70 Graduation Quotes to Inspire your Future - Even If You're Not a Student

If you’ve already been there, you’ll remember it fondly. If you’re close to your graduation day, buckle up! You’re going to ride an emotional roller coaster where you experience all the power of youth, experience glorious and fantastic mistakes, and get ready for life’s coming attractions. 

Graduation day is a day filled with mixed feelings. You’re gonna be happy because you’ve finally made it; no more classes, no more teachers telling you what to do and no more exams. You’re ready for the things ahead, and the ultimate professional destination. Maybe you’ll just move from your parents’ house - and that can be a success all on its own! Of course, that’s only true until you start paying rent. 

But it’s not just lessons you’ll be leaving behind. You’re also going to get a bit anxious and start realizing that you’re going to miss your school days. Suddenly all those questions pop up – ‘Where do I go from here?’ ‘Will I be able to make it on my own?’ ‘Will I be as successful as I’ve always dreamed?’ ‘Do I even have a speech for all this?’

As Tony Robbins says, the only impossible journey is the one you never begin.  So get ready to get started! Enjoy the day as much as you can because graduation will be one of the best moments in your early life. It’s time for a new start and you’re in charge to make it a great one. It’s time for you to shine! But remember, it’s only the beginning…

Tomorrow belongs to you! Let these quotes inspire you for the adventure ahead!

Graduation is a special time to acknowledge and celebrate both the end of a journey and the beginning of a new one. It’s common for graduation to bring on a ton of mixed emotions which can be hard to make sense of and put into words. These inspirational graduation quotes will help you find the courage you need to navigate the real word, and remind you of why you aimed to reach graduation in the first place. 

"As you start your journey, the first thing you should do is throw away that store-bought map and begin to draw your own."

MICHAEL DELL

"We don't stop going to school when we graduate."

CAROL BURNETT

"Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead."

NORA EPHRON

"For good nurture and education implant good constitutions."

PLATO

Instruction ends in the schoolroom, but education ends only with life.

FREDERICK W. ROBERTSON

When we show up, act boldly, and practice the best ways to be wrong, we fail forward. No matter where we end up, we’ve grown from where we began.

STACEY ABRAMS

You cannot dream of becoming something you do not know about. You have to learn to dream big. Education exposes you to what the world has to offer, to the possibilities open to you.

SONIA SOTOMAYOR

The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.

B.B KING

Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own.

MICHELLE OBAMA

Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart and success will come to you.

OPRAH WINFREY

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Steve Jobs

STEVE JOBS

Nothing can dim the light that shines from within. 

MAYA ANGELOU

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

ARTHUR ASHE

The best way to predict your future is to create it.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.

SALVADOR DALI

Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

College graduation quotes

A college graduation, and more importantly, the graduated, deserve to be honored and celebrated. It’s an opportunity to reflect on your hard work and sacrifices, and a time to look hopefully towards the future. These college graduation quotes will remind you of what you’ve already accomplished and all the things you’re capable of.

I encourage you to live with life. Be courageous, adventurous. Give us a tomorrow, more than we deserve.

MAYA ANGELOU

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.

WILLIAM ARTHUR WARD

That diploma you hold in your hands today is really just your learner’s permit for the rest of the drive through life. Remember, you don’t have to be smarter than the next person, all you have to do is be willing to work harder than the next person.

JIMMY IOVINE

Your life is your story, and the adventure ahead of you is the journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential.

KERRY WASHINGTON

Graduation speeches force you to reflect. They are about consciousness. Nothing is better than consciousness.

BRUCE ERIC KAPLAN

Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors!

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT (MORE LOUISA MAY ALCOTT QUOTES)

Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today. 

MALCOLM X (MORE MALCOLM X QUOTES)

This path does not belong to your parents, your teachers, your leaders, or your lovers. Your path is your character defining itself more and more everyday, like a photograph coming into focus.

JODIE FOSTER

When you leave here, don’t forget why you came.

ADLAI E. STEVENSON

Kid, you’ll move mountains. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting so get on your way!

DR. SEUSS

Be the hardest working person you know. Because if you’re not, someone else will be.

IAN BRENNAN

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.

STEVE JOBS

We don’t stop going to school when we graduate.

CAROL BURNETT

If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.

THOMAS JEFFERSON

Wherever you go, go with all your heart.

CONFUCIUS

From my point of view, which is that of a storyteller, I see your life as already artful, waiting just waiting and ready for you to make it art.

TONI MORRISON

Don’t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table.

BARACK OBAMA

 Be bold, be courageous, be your best.

GABRIELLE GIFFORDS

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.

JOHN DEWEY

Funny graduation quotes

Graduation season can stir up some worries about the future and what better way is there to ease the tension than with a well-crafted, funny quote. A little post-grad advice can go a long way, but sometimes a good laugh is in order. As you prepare to make your entry into the “real world” or are looking for the right words to honor the graduate in your life, these funny and clever graduation quotes will put a smile on everyone’s face.

Follow your passion, stay true to yourself, never follow someone else’s path. Unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path, then by all means you should follow that.

ELLEN DEGENERES

Just remember, you can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

The road to success is always under construction.

LILY TOMLIN

When I was going for my graduate degree, I decided I was going to make a feature film as my thesis, which was 'You're a Big Boy Now.'

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA

As you set off into the world, don’t be afraid to question your leaders. But don’t ask too many questions at one time or that are too hard, because your leaders will get tired and/or cranky.

WILL FERRELL

The unfortunate, yet truly exciting thing about your life is that there is no core curriculum. The entire place is an elective.

JON STEWART

It’s always a good move to listen to that inner voice… if it doesn’t lead to crime.

LISA KUDROW

A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that 'individuality' is the key to success.

ROBERT ORBEN

You will find the key to success under the alarm clock.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Every year, many, many stupid people graduate from college. And if they can do it, so can you.

JOHN GREEN

You will stumble and fall, you will experience both disaster and triumph, sometimes in the same day. But it's really important to remember that like a hangover, neither triumphs nor disasters last forever.

HELEN MIRREN

My dear terrified graduates, you are about to enter the most uncertain and thrilling period of your lives.

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA

So, what’s it like in the real world? Well, the food is better, but beyond that, I don’t recommend it.

BILL WATTERSON

Graduation day is tough for adults. They go to the ceremony as parents. They come home as contemporaries. After twenty-two years of child-raising, they are unemployed.

ERMA BOMBECK

 If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.

FRANK A. CLARK

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

OSCAR WILDE

 Always be the first-rate version of yourself, instead of the second-rate version of somebody else.

JUDY GARLAND

A man who has never gone to school may steal a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Graduation quotes to say congratulations

You know congratulations are in order but not quite sure what else to say? Letting a graduate know how proud you are of their accomplishments adds to the joy of celebrating the important milestone. So, if you’re struggling to find the words, let yourself be inspired with these graduation quotes to say congratulations.

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.

E.E CUMMINGS

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing.

PELE

You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.

TOM BROKAW

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.

ARISTOTLE

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Graduation is only a concept. In real life, everyday you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you’ll make a difference. 

ARIE PENCOVICI

Graduation is not the end; it’s the beginning.

SENATOR ORRIN HATCH

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.

NELSON MANDELA

Remember this: You are awesome. I’m not suggesting you be boastful. No one likes that in men or women. But I am suggesting that believing in yourself is the first necessary step to coming even close to achieving your potential.

SHERYL SANDBERG

The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse.

EDWARD KOCH

That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey.

PAULO COELHO

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. 

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

The future is always uncertain, but we who celebrate what you have done, who celebrate all of your achievements, we are certain of one thing on this day: You will not let us down.

TOM HANKS

What lies behind us and what lies before we are small matters compared to what lies within us.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Take pride in how far you’ve come. Have faith in how far you can go. But don’t forget to enjoy the journey.

MICHAEL JOSEPHSON