the extra mile. It’s never crowded.”
– Wayne Dyer
67. “Success isn’t just about what you accomplish in your life; it’s about what you inspire others to do.”
– Anonymous
68. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.”
– Fred DeVito
69. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.”
– Japanese Proverb
70. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”
– William James
Getting close! Only 30 left. These quotes remind us that grit, perseverance, and focus are the true measures of success.
71. “Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.”
– Roy T. Bennett
72. “Work hard for what you want because it won’t come to you without a fight.”
– Anonymous
73. “Great things never came from comfort zones.”
– Anonymous
74. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
– John D. Rockefeller
75. “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”
– Charles R. Swindoll
76. “The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible.”
– Charles Kingsleigh
77. “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.”
– Suzy Kassem
78. “Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.”
– Robert Kiyosaki
79. “The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well.”
– John D. Rockefeller Jr.
80. “The future depends on what you do today.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
And now for the final stretch. These last 20 quotes pack a punch—perfect for when you or your team need that final push.
81. “Success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom.”
– George S. Patton
82. “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”
– Og Mandino
83. “Success isn’t measured by money or power or social rank. Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace.”
– Mike Ditka
84. “Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy.”
– Robert Half
85. “The only thing standing between you and outrageous success is continuous progress.”
– Dan Waldschmidt
86. “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”
– Maya Angelou
87. “Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.”
– Walt Whitman
88. “Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.”
– Aisha Tyler
89. “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”
– Henry Ford
90. “The best revenge is massive success.”
– Frank Sinatra
The final 10 quotes are here—let’s close this out strong!
91. “There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
– Aristotle
92. “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.”
– Napoleon Hill
93. “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.”
– Vince Lombardi
94. “You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there.”
– Ed Cole
95. “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.”
– Vince Lombardi
96. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
– Steve Jobs
97. “If you’re not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”
– Jim Rohn
98. “Work hard, stay positive, and get up early. It’s the best part of the day.”
– George Allen, Sr.
99. “You can’t have a million-dollar dream with a minimum-wage work ethic.”
– Anonymous
100. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
– Robert Collier
There you have it. 100 quotes to fuel your day, lift your team, and drive you toward success. Take them, use them, and keep the momentum going!
How Leaders Can Actually Use These 100 Quotes (Without Sounding Cheesy)
You’ve got a hundred quotes now. So what? It’s not about slapping them on a poster or throwing them into a presentation slide that nobody cares about. It’s about using these quotes in ways that actually make a difference.
Let’s talk about how leaders can turn these words into something useful—how you can drop them into the right moments, use them to create shifts, and build a team that feels more connected.
1. Start the Day Right
Kick off your day (or your team’s day) with a quick quote in a morning email or Slack message. You don’t need to write a novel—just one powerful line. The key is timing. Monday morning? Use something that hits motivation. Midweek slump? Find a quote about perseverance. End of the week? Go for something that rewards the grind.
Example: “Good morning! ‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.’ – Winston Churchill. Let’s keep pushing through today!”
2. Use Quotes to Reframe Problems
Got a team stuck in a rut? That’s where quotes can shine. Use them as a reframe for the problem at hand. Is the team discouraged by a recent setback? Share a quote about failure and persistence. Quotes remind your team that failure isn’t final—it’s a stepping stone.
Example: In a meeting after a tough quarter: “I know it’s been rough, but remember, ‘Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.’ – Winston Churchill.”
3. Sneak Them Into Presentations
You don’t need to bombard people with quotes, but slide one into your next presentation for impact. And no, not a generic motivational poster. Make it relevant. It could be a reminder about teamwork, hustle, or overcoming challenges that align with your presentation theme.
Example: Wrapping up a project strategy meeting: “As we dive into this, let’s keep in mind, ‘Great things never come from comfort zones.’ Let’s challenge ourselves.”
4. Turn Them Into Team Mantras
Ever heard of a team mantra? It’s a quote your team rallies behind. Something they hear so often it becomes part of the culture. Pick one quote that defines your team’s mindset and weave it into conversations, emails, meetings. It’s not just a quote anymore—it’s a belief system.
Example: “We’re all about that ‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard’ mentality.”
5. Write Them on the Whiteboard
Got a whiteboard in the office? Throw a quote up there for the day (or the week). It’ll catch people’s eyes, start conversations, and can even become a subtle reminder when times get tough. You don’t need to overthink it. Just keep it fresh.
Example: “Today’s board quote: ‘Quality is not an act, it is a habit.’ – Aristotle.”
6. Drop a Quote in 1-on-1s
1-on-1 meetings are your chance to be personal. Drop a relevant quote in the conversation if it fits. Don’t force it—just when the moment calls for it. It’s a nice way to show you’re thinking about their growth and mindset, not just tasks.
Example: “I know you’ve been grinding on this project. Just keep this in mind, ‘The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.’ – FDR. You’ve got this.”
7. Turn Quotes into Challenges
Take a quote, and challenge your team to live by it for a week. You’re not just reading the words—you’re putting them into action. Make it a fun team experiment. Let the quote guide behavior for a specific goal.
Example: “This week, we’re living by, ‘Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.’ – Jim Rohn. Let’s push ourselves.”
8. Celebrate Wins with Words
When your team hits a big goal, don’t just send a “Congrats!” email. Tie it into a quote that reminds them why the win matters. It gives more weight to the celebration and adds context to why their hard work paid off.
Example: “Amazing job on hitting that deadline! ‘Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.’ – Henry David Thoreau. You guys crushed it!”
The key to making quotes work? They need to feel real. Don’t overdo it. Drop them in when it feels natural. Use them to guide, inspire, and remind your team of their potential. It’s not about the quotes themselves—it’s about how you weave them into your leadership and create moments that stick.
So, take these 100 quotes and use them wisely. They might just be the spark your team needs.
