Sometimes you just need something really smart to say to inspire and motivate yourself and those around you. And, if you are like me, those times don’t come around every moment of the day.
Luckily there are people who have had flashes of brilliance throughout history when talking about the concept of education, teaching, and learning and someone even smarter wrote it down.
2020 is the UN international year of indigenous languages, and many of these quotes have strong connections to giving native speakers a voice in their own schools.
These quotes will make your students and fellow staff think you are a deep and intellectual thinker and hopefully inspire and motivate them too.
We have compiled 101+ educational quotes based on Inspiration and Motivation, Teaching, Learning and Education.
Use them wisely, and above all else, if you know of any others or have any pearls of wisdom of your own please contact us and share them.
Education Quotes
Who questions much, shall learn much, and retain much. Francis Bacon
Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning. Bruce Lee
A dull mind gets bored easily. A curious mind expands forever. Maxime Lagacé
Play is the highest form of research. Albert Einstein (Based on this page, this quote is probably not from Einstein)
A generation of auto-didacts, educated by the Internet and leveraged by technology, will eventually starve the industrial-education system. Naval Ravikant
A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers. Helen Keller
Children must be taught how to think, not what to think. Margaret Mead
The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled. Plutarch
Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best. Bob Talber
Kids don’t remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are. Jim Henson
A room without books is like a body without a soul. Cicero
The person who asks questions is more helpful than the person who offers advice. James Clear
The highest result of education is tolerance. Helen Keller
Only the autodidacts are free. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
They know enough who know how to learn. Henry Adams
The Best Education Quotes
The more you make it easy for your kids, the more you remove the struggle necessary for learning. Maxime Lagacé
A mind is a terrible thing to waste. United Negro College Fund
Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back. Chinese proverb
I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained. Walt Disney
The giving of love is an education in itself. Eleanor Roosevelt
Lasting novels don’t come from literature departments. Successful businesses don’t come from business schools. Scientific revolutions don’t come from research universities. Get your education, then get moving. Find the loners tinkering at the edge. Naval Ravikant
Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. Chinese proverb
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever. Chinese proverb
Skepticism: the mark and even the pose of the educated mind. John Dewey
People learn more on their own rather than being force fed. Socrates
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero
Instruction does much, but encouragement everything. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Free education is abundant, all over the Internet. It’s the desire to learn that’s scarce. Naval Ravikant
Education would be much more effective if its purpose was to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they do not know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it. William Haley
No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure. Emma Goldman
Learning is not compulsory… neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming
You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation. Brigham Young
Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him. John Locke
Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t. Bill Nye
Don’t let your learning lead to knowledge. Let your learning lead to action. Jim Rohn
The best teachers are those who show you where to look but don’t tell you what to see. Alexandra K. Trenfor
The Most Famous Education Quotes (Oscar Wilde, Victor Hugo, Einstein, etc.)
The learned man knows that he is ignorant. Victor Hugo
I am still learning. Michelangelo
Learning never exhausts the mind. Leonardo da Vinci
Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school. Albert Einstein
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. Mark Twain
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. Augustine of Hippo
Failure is success if we learn from it. Malcolm Forbes
You can never be overdressed or overeducated. Oscar Wilde
Minds are like parachutes, they only function when they are open. James Dewar
The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you. B. B. King
Short Education Quotes
One-liners, short education quotes, sayings, thoughts and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, backgrounds.
Nine tenths of education is encouragement. Anatole France
To teach is to learn twice. Joseph Joubert
Responsibility educates. Wendell Phillips
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. Andy McIntyre
The world exists for the education of each man. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Success is a poor teacher. Robert Kiyosaki
There is no education like adversity. Benjamin Disraeli
Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself. Chinese proverb
There is no failure. Only feedback. Robert Allen
When you learn, teach. When you get, give. Maya Angelou
Inspirational Education Quotes
If people did not do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done. Ludwig Wittgenstein
If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place. Nora Roberts
Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. Og Mandino
With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts. Eleanor Roosevelt
The ideal school would teach health, wealth, and happiness. It‘d be free, self-paced, and available to all. It‘d show opposing ideas and students would self-verify truth. No grades, no tests, no diplomas – just learning. Actually, you’re already here. Careful who you follow. Naval Ravikant
Every person with a smartphone and a pair of headphones has access to the kind of education that was once reserved for the sons of aristocracy. The Stoic Emperor
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. Confucius
Every child deserves a champion: an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists they become the best they can possibly be. Rita Pierson
They cannot stop me. I will get my education, if it is in the home, school, or anyplace. Malala Yousafzai
All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth. Aristotle
Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don’t just stand there, make it happen. Lee Iacocca
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. William James
Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. Norman Vincent Peale
Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great. John D. Rockefeller
Funny And Surprising Education Quotes
You know how to tell if the teacher is hung over? Movie Day. Jay Mohr
To add a library to a house is to give that house a soul. Marcus Tullius Cicero
You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance. Franklin P. Jones
Having a two-year-old is like having a blender that you don’t have the top for. Jerry Seinfeld
Any kid will run any errand for you if you ask at bedtime. Red Skelton
The human brain is special. It starts working as soon as you get up and it doesn’t stop until you get to school. Milton Berle
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. Mark Twain
Education: the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty. Mark Twain
When a teacher calls a boy by his entire name, it means trouble. Mark Twain
I was reading the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything. Steven Wright
The Seinfeld motto: No learning, no hugging. Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Time is the best teacher, but unfortunately, it kills all of its students. Robin Williams
Teachers are those who help us in resolving problems which, without them, we wouldn’t have. Unknown
Marriage can wait, education cannot. Khaled Hosseini
Education Proverbs For Value Packed Wisdom
When the student is ready, the master appears. Buddhist proverb
If a seed of a lettuce will not grow, we do not blame the lettuce. Instead, the fault lies with us for not having nourished the seed properly. Buddhist proverb
A single conversation with a wise man is better than 10 years of study. Chinese proverb
Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. Chinese proverb
Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand. Chinese proverb
Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time. Chinese proverb
Wise men may not be learned; learned men may not be wise. Chinese proverb
A stumble may prevent a fall. English proverb
Despise school and remain a fool. German proverb
All things good to know are difficult to learn. Greek proverb
An apprentice near a temple will recite the scriptures untaught. Japanese proverb
Fall down seven times, stand up eight. Japanese proverb
Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher. Japanese proverb
By learning you will teach; by teaching you will understand. Latin proverb
Knowledge is learning something new every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day. Zen proverb
Education Quotes By Presidents (Obama, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Churchill, etc.)
All I have learned, I learned from books. Abraham Lincoln
I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday. Abraham Lincoln
And by the way, our teachers are underpaid. Barack Obama
You can’t let your failures define you. You have to let your failures teach you. Barack Obama
We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible. Barack Obama
We want to educate people, we want to listen to folks, we want to hear good ideas from all sources. Barack Obama
Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. Barack Obama
A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things. Barack Obama
If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress. Barack Obama
Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. And it will leave you unfulfilled. Barack Obama
The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize. Franklin D. Roosevelt
It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts. Harry S Truman
In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves… self-discipline with all of them came first. Harry S. Truman
Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation. John F. Kennedy
The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth. John F. Kennedy
Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource. John F. Kennedy
Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain. John F. Kennedy
Believe you can and you’re halfway there. Theodore Roosevelt
I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. Thomas Jefferson
The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers. Thomas Jefferson
My education was interrupted only by my schooling. Winston Churchill
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill
If you’re going through hell, keep going. Winston Churchill
Education Quotes By Greeks (Aristotle, Diogenes, Euripides, Pythagoras, etc.)
I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning to sail my ship. Aeschylus
The most necessary learning is that which unlearns evil. Antisthenes
The investigation of the meaning of words is the beginning of education. Antisthenes
The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue. Antisthenes
The wise learn many things from their enemies. Aristophanes
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. Aristotle
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. Aristotle
Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. Aristotle
The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work. Aristotle
Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well. Aristotle
The foundation of every state is the education of its youth. Diogenes
Education is an ornament for the prosperous, a refuge for the unfortunate. Democritus
Some wisdom you must learn from one who’s wise. Euripides
Experience, travel – these are an education in themselves. Euripides
Much learning does not teach understanding. Heraclitus
Even a fool learns something once it hits him. Homer
A learned man has always riches in himself. Phaedrus
All learning has an emotional base. Plato
The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future life. Plato
The learning and knowledge that we have, is, at the most, but little compared with that of which we are ignorant. Plato
Do not train children to learning 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
Wisdom thoroughly learned, will never be forgotten. Pythagoras
Educate the children and it won’t be necessary to punish the men. Pythagoras
Education Quotes By Romans (Caesar, Seneca, Cicero)
Experience is the teacher of all things. Julius Caesar
It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life. Julius Caesar
Only the educated are free. Epictetus
To accuse others for one’s own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one’s education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one’s education is complete. Epictetus
As long as you live, keep learning how to live. Lucius Annaeus Seneca
The mind unlearns with difficulty what it has long learned. Lucius Annaeus Seneca
That is never too often repeated, which is never sufficiently learned. Lucius Annaeus Seneca
You learn to know a pilot in a storm. Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Fear is not a lasting teacher of duty. Marcus Tullius Cicero
The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn. Marcus Tullius Cicero
Conclusion
All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind. Martin H. Fischer
I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma. Eartha Kitt
