80 School Quotes To Get The Motivation You Need For Learning

These powerful school quotes will make you sincerely appreciate the importance of education.

By Norbert Juma

Master quote curator and editor on a mission to inspire

Updated August 28, 2023

Encourage the magic of learning with our inspirational collection of school quotes.

Infuse young minds with the can-do spirit using our motivational messages for kids, designed to fan the flames of their boundless potential.

Delve into the profound realms of our education insights that celebrate the transformative essence of knowledge.

As the golden hues of September announce a season of renewal, rekindle those treasured memories and aspirations of the first day of school.

And when you crave a sprinkle of humor amidst the academic hustle, our funny yearbook picks guarantee a good laugh.

School quotes on how educationchanges the world

1. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” — Nelson Mandela

2. “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” — Marian Wright Edelman

3. “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

4. “The main hope of a nation lies in the proper education of its youth.” ― Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus

5. “With guns, you can kill terrorists, with education you can kill terrorism.” ― Malala Yousafzai

6. “A good education is a foundation for a better future.” – Elizabeth Warren

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to check out our collection of Elizabeth Warren quotes on capitalism, politics, and more.

7. “Change is the end result of all true learning.” – Leo Buscaglia

8. “Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.” – Edward Everett

Educationshould be exciting school quotes

9. “I believe that education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message.” — Steve Irwin

10. “Do not train children to learn by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” — Plato

Educationchanges your future

11. “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” — Maimonides

12. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” — Aristotle

13. “The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover, to create men who are capable of doing new things.” — Jean Piaget

14. “It is, in fact, a part of the function of education to help us escape, not from our own time – for we are bound by that – but from the intellectual and emotional limitations of our time.” — T.S. Eliot

15. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X

16. “I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.” – Alexander the Great

Schoolquotes on why you should keep learning

17. “You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.” — Clay P. Bedford

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of curiosity quotes that will inspire you to learn more about the world around you.

18. “Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.” — Francis Bacon

19. “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” — Henry Ford

20. “Many highly intelligent people are poor thinkers. Many people of average intelligence are skilled thinkers. The power of the car is separate from the way the car is driven.” — Edward De Bono

21. “There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.” — Jiddu Krishnamurti

22. “The best students come from homes where education is revered: where there are books, and children see their parents reading them.” — Leo Buscaglia

23. “Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.” – Chinese proverb

24. “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” – Abigail Adams

25. “Education is a continual process, it’s like a bicycle… If you don’t pedal you don’t go forward.” – George Weah

26. “You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward.” – Conrad Hall

School quotes on how learning improves your life

27. “Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism.” — David M. Burns

28. “Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth.” — Chanakya

29. “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” ― Jim Rohn

30. “Knowledge will bring you the opportunity to make a difference.” ― Claire Fagin

31. “Wisdom…. comes not from age, but from education and learning.” ― Anton Chekhov

32. “The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.” — Tom Bodett

School quotes on why students should be involved in learning

33. “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” — Chinese proverb

34. “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

35. “Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners.” – John Holt

36. “Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new.” – Og Mandino

Schoolquotes on why knowledge is the goal

37. “The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn… and change.” — Carl Rogers

38. “If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” — Ben Franklin

39. “A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.” — Mark Twain

40. “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.” — Kofi Annan

41. “Upon the subject of education … I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in.” – Abraham Lincoln

42. “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” — Andy McIntyre

43. “Learning starts with failure; the first failure is the beginning of education.” – John Hersey

44. “Every artist was at first an amateur.” – Ralph W. Emerson

45. “The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.” ― Michel Legrand

46. “Only the educated are free.” ― Epictetus

47. “Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning are where the miracle process all begins.” — Jim Rohn

48. You’re never too old to start learning, and you’re never too young to aim high and achieve great things.” — Asa Hutchinson

More school quotes on learning

49. “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” — Anthony J. D’Angelo

50. “To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil’s soul.” ― Muriel Spark

51. “You have to stay in school. You have to. You have to go to college. You have to get your degree. Because that’s the one thing people can’t take away from you is your education. And it is worth the investment.” – Michelle Obama

52. “Education is not just about going to school and getting a degree. It’s about widening your knowledge and absorbing the truth about life.” – Shakuntala Devi

53. “You must get an education. You must go to school, and you must learn to protect yourself. And you must learn to protect yourself with the pen, and not the gun.” – Josephine Baker

54. “Every day in your life is a day in school,” Father Stephen said. “One takes many things from a school but one attends primarily, in order to learn.” – William Edmund Barrett

55. “School is just the place where you learn the rules of the system. Your life is where you get your education.” – Trevor Noah

56. “The highest purpose of education is to unlearn what we once took for granted, to replace certainty with subtlety, prejudice with compassion and destiny with possibility.” – Neel Burton

57. “Make your education valuable. Apply what you learned. Refuse to take the back seat and watch things happen. Join the change and be part of the change.” – Israelmore Ayivor

58. Education must not simply teach work – it much teach life.” – W.E.B. Du Bois

59. “Education is not a product but a relationship and a process; a relationship between student and lecturer, and a process by which knowledge transforms the individual.” – Kenan Malik

60. “We’re all born with curiosity, but at some point, school usually manages to knock that out of us.” – Max Tegmark

More insightful school quotes to empower you

61. “The most important day of a person’s education is the first day of school, not Graduation Day.” – Harry Wong

62. “I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.” – Winston Churchill

63. “In school, one learns to ask stupid questions of life.” – Marty Rubin

64. “Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.” – Oprah Winfrey

65. “The road to freedom –here and everywhere on earth-– begins in the classroom.” – Hubert Humphrey

66. “School is a building which has four walls with tomorrow inside.” – Lon Watters

67. “Intelligence plus character that is the goal of true education.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

68. “Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai

69. “All children start their school careers with sparkling imaginations, fertile minds, and a willingness to take risks with what they think.” – Ken Robinson

70. “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” – Victor Hugo

School Quotes To Learn Other Skills To Apply In Life

71. Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” ― John Dewey

72. “It’s not the school, the curriculum, or the teacher, but motivation that is the single most important ingredient in learning.” ― Ivan Sutherland

73. “Learning is not compulsory; it’s voluntary… But to survive, we must learn.” ― W. Edwards Deming

74. “I was 11 when I was first introduced to live drawing classes and going to art school.” ― Kehinde Wiley

75. “I started to write. And I wrote and wrote all through high school.” ― Vera Nazarian

76. Education is hanging around until you’ve caught on.” ― Robert Frost

77. “I like to cook. I would probably go to culinary school in France if I had time.” ― Jessica Alba

78. “I didn’t apply to different schools. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do.” ― Frank Caliendo

79. “By the time I entered this prestigious high school, my interest in formal education had already been exhausted.” ― Lewis Schiff

80. “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” ― Oscar Wilde

Which of these school quotes helped you find the motivation to learn?

Learning isn’t boring and it’s not something that should only take place within the four walls of a classroom.

Knowledge is power and when you embrace that fact, you’re able to transform your life.

Learning helps you to improve your own life and help others as well.

Life long learning is the key to happiness and growth.

The process should be exciting and something that you look forward to.

But if you struggle with finding the motivation that you need to continue learning or to look forward to it, hopefully, the quotes above can help you out.