Are you looking for the perfect inspirational quote for work that will motivate you to do better? In a constantly changing world filled with challenges, multi-tasking and pressure, keeping up with everything we have to do isn’t easy. Maybe you need a little motivation to keep going. Well, we’ve got you covered! We believe this list of inspirational work quotes for work will inspire you to achieve your goals.
Our Favorite Inspirational Work Quotes
“I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” — Thomas Jefferson
“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” — George Lorimer
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” — Robert Louis Stevenson
“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” — Paulo Coelho
“Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” — John D. Rockefeller
“Do more than is required. What is the distance between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their lives and careers merely following? The extra mile.” — Gary Ryan Blair
“Talent means nothing, while experience, acquired in humility and with hard work, means everything.” — Patrick Suskind
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” — Conrad Hilton
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.“ — Alexander Graham Bell
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” — Thomas Edison
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” — Colin Powell
Short Inspirational Work Quotes
“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” — Jim Rohn
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” — Henry Ford
“I never took a day off in my 20s. Not one.” — Bill Gates
“Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” — Jim Rohn
“The future depends on what you do today.” — Mahatma Gandhi
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” — Confucius
“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” — Dale Carnegie
“To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.” — Eva Young
“You will never plough a field if you only turn it over in your mind.” — Irish Proverb
“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” — Napoleon Hill
“The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost
“Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” — Dale Carnegie
“In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.” — Nikos Kazantzakis
“I never dreamed about success, I worked for it.” — Estee Lauder
“If you can dream it, you can do it.” — Walt Disney
“The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well.” — John D. Rockefeller Jr.
“I failed my way to success.” — Thomas Edison
If you like these, you might also want to check out our other lists of work quotes specific to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, plus Funny Work Quotes, Boss Day Quotes, Retirement Quotes, Short Teamwork Quotes and Hard Work Quotes .
Funny Inspirational Quotes for Work
“I choose a lazy person to do a hard job, because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” — Bill Gates
“No man goes before his time—unless the boss leaves early.” — Groucho Marx
“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.” — Oscar Wilde
“You can’t have a million dollar dream with a minimum wage worth ethic.” — Zig Ziglar
“The only thing that ever sat its way to success was a hen.” — Sarah Brown
“Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I’m not there, I go to work.” — Robert Orben
“Delegate your work. Stop spending dollar time on penny jobs.” — Mary Kay Ash
“The problem with doing nothing is that you never know when you’re finished.” — Groucho Marx
“The reward for good work is more work.” — Francesca Elisia
“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.” — Mark Twain
“Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” — Will Rogers
“A lot of people quit looking for work as soon as they find a job.” — Zig Ziglar
“Where people aren’t having fun, they seldom produce good work.” — David Ogilvy
“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito.” — Betty Reese
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar
“I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.” — Lily Tomlin
“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to a thing till you get there.” — Josh Billings
“If a man smiles all the time, he’s probably selling something that doesn’t work.” — Woody Allen
“What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.” — Phyllis Diller
“I always arrive late at the office, but I make up for it by leaving early.” — Charles Lamb
Motivational Quotes for Work
“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” — Abraham Lincoln
“Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” — Saint Francis
“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.” — Stephen R. Covey
“Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.” — Albert Einstein
“It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.” — Colin Powell
“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” — Denis Waitley
“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.” — Jim Rohn
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” — C.S. Lewis
“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.” — Maya Angelou
“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember–the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you.” — Zig Ziglar
“Developing a good work ethic is key. Apply yourself at whatever you do, whether you’re a janitor or taking your first summer job because that work ethic will be reflected in everything you do in life.” — Tyler Perry
“A diamond is merely a lump of coal that did well under pressure.” — Henry Kissenger
“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” — Vince Lombardi
“Happiness is the real sense of fulfillment that comes from hard work.” — Joseph Barbara
“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my ax.” — Abraham Lincoln
“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goals: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.” — Louis Pasteur
“It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.” — Confucius
“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” — Stephen Covey
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourselves.” — Chanakya
“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.” — Roy T. Bennett
“I would visualize things coming to me. It would just make me feel better. Visualization works if you work hard. That’s the thing. You can’t just visualize and go eat a sandwich.” — Jim Carrey
“If something is wrong, fix it now. But train yourself not to worry, worry fixes nothing.” — Ernest Hemingway
“Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they started.” — David Allen
“Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there.” — Haile Gebrselassie
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” — Stephen King
“Don’t be afraid of hard work. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Don’t let others discourage you or tell you that you can’t do it. In my day I was told women didn’t go into chemistry. I saw no reason why we couldn’t.” — Gertrude B. Elion
“Plenty of men can do good work for a spurt and with immediate promotion in mind, but for promotion you want a man in whom good work has become a habit.” — Henry L. Doherty
“A clay pot sitting in the sun will always be a clay pot. It has to go through the white heat of the furnace to become porcelain.” — Mildred Struven
“You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it.” — Oprah Winfrey
“Whatever you do, do it with all your might. Work at it, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well as now.” — Margaret Fuller
“Your ability to discipline yourself to set clear goals, and then to work toward them every day, will do more to guarantee your success than any other single factor.” — Brian Tracy
“Follow effective actions with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” — Peter Drucker
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” — Mark Twain
“In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“If you don’t pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves.” — David Allen
“Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.” — Charles F. Kettering
”Spend eighty percent of your time focusing on the opportunities of tomorrow rather than the problems of yesterday.” — Brian Tracy
“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.” — Seneca
“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe
“The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.” — Harry Golden
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” — Truman Capote
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” — Dale Carnegie
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” — Beverly Sills
“Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” — Francis Chan
“I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.” — Hermann Hesse
“Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I’ll show you someone who has never achieved much.” — Joan Collins
“When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.” — Peter Marshall
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” — Henry David Thoreau
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston S. Churchill
“The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” — Colin R. Davis
“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.” — Jim Rohn
“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.” — Albert Einstein
“Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion.” — Tony Hsieh
“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill
“If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” — Jim Rohn
“Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.” — Robert Kiyosaki
“If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” — Steve Jobs
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” — Walt Disney
“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” — Bruce Lee
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” — Conrad Hilton
“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure–It is: Try to please everybody.” — Herbert Bayard Swope
“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
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” — Bill Cosby
“There is a powerful driving force inside every human being that, once unleashed, can make any vision, dream, or desire a reality.” — Anthony Robbins
“The secret to success is to know something nobody else knows.” — Aristotle Onassis
“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” — Chris Grosser
“Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.” — Dalai Lama
“You can’t change how people treat you or what they say about you. All you can do is change how you react to it.” — Mahatma Gandhi
“Many of life’s failures are experiences by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” — Thomas Edison
“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” — Thomas Jefferson
“All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.” — Michael John Bobak
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the real greats make you feel that you, too, can be great.” — Mark Twain
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” — Vidal Sassoon
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.” — Helen Keller
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that other throw at him.” — David Brinkley
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” — 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
Positive Work Quotes for the Morning
“I like to work in the morning. I like to sometimes go to a place where I’m all alone where I’m not going to get a phone call early that hurts my feelings, because once my feelings are hurt, I’m dead in the water.” — Francis Ford Coppola
“If you’re changing the world, you’re working on important things. You’re excited to get up in the morning.” — Larry Page
“First thing every morning before you arise say out loud, ‘I believe,’ three times.” — Ovid
“It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning.” — Gordon B. Kinkley
“The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.” — Robert Frost
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” — Robert Louis Stevenson
“I get up every morning and it’s going to be a great day. You never know when it’s going to be over, so I refuse to have a bad day.” — Paul Henderson
“I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.” — Larry King
“Lose an hour in the morning, and you will spend all day looking for it.” — Richard Whately
“You’ve got to wake up each day and understand what that day is about; you’ve got to have personal goals. Be flexible in getting to those goals, but if you do not have goals, you will not achieve them.” — Cary Cohn
“One key to success is to have lunch at the time of day most people have breakfast.” — Robert Brault
“If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.” — Elon Musk
“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“With hard work and effort, you can achieve anything.” — Antoine Griezmann
“Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.” — Gordon B. Hinckley
“Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they’re making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as punishment. And that’s the difference.“ — Lou Holtz
“Work and you’ll get what you need; work harder and you’ll get what you want.” — Prabakaran Thirumalai
“Work harder than you think you did yesterday.” — Alex Elle
“It’s not about money or connections – it’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone.” — Mark Cuban
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” — Thomas Jefferson
“Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No Excuses.” — Kobe Bryant
“Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.” — Sam Ewing
“Luck is great, but most of life is hard work.” — Iain Duncan Smith
“Happiness is the real sense of fulfillment that comes from hard work.” — Joseph Barbara
“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” — Stephen King
“A sign of a hard worker is one who works without complaint.” — Sarah Price
“A lot of hard work is hidden behind nice things.” — Ralph Lauren
“Talent means nothing, while experience, acquired in humility and with hard work, means everything.” — Patrick Suskind
“Hard work is an essential element in tracking down and perfecting a strategy or in executing it.” — Charlie Munger
“Hard work compounds like interest, and the earlier you do it, the more time you have for the benefits to pay off.” — Sam Altman
“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” — Peter F. Drucker
So that’s our list! We hope you found the perfect quote you were looking for.
Pin it for later!
About the Author
Laynni Locke
I am Laynni Locke, a Canadian writer, reader and traveller with a passion for sharing life’s moments on social media. Keeping friends and family in the loop of our lives though photos and videos has become an essential activity for most.
And it doesn’t matter if you are travelling, celebrating a special occasion or just appreciating day-to-day life, when you take that perfect photo you are going to need the perfect caption or quote before you share it. Which is why we started Routinely Shares, providing comprehensive lists of quotes and captions to cover every occasion, adventure or loved one.
With extensive experience as a travel writer, social media specialist and grant writer, I have made it my mission to curate the best and easiest to use lists for your next post.