Student Success Motivational Quotes, Attributed and Checked

Student success motivational quotes are short lines about effort, persistence, and finishing hard work, for planners, lockers, and exam weeks. Each quote below has a verifiable source, and the ones people commonly misattribute are flagged.

Quotes About Effort

“Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

— Thomas Edison, quoted in Harper’s Monthly (1932)

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Circles” (1841)

Quotes About Failure and Persistence

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six 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, Nike advertisement (1997)

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”

— Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery (1901)

Quotes That Are Often Misattributed

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts” is credited to Winston Churchill, but no record of him saying it has been found. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit” is credited to Aristotle, but it was written by Will Durant, summarizing Aristotle, in The Story of Philosophy (1926).

How to Use Them

Pick one line per term and tie it to a specific task, such as a study schedule or a finals week plan. A quote helps most when it sits next to something concrete to do.

For more, see quotes for students, study quotes, and student test motivation quotes.

FAQ

What is a good success quote for students?

Booker T. Washington’s line on obstacles is sourced and fits a student who is working through something difficult.

Did Churchill say success is not final?

There is no documented source for it in his speeches or writing.

Did Aristotle say we are what we repeatedly do?

No. Will Durant wrote it in 1926 as a summary of Aristotle’s ideas.