75 Inspirational Back-to-School Quotes So Your Kids Have the Best Year Ever
Remember how hard it was to swap those lazy summer days for early mornings, algebra homework and pop quizzes? (Yeah, we're glad that's over.) Going back to school can feel like a chore, but I must admit, there’s some excitement to it, too. After all, nothing hits the spot quite like a fresh batch of school supplies (including 64 shiny new Crayola crayons). Throw in a new wardrobe, backpack, lunchbox and your kid will (hopefully) be waiting in anticipation for the school bus.
To get them in the school spirit, sneak some funny and inspirational words of wisdom (from the likes of Taylor Swift, Zendaya and Amy Poehler) into their notebook—it may win you brownie points. Fortunately, we found 75 back-to-school quotes to motivate your kids for the academic year ahead, so they can reach their full potential. And a few quotes for teachers, because educators need motivation too.
Inspirational Back-to-School Quotes
1. “Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.” — Oprah Winfrey
2. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” — Nelson Mandela
3. “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
4. “I believe that education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message.” — Steve Irwin
5. “When we empower girls hungry for education, we cultivate women who are emboldened to affect change within their communities and globally.” — Meghan Markle
6. “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” — B.B. King
7. “I had the feeling that to get into a schoolhouse and study...would be about the same as getting into paradise.” — Booker T. Washington
8. “I came to understand the value of education, not just to enable me to make a good living, but to enable me to make a worthwhile life.” – Ruth Simmons
9. “I’m not going to school just for the academics. I wanted to share ideas, to be around people who are passionate about learning.” — Emma Watson
10. “The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” — Brian Herbert
11. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” — Albert Einstein
12. “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible!’’’ — Audrey Hepburn
13. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X
14. “I don’t know everything. I know a fraction of what there is to know, and I don’t think I will ever know everything, but it’s important to me to constantly challenge myself.” — Yara Shahidi
15. “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
16. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” — Aristotle
17. “Intelligence plus character—that is the true goal of education.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
18. “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” ― Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society
19. “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
20. “The more that you read, the more things you know, the more you learn, the more places you’ll go.” — Dr. Seuss
21. “The road to freedom—here and everywhere on earth—begins in the classroom.” — Hubert Humphrey
23. “Being fearless isn’t being 100 percent not fearful, it’s being terrified but you jump anyway.” — Taylor Swift
24. “All children start their school careers with sparkling imaginations, fertile minds and a willingness to take risks with what they think.” — Ken Robinson
Back-to-School Quotes for Students
25. “First day of school, make sure that you know your locker combination.” — Jordan Francis
26. “A good education is a foundation for a better future.” — Elizabeth Warren
27. “If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.” — Zig Ziglar
28. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” — Richard Branson
29. “This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change.” — Taylor Swift
30. “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
31. “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” — Anthony J. D’Angelo
32. “I know I can be what I wanna be. If I work hard at it, I’ll be where I wanna be.” — “I Can” by Nas
33. “You’re off to great places. Today is your day!” — Dr. Seuss
34. “Fall is here, hear the yell. Back to school, ring the bell. Brand new shoes, walking blues. Climb the fence, books and pens. I can tell that we are going to be friends. I can tell that we are going to be friends.” — “We’re Going to Be Friends” by The White Stripes
35. “The future belongs to young people with an education and the imagination to create.” — Barack Obama
36. “Take your risks now. As you grow older, you become more fearful and less flexible. And I mean that literally. I hurt my knee this week on the treadmill, and it wasn’t even on.” — Amy Poehler
37. “There’s more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.” — Walt Disney
38. “First day of school! Wake up! Come on. First day of school.” — Nemo From Finding Nemo
39. “Don’t try hard to fit in, and certainly don’t try so hard to be different...just try hard to be you.” — Zendaya
40. “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” — Steve Martin
41. “We don’t stop going to school when we graduate.” — Carol Burnett
42. “A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers.” — Helen Keller
43. “High school is about finding who you are, because that’s more important than trying to be someone else.” — Nick Jonas
44. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” — Dr. Seuss
45. “I’ve always loved the first day of school better than the last day of school. Firsts are best because they are beginnings.” — Jenny Han
46. “The most important day of a person’s education is the first day of school, not graduation day.” — Harry Wong
47. “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
48. “A new school year means new beginnings, new adventures, new friendships and new challenges. The slate is clean and anything can happen.” — Denise Witmer
49. “School bells are ringing, loud and clear; Vacation’s over, school is here.” ― Winifred C. Marshall, School
50. “What is the most important thing one learns in school? Self-esteem, support and friendship.” — Terry Tempest Williams
Back-to-School Quotes for Teachers
51. “I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.” — Lily Tomlin
53. “Let us remember: one book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world.” — Malala Yousafzai
54. “Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best.” — Bob Talbert
55. “The dream begins, most of the time, with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you on to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth.” — Dan Rather
56. “Encourage kids to be creative without worrying about being perfect.” — Dav Pilkey
57. “The job of an educator is to teach students to see the vitality in themselves.” — Joseph Campbell
58. “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”— Aristotle
Short Back-to-School Quotes
59. “Education doesn’t just make us smarter. It makes us whole.” — Jill Biden
60. “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” — Marty Mcfly from Back To The Future
61. “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
62. “Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.” — Alan Cohen
63. “Education is the key to opportunity.” — Gordon B. Hinckley
64. “A sense of curiosity is nature’s original school of education.” — Smiley Blanton
65. “Education is a right, not a privilege; it is an opportunity, not an entitlement.” — Arne Duncan
66. “The highest result of education is tolerance.” — Hellen Keller
67. “It is always better to ask a question than to answer one.” ― Lemony Snicket, Shouldn’t You Be in School?
68. “Nothing will work unless you do.” — Maya Angelou
69. “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” — Margaret Fuller
70. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe
71. “The beginning is the most important part of the work.” — Plato
72. “You don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great.” — Les Brown
73. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu
74. “Minds are like parachutes, they only function when they are open.” — James Dewar
75. “Work hard, be kind and amazing things will happen.” — Conan O’Brien
