Danny NewmanHave you ever worked in an office with walls covered in work quotes?
They can be a tad cheesy, but they’re there for a reason! The right quote can be an effective motivational tool.
It helps set the tone, inform the company culture, and inspire people to work hard.
Are you looking for quotes about work or work ethic for similar reasons? Here are 170 that will hopefully do the trick…
Table of Contents
Short Work Quotes
- “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn
- “All happiness depends on courage and work.” – Honoré de Balzac
- “Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.” – Dalai Lama
- “Out of clutter, find simplicity.” – Albert Einstein
- “Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose.” – G.K. Nielson
- “Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.” – J.M. Barrie
- “Work without love is slavery.” – Mother Teresa
- “Bet on me? Bet I will.” – Lizzo
- “Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden
- “The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost
- “Practice makes progress not perfect.” – Unknown
- “You can control two things: your work ethic and your attitude about anything.” – Ali Krieger
- “A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.” – Nelson Mandela
- “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
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“You can’t have a million dollar dream with a minimum wage work ethic.” – Zig Ziglar
- “I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest.” – Venus Williams
- “Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn
- “The plan is to fan this spark into a flame.” – Lin-Manuel Miranda
- “The future depends on what you do today.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “The only thing that ever sat its way to success was a hen.” – Sarah Brown
- “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou
- “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis
- “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- “You will never plough a field if you only turn it over in your mind.” – Irish Proverb
- “Talent is nothing without persistence.” – Dean Crawford
- “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” – John Steinbeck
- “Delegate your work. Stop spending dollar time on penny jobs.” – Mary Kay Ash
- “I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill
- “Everything is hard before it is easy.” – Goethe
Inspirational Quotes About Work
- “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” – Earl Nightingale
- “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” – Barack Obama
- “This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” – Alan Watts
- “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
- “You get to decide where your time goes. You can either spend it moving forward, or you can spend it putting out fires. You decide. And if you don’t decide, others will decide for you.” – Tony Morgan
- “You have to set goals that are almost out of reach. If you set a goal that is attainable without much work or thought, you are stuck with something below your true talent and potential.” – Steve Garvey
- “Hard work is an essential element in tracking down and perfecting a strategy or in executing it.” – Charlie Munger
- “Luck is great, but most of life is hard work.” – Iain Duncan Smith
- “At the end of the day we can endure much more than we think we can.” – Frida Kahlo
- “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
- “When someone tells me ‘no,’ it doesn’t mean I can’t do it, it simply means I can’t do it with them.” – Karen E. Quinones Miller
- “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” – Tony Robbins
- “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
- “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair
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“Staying positive does not mean that things will turn out okay. Rather it is knowing that you will be okay no matter how things turn out.” – Garth Ennis
- “If you can tune into your purpose and really align with it, setting goals so that your vision is an expression of that purpose, then life flows much more easily.” – Jack Canfield
- “Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
- “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” – Brian Herbert
- “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” – Stephen King
- “Time is not refundable; use it with intention.” – Unknown
- “Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.” – Peter Drucker
- “I always had the uncomfortable feeling that if I wasn’t sitting in front of a computer typing, I was wasting my time – but I pushed myself to take a wider view of what was ‘productive.’ Time spent with my family and friends was never wasted.” – Gretchen Rubin
- “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” – Isaac Newton
- “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” – Henry Ford
- “Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine
- “The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it.” – Epicurus
- “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” – Mark Twain
- “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” – Fred DeVito
You Got This Quotes
- “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
- “Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work.” – Gustave Flaubert
- “Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” – William James
- “Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it” – Buddha
- “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” – Tim Notke
- “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” – Steve Jobs
- “Dreams can come true, but there is a secret. They’re realized through the magic of persistence, determination, commitment, passion, practice, focus and hard work. They happen a step at a time, manifested over years, not weeks.” – Elbert Hubbard
- “Motivation will almost always beat mere talent.” – Norman Ralph Augustine
- “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.” – Stephen Hawking
- “It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
- “Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.” – Og Mandino
- “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 is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others.” – George Shinn
- “One thing’s for sure, if you don’t play, you don’t win.” – Kylie Francis
- “Becoming is better than being.” – Carol Dweck
- “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
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“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
- “Write it. Shoot it. Publish it. Crochet it. Sauté it. Whatever. MAKE.” – Joss Whedon
- “One day or day one. You decide.” – Unknown
- “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” – Zig Zigler
- “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” – Vince Lombardi
- “Show me a person who has never made a mistake and I’ll show you someone who has never achieved much.” – Joan Collins
- “Someday is not a day of the week.” – Janet Dailey
- “Today is your opportunity to build the tomorrow you want.” – Ken Poirot
- “Words can inspire, thoughts can provoke, but only action truly brings you closer to your dreams.” – Brad Sugars
- “I’m not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey
- “If you’re too comfortable it’s time to move on. Terrified of what’s next? You’re on the right track.” – Susan Fales-Hill
- “So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.” – Norton Juster
- “Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead 20 years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.” – Diana Ross
Monday Motivational Quotes for Work
- “All Motivation Mondays need are a little more coffee and a lot more mascara.” – Unknown
- “We will fail when we fail to try.” – Rosa Parks
- “Your Monday morning thoughts set the tone for your whole week. See yourself getting stronger, and living a fulfilling, happier and healthier life.” – Germany Kent
- “Okay, it’s Monday but who said Mondays have to suck? Be a rebel and have a great day anyway.” – Kimberly Jiméne
- “Every morning you have two choices: continue to sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase them.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
- “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
- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Unknown
- “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali
- “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou
- “I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.” – Estée Lauder
- “Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.” – Elizabeth Gilbert
- “I would rather risk wearing out than rusting out.” – Teddy Roosevelt
- “If you want to be successful in this world, you have to follow your passion, not a paycheck.” – Jen Welte
- “My business philosophy is that you have to work harder than everybody else. I always tell my kids and they’re like, ‘Yeah, we know you work hard.’ I’m like, ‘No, it’s not just that I work hard. I put in harder work than everybody else. I work harder and harder and harder and harder. When everybody is sleeping, I’m doing more.’ It’s just a relentless pursuit of creativity.” – Jennifer Lopez
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“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.” – Reid Hoffman
- “I have the same goal I’ve had ever since I was a girl. I want to rule the world.” – Madonna
- “Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – Lolly Daskal
- “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” – Unknown
- “There’s no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn’t tell you about it?” – Kin Hubbard
- “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it.” – J.M. Barrie
- “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb
- “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
- “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” – George Lorimer
- “Boss up and change your life / You can have it all, no sacrifice” – Lizzo
- “When you start to do the things that you truly love, it wouldn’t matter whether it’s Monday or Friday; you would be so excited to wake up each morning to work on your passions.” – Edmond Mbiaka
- “Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Take the moment and make it perfect.” – Unknown
- “A New Week Means New Opportunities.” – Unknown
- “What You Do Today Can Improve All Your Tomorrows.” – Ralph Marston
- “There will always be hurdles in life, but if you want to achieve a goal, you must continue.” – Malala Yousafzai
Related: Motivating Thursday Quotes for Work and Life.
Quotes About Hard Work
- “Work harder than you think you did yesterday.” – Alex Elle
- “Work and you’ll get what you need; work harder and you’ll get what you want.” – Prabakaran Thirumalai
- “Work hard, work hard, and work harder”- Unknown
- “A dream does not become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.” – Colin Powell
- “I think that my biggest attribute to any success that I have had is hard work. There really is no substitute for working hard.” – Maria Bartiromo
- “We need to be bold and ambitious in our thinking about how we can solve the world’s problems.” – Elon Musk
- “A hard thing is done by figuring out how to start.” – Rand Fishkin
- “Don’t expect 100% productivity from an employee when you only give them 1% training.” – Unknown
- “Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.” – Augusta F. Kantra
- “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
- “Fall seven times and stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
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“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
- “Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.”’ – Booker T. Washington
- “There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits.” – Michael Phelps
- “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne Johnson
- “Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier
- “A failure is not always a mistake. It may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.” – B.F. Skinner
- “I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near.” – Margaret Thatcher
- “Always go with the choice that scares you the most, because that’s the one that is going to require the most from you.” – Caroline Myss
- “The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.” – Harry Golden
Related: 100+ Epic Keep Going Quotes for When You Want to Quit.
Funny Work Ethic Quotes
- “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” – Douglas Adams
- “Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.” – Charles J. Sykes
- “Getting paid to sleep… that’s my dream job.” – Unknown
- “I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.” – Jerome K. Jerome
- “We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work” – Thomas A. Edison
- “I always give 100% at Work: 10% Monday, 23% Tuesday, 40% Wednesday, 22% Thursday, and 5% Friday.” – Unknown
- “I always arrive late at the office, but I make up for it by leaving early.” – Charles Lamb
- “Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?” – Edgar Bergen
- “My keyboard must be broken, I keep hitting the escape key, but I’m still at work.’ – Unknown
- “Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They’re about to announce the lottery numbers.” – Homer Simpson
- “Every Friday, I like to high five myself for getting through another week on little more than caffeine, willpower, and inappropriate humor.” – Nanea Hoffman
- “This Friday, finish your work and be done. Look forward to the weekend and have some fun!” – Kate Summers
- “If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.” – Olin Miller
- “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison
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“I choose a lazy person to do a hard job, because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” – Bill Gates
- “Beat the 5 o’clock rush, leave work at noon.” – Unknown
- “No man goes before his time – unless the boss leaves early.” – Groucho Marx
- “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
- “People are still willing to do an honest day’s work. The problem is they want a week’s pay for it.” – Joey Adams
- “If you think your boss is stupid, remember: you wouldn’t have a job if he was any smarter.” – John Gotti
- “Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy.” – Charlie McCarthy
- “Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting somebody else to do the work.” – Earl Nightingale
- “The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.” – Oscar Wilde
- “If hard work is the key to success, most people would rather pick the lock.” – Claude McDonald
- “Oh, you hate your job? Why didn’t you say so? There’s a support group for that. It’s called everybody, and they meet at the bar.” – Drew Carey
- “I think Smithers picked me because of my motivational skills. Everyone says they have to work a lot harder when I’m around.” – Homer Simpson
- “There’s no business like show business, but there are several businesses like accounting.” – David Letterman
- “Coworkers are like Christmas lights. They hang together, half of them don’t work and the other half aren’t so bright.” – Unknown
Find Motivation From These Work Quotes
My instinct is usually to pour another coffee when I’m tired or unfocused at work. But there’s a definite time and place for work quotes, too!
They can be the spark that helps you re-engage with a task. With any luck, the quotes about work and work ethic above will help you find inspiration whenever you need a lift.
Struggling on a Thursday? Check out these thankful Thursday quotes.