30+ Best Inspirational Graduation Quotes

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Use these graduation quotes to inspire and motivate your grad. Graduation is a special time to celebrate achievements and to look forward with excitement to the future.

Print these free graduation cards with an inspirational message and add a money diploma for the perfect graduation gift.

Graduation Quotes

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill

What should I write in a graduation card?

Inspirational graduation quotes are perfect to write inside a grad card. What do you say on graduation day? These quotes below have got it covered. Grad quotes are the perfect way to let them know you believe in them and know their future is bright.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover. – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. – Dr. Seuss

How do you encourage graduates?

Quotes are the perfect way to encourage and inspire graduates! They can provide the perfect amount of motivation, help them acknowledge their accomplishments, and also encourage them to live their best life!

Graduation Quotes from Inspirational figures

What lies behind us, and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right. – Henry Ford

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

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

Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets. – Leonardo da Vinci

Graduation is an exciting time. It marks both an ending and a beginning; it’s warm memories of the past and big dreams for the future.

What we learn with pleasure we never forget. — Alfred Mercier

Wherever you go, go with all your heart. – Confucius

Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education. — Martin Luther King Jr.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. – Nelson Mandela

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

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

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind. — C.S. Lewis

We do not need magic to change the world, we can carry all the power we need inside ourselves already. – JK Rowling

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

The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore. – Dale Carnegie

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

High School Graduation Quotes

Here is some more advice from some successful people that make inspirational senior quotes. These high school quotes also make the perfect college graduation quotes as well.

• “Beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. It’s about knowing and accepting who you are.” ― Ellen DeGeneres
• “The only way to do great work is to love what you do”. -Steve Jobs
• “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” ― Sheryl Sandberg
• “We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” ― Maya Angelou
• “It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.” ― J.K. Rowling
• “That luminous part of you that exists beyond personality–your soul, if you will–is as bright and shining as any that has ever been… Clear away everything that keeps you separate from this secret luminous place. Believe it exists, comes to know it better, nurtures it, share its fruits tirelessly.”
  ― George Saunders
• You don’t want to live so cautiously in case you fail. We cannot live without failing. Don’t be afraid to live without fear. It is impossible to live running away from fear. If you are afraid of fear you will fail by default. You must be willing to take a risk to progress. Even failure sharpens you, it challenges you!
• “Now go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here.” ― Neil Gaiman
• “Learn from every mistake, because every experience, particularly your mistakes, are there to teach you and force you into being more who you are.” ― Oprah Winfrey
• “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
• “Instead of letting your hardships and failures discourage or exhaust you, let them inspire you. Let them make you even hungrier to succeed.” ― Michelle Obama
• “The right attitude can transform a barrier into a blessing, an obstacle into an opportunity, or a stumbling block into a stepping stone.” ― Cory Booker

Looking for more inspirational quotes?

Check these out.

• Famous Quotes –  find the perfect quote for every situation!
• Positive Affirmations – I love these printable cards that you can print and share or tuck in places as a reminder of how amazing you are!
• New Year Quotes are perfect for new beginnings.
• Life Quotes – these printable cards would be great to slip into a care package or card.

Whether you have a graduate leaving high school or a college grad, these graduation quotes are a fun way to celebrate graduation day. Gift cards, like an Amazon Gift Card (affiliate link), are another great way for new graduates to celebrate.