115 Hard Work Quotes That Will Motivate Us To Persevere

Renee Hanlon

February 12, 2024 at 12:50 AM·14 min read

Woman working hard during exercise

Getting what we want out of like is most likely going to take some effort. Sure, it would be nice to have things just magically fall into place, but we know that's not realistic. We need to work hard to achieve our goals. So what do we do when we are having trouble getting off the couch to pursue our dreams? Sometimes we just need a little encouragement. That's where these 115 hard work quotes come into play. They offer lots of encouraging words to give us a little motivation to get up and start doing.

Whether you are dreaming about the perfect career or thinking about a new fitness routine, these quotes by famous achievers may convince you to persevere. Anyone who has had great success in life knows all about working hard. Just see what people like Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan and Steve Jobs have had to say.

Get ready to be rejuvenated, motivated and inspired by these famous quotes about working hard.

115 Best Hard Work Quotes

1. "A lot of hard work is hidden behind nice things.” – Ralph Lauren

2. "Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them." – Ann Landers

3. "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved." – Helen Keller

4. "The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work." – Harry Golden

5. "Happiness is the real sense of fulfillment that comes from hard work.” – Joseph Barbera

6. "There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits." – Michael Phelps

7. "Worrying gets you nowhere. If you turn up worrying about how you’re going to perform, you’ve already lost. Train hard, turn up, run your best and the rest will take care of itself.” – Usain Bolt

8. "Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did." – Newt Gingrich

9. "Talent is given by God but you should respect it by doing good work.” – Johnny Lever

10. "Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong

11. "The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." – Thomas Edison

12. "There may be people who have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.” – Derek Jeter

13. "I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.” – Booker T. Washington

14. "Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do." – Pelé

15. "If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.” – Jack Dixon

16. "I never dreamt of success. I worked for it." – Estée Lauder

17. "Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau

18. "Talent is nothing without persistence." – Dean Crawford

19. "It’s hard to beat a person who doesn’t give up.” – Babe Ruth

20. "A man can make what he wants of himself if he truly believes that he must be ready for hard work and many heartbreaks." – Thurgood Marshall

21. "Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice.” – Henry Ford

22. "Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." – Robert Collier

23. "Preparation for tomorrow is hard work today.” – Bruce Lee

Inspiring Hard Work Quotes

24. "Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” – Oprah Winfrey

25. "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” – Tim Notke

26. "The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!” – Marvin Phillip

27. "The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are Hard work, stick-to-itiveness, and common sense.” – Thomas Edison

28. "Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.” – Conan O’Brien

29. "If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all.” – Michelangelo

30. "Without a struggle there can be no progress.” – Frederick Douglass

31. "You can’t just will your dreams to come true. You have to work hard. You have to give ’em wings, arms, legs…whatever it takes to make your dreams come true.” – Dolly Parton

32. "Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.” – David Bly

33. "If you do the work you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life.” – Michael Jordan

34. "Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – Francis of Assisi

35. "Dreams are not easy. Dreams are painful. They force work and commitment. They are challenging and motivating.” – Robert Kiyosaki

36. "This is the real secret of life—to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. Instead of calling it work, realize it is play." – Alan Wilson Watts

37. "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.” – Sam Ewing

38. "Obstacles can't stop you. Problems can't stop you. Most of all, other people can't stop you. Only you can stop you." – Jeffrey Gitomer

39. "Without labor, nothing prospers.” – Sophocles

40. "You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeated, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it." – Maya Angelou

41. "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell

42. "Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." – Dale Carnegie

43. "The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… one step at a time.” – Joe Girard

44. "You never know what's around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain." – Tom Hiddleston

45. "The harder I work the more I live.” – George Bernard Shaw

46. "When you live for a strong purpose, then hard work isn't an option. It's a necessity." – Steve Pavlina

Hard Work Quotes To Contemplate

47. "The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work.” – Vince Lombardi

48. "Persistence is the twin sister of excellence. One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time." – Marabel Morgan

49. "All roads that lead to success have to pass through hard work boulevard at some point.” – Eric Thomas

50. "I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near." – Margaret Thatcher

51. "If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” – Steve Jobs

52. "Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead 20 years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then." – Diana Ross

53. "Work hard in silence, let success be your noise.” – Frank Ocean

54. "Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible." – Tony Robbins

55. "Believe in yourself, work hard, work smart and passionately present your best self to the world.” – Hill Harper

56. "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other." – Walter Elliot

57. "If you really want something, and really work hard, and take advantage of opportunities, and never give up, you will find a way.” – Jane Goodall

58. "Without hustle, talent will only carry you so far." – Gary Vaynerchuk

59. "In any given moment we have two options. To step forward into growth or to step back into safety.” – Abraham Maslow

60. "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." – Wayne Gretzky

61. "All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work." – Calvin Coolidge

62. "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." – Walt Disney

63. "Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.” – Malcolm Forbes

64. "We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” – Jesse Owens

65. "Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” – Salvador Dali

66. "There is no magic to achievement. It’s really about hard work, choices, and persistence.” – Michelle Obama

67. "The future depends on what you do today." – Mahatma Gandhi

68. "I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

69. “Don't wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn

Motivating Hard Work Quotes

70. “Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing.” – Thomas Jefferson

71. “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson

72. “No one understands and appreciates the American Dream of hard work leading to material rewards better than a non-American.” – Anthony Bourdain

73. “If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.” – George Monbiot

74. “Sometimes there's not a better way. Sometimes there's only the hard way.” – Mary E. Pearson

75. “It doesn't matter how great your shoes are if you don't accomplish anything in them.” – Martina Boone

76. “Be like a duck, paddling and working very hard inside the water, but what everyone sees is a smiling and calm face.” – Manoj Arora

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

78. “Perseverance is the act of true role models and heroes.” – Liza Wiemer

79. “If you invest nothing, the reward is worth little.” – Richelle E. Goodrich

80. “If you don't sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice.” – Anonymous

81. “Too many irons, not enough fire.” – S. Kelley Harrell

82. “Plant your tiny seeds and keep watering them every day. Soon, they’ll grow.” – Israelmore Ayivor

83. “If your dream is a big dream, and if you want your life to work on the high level that you say you do, there's no way around doing the work it takes to get you there.” – Joyce Chapman

84. “Ah? A small aversion to menial labor?" The doctor cocked an eyebrow. "Understandable, but misplaced. One should treasure those hum-drum tasks that keep the body occupied but leave the mind and heart unfettered.” – Tad Williams

85. “Ideas do not work...It is YOU who has to do the work....” – Manoj Arora

86. “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” – Thomas Jefferson

87. “Some people dream of SUCCESS while others wake up and work hard at it.” – Barbara Rubel

88. “The smell of the sweat is not sweet, but the fruit of the sweat is very sweet.” – Amit Kalantri

89. “Try not to leave your work for someone else to do. If possible, carry the work of someone and add it to yours. That's a trait of leaders!” – Israelmore Ayivor

90. “Experts were once amateurs who kept practicing.” – Amit Kalantri

91. “The size of the tree you cut determines the weight with which you have to throw the axe.” – Israelmore Ayivor

92. “Maximize the time you have through hard work, concentration and research” – Sunday Adelaja

Thoughtful Hard Work Quotes

93. “Painful workouts yield gainful results. This is true of every gain. No pain, no gain.” – Haresh Sippy

94. “What is hard work? It takes strength, energy, and stress to truly care about others enough to place oneself last, but it is easy to wrap oneself up and selfishly scramble on the heads of others.” – Criss Jami

95. “Hard work makes you feel good because you have accomplished something.” – Alcurtis Turner

96. “Man was designed in a way in which he must eat in order to give him a solid reason to go to work every day. This helps to keep him out of trouble. God is wise.” – Criss Jami

97. “Leaders are not born, but made as a result of hard work.” – Sunday Adelaja

98. “It was the hardest work I'd ever done, and, while it lasted, one could think of nothing else. I said not long before that work and weakness are comforters. But sweat is the kindest creature of the three -- far better than philosophy, as a cure for ill thoughts.” – C.S. Lewis

99. “Wealth is certainly a most desirable thing, but poverty has its sunny side, and one of the sweet uses of adversity is the genuine satisfaction which comes from hearty work of head or hand.” – Louisa May Alcott

100. “Success is not given, it's earned." – Travis Kelce

101. “Striving for the impossible is not the same as toiling in vain.” – Rob Balder

102. “We reap what we sow, but not always when we expect. Our efforts will not go unnoticed, but they will manifest in their own time, and often surprise us with their abundance. Just like a little fruit seed can produce a lot of fruit with sufficient attention and time.” – Srinivas Mishra

103. “The road to excellence starts with what you do best, continues with devotion and never really ends.” – George Wilson Adams

104. “The wonderful patience of the trail... comes to men who toil hard and suffer sore, and remain sweet of speech and kindly.” – Jack London

105. “Of course, everyone wants to be happy and successful, but not everyone wants to work hard and have patience.” – Atul Dhumal

106. “Working hard is often the difference between success and failure, but is also a rewarding pursuit in itself.” – Oscar Auliq-Ice

107. “Legacy is the reward given to those who work diligently, serve the purpose of their life, and contributed to society.” – Dr. Lucas D. Shallua

108. “People like to say that hard work makes you rich. That isn't true. But if you like the work, and it keeps you and yours fed and warm, it can make you happy.” – Jake Wyatt

109. “Success is not a destination, but a journey. You can learn from others’ words, but you have to walk your own path with your own ideas and hard work.” – Srinivas Mishra

110. “We're all capable of more, don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Keep chasing those dreams, through hard work you'll eventually catch them.” – Alan Fletcher

111. “The worth of the country lies in hard working citizens.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

112. “Honestly, I’ve wanted to give up a lot of times. But I worked hard. I believed I would succeed if I worked hard.” – Junmyeon Kim

113. “It's hard work and dedication that earns you respect in your team and brings out your inner strength and ability.” – Felecia Etienne

114. “Change can take years--before it happens all at once.” – James Clear

115. “Like a farmer you should be too busy cultivating your crops to care what others think about the untidiness of your lands.” – Curtis Tyrone Jones

Next up: 105 Insomnia Quotes for When Those Long, Restless Nights Feel Like They'll Never End

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