21 motivational quotes for business school students

Whether you’re a brand new student or close to finishing your studies, chances are you will experience a lack of motivation many times throughout your degree. Sometimes all it takes is to recall what inspired us to begin in the first place, and we’re back on track to achieving our goals. For those looking for motivation or simply some thought provoking and inspiring quotes – we’ve compiled a list of our top motivational quotes for MBA and business school students below.

On the benefits of working hard 

1.  “I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.”
– Madame C.J. Walker

2. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
– Jim Ryun

3. “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
– Albert Einstein

4. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”
– Robert Collier

5. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
– Confucius

6. “Inspiration is the windfall from hard work and focus. Muses are too unreliable to keep on the payroll.”
– Helen Hanson

7. “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”
– Margaret Fuller

On creating a positive experience

8. “Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility of defeat. Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses… on your powers, instead of your problems.”
– Paul J. Meyer

9. “Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”
– Greg Anderson

10. “The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as long as we live.”
– Mortimer Adler

11. “The journey is the reward.”
– Chinese Proverb

12. “Focus on making yourself better, not on thinking that you are better.”
– Bohdi Sanders

On challenging yourself

13. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
– John D. Rockefeller

14. “All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.”
– Michael John Bobak

15. “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
– H. Jackson Brown Jr.

16. “Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them.”
– Anonymous

On embracing failure

17. “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
– Winston Churchill

18. “A failure is not always a mistake. It may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.”
– B. F. Skinner

19. “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
– Robert F. Kennedy

20. “Failure defeats losers, failure inspires winners.”
– Robert T. Kiyosaki

21. “The expert in anything was once a beginner.”
– Helen Hayes

What do you think?

Do you have any inspiring quotes to add to this list? Comment to share the quotes and mantras that have helped you persevere through your MBA studies.

This article was written by Laura Hutton on behalf of the Australian Institute of Business. All opinions are that of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of AIB.