75 Best Quotes for College Students

Going to college and prepping for the “real world” is not easy. Dealing with grades, studying, bills, pressure from your parents, and having to answer the big question: “What should I do with my life?“, means there are a lot of expectations on your plate.

Whether you are a new college student, a graduate, prepping for your finals, or in the middle of a semester still trying to get through your classes, being a student can be stressful. 

However, sometimes all it takes is a little inspiration and wisdom to find the motivation to kill it in your college classes. To save you from endless research and homework, we’ve put together a list of the 75 best graduation, and college student inspirational quotes of all time. 

Quotes From Freshmen in College

1. “It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort.” – Jillian Michaels
   
   

2. “Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.”– Ralph Marston
   
   

3. “Focus on your goal. Don’t look in any direction but ahead.” -unknown
   
   

4. “You don’t get what you wish for. You get what you work for.” - Daniel Milstein
   
   

5. “Do something now; your future self will thank you for later.” - unknown
   
   

6. “Don’t try to be perfect. Just try to be better than you were yesterday.” - unknown
   
   

7. “Keep going. Everything you need will come to you at the perfect time.” - unknown
   
   

8. “Even the greatest were beginners. Don’t be afraid to take that first step.” - unknown
   
   

9. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair
   
   

10. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”– Steve Jobs
    
    

11. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”– Maya Angelou
    
    

12. ‘The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.” – Swati Sharma
    
    

13. “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gogh
    
    

14. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying ‘I will try again tomorrow’.”– Mary Anne Radmacher

Quotes to Help You Study Harder

15. “A little progress each day adds up to big results.” - Satya Nani
    
    

16. “It’s not about having time. It’s about making time.” - unknown
    
    

17. “Losers quit when they’re tired. Winners quit when they’ve won.”
    
    

18. “Skill is only developed by hours and hours of work.” – Usain Bolt
    
    

19. “You will never always be motivated. You have to learn to be disciplined.” - unknown
    
    

20. “Self-discipline is the magic power that makes you virtually unstoppable.” - Dan Kennedy
    
    

21. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney
    
    

22. “Focus on doing the right things instead of a bunch of things.” – Mike Krieger
    
    

23. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee
    
    

24. “Discipline is just choosing between what you want now and what you want most.” - Abraham Lincoln

Quotes That Help Build Determination

25. “Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction.” - unknown
    
    

26. “It never gets easier. You just get better.” – Jordan Hoechlin
    
    

27. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
    
    

28. “The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow.” - Nicole
    
    

29. “You don’t want to look back and know you could have done better.” - unknown
    
    

30. “Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose.” - G.K. Nielson
    
    

31. “Determination is doing what needs to be done even when you don’t feel like doing it.” -  unknown
    
    

32. “If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn
    
    

33. “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” – Newt Gingrich

Quotes for Graduation

34.  Everything’s always ending. But everything’s always beginning, too. — Patrick Ness
    
    

35.  There is no passion to be found in playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. —Nelson Mandela
    
    

36. The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match, each one of you is a fuse.” — Ed Koch
    
    

37.  Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened. —Dr. Seuss
    
    

38. Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. — Judy Garland
    
    

39.  You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result. — Mahatma Ghandi
    
    

40.  Education is something we have to keep pursuing day after day. — Premier Brian Gallant
    
    

41. If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place. – Nora Roberts
    
    

42. The best way to predict your future is to create it. – Abraham Lincoln
    
    

43.  No, sky is not the limit. It is only the beginning. — Donovan Livingston
    
    

44. Every person you meet knows something you don’t; learn from them. —H Jackson Brown Jr.
    
    

45.  Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. — Vincent Van Gogh
    
    

46.  Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world right in the eye. – Helen Keller
    
    

47. To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe. — Anatole France
    
    

48. It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. – E.E. Cummings

Motivational Quotes For After Graduation

49. Whatever you are, be a good one.”– Abraham Lincoln
    
    

50. “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.”– Chris Grosser
    
    

51. “The true success is the person who invented himself.”– Al Goldstein
    
    

52. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”– Steve Jobs
    
    

53. “All progress takes place outside of your comfort zone.”– Michael John Bobak
    
    

54. “Set a goal so big that you can’t achieve it until you grow into the person who can.”
    
    

55. “Make the most of yourself….for that is all there is of you.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson
    
    

56. “Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.”– W. Clement Stone
    
    

57. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho
    
    

58. “With the realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.”– Dalai Lama
    
    

59. The noblest question in the world is: What good may I do in it? — Benjamin Franklin
    
    

60. You get in life what you have the courage to ask for. —Oprah Winfrey
    
    
    
    
    Funny Graduation Quotes
    
    

61. Do not worry too much about your lawn. You will soon find, if you haven’t already, that almost every adult American devotes tremendous time and money to the maintenance of an invasive plant species called turf grass that we can’t eat. I encourage you to choose better obsessions.- John Green to Butler University in 2013
    
    

62. "Remember, when it comes to applying for jobs, books ARE judged by their cover!" Patricia Akins
    
    

63. "Struggling to decide what to do after graduation is, and always will be, a sort of rite of passage to the next phase of your life." Gloria Davidson

64. "Life is an improvisation. You have no idea what’s going to happen next and you are mostly just making things up as you go along. - Stephen Colbert

65. "I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love." - Jim Carrey

66. "You will never have more energy or enthusiasm, hair, or brain cells than you have today." - Tom & Ray Magliozzi

67. "You’re going to fall down, but the world doesn’t care how many times you fall down, as long as it’s one fewer than the numbers of times you get back up." - Aaron Sorkin

68. "Just remember, you can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets." - Arnold Schwarzenegger

69. "So long as your desire to explore is greater than your desire to not screw up, you're on the right track." - Ed Helms
    
    

70. "The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary." - Vidal Sassoon

71. "You will find the key to success under the alarm clock." - Benjamin Franklin

72. “Your families are extremely proud of you. You can’t imagine the sense of relief they are experiencing. This would be a most opportune time to ask for money.” - Gary Bolding

73. “To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you too may one day be president of the United States.” - George W. Bush

74. "The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces." - Will Rogers

75. "Now that you’ve graduated, just remember: Bosses don’t usually accept notes from your mother." - Melanie White

College can be stressful. It's easy to get into a cycle where you can lack motivation, confidence, and drive. Hopefully these quotes from noteworthy people have given you some confidence to push through college or encouragement to take on the post-college world. If you’re looking for some more college advice check out meratas.com