101 graduation quotes to inspire the class of 2024

There are many transitions in life, but few as big as a graduation.

Whether it be kindergarten, high school or college, a graduation symbolizes an end of one chapter and the start of a new one. For graduates, it’s the culmination of years of hard work. And for their loved ones? A moment to celebrate the accomplishments and success of someone dear.

There’s no better way to mark the special occasion than a gathering filled with friends and family, as well as a thoughtful gift or memento that says, “Congratulations on your achievement!”

In recognition of graduates and their loved ones, we’ve gathered a list of the best graduation quotes to post on Instagram, send via text or write in a greeting card.

The ensure you find just the right thing to say, this comprehensive collection includes words by Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, Mahatma Gandhi, Helen Keller and other luminaries.

There are also short quotes, funny quotes from the likes of Steve Martin, Tina Fey and Robin Williams, as well as notable quotes from the Dr. Seuss book “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” a beloved classic often given to graduates as gifts.

Whatever message you’re looking for to celebrate someone special’s commencement, you’re sure to find it among the inspirational quotes below.

So, without any further pomp and circumstance (pun totally intended), here are the best of the best graduation quotes.

Best graduation quotes

• “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

• “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

• “Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.” — Malala Yousafzai

• "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." — Mahatma Gandhi

• “Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.” ― W.P. Kinsella

• “It is not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success.” — Nelson Mandela

• "The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books." ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

• “Am I good enough? Yes, I am.” ― Michelle Obama, “Becoming”

• “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” — Tony Robbins

• “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” — Helen Keller

• “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” — Carol Burnett

• “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible!’” ― Audrey Hepburn

• "I scorched the earth with my talent and I let my light shine.” — André Leon Talley

• “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.” — Colin Powell

• “I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am.” — Sylvia Plath, “The Bell Jar”

• “Be the best of whatever you are.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

• “Forever is composed of nows.” — Emily Dickinson

• “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs

• “To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” ― Henri Bergson

• “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will live as one.” ― John Lennon, "Imagine"

• “A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere.” — Joyce Meyer

• “Passion first and everything will fall into place.” — Holly Holm

• “You’re off to great places. Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So ... get on your way.” — Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

• “The beginning is always today.” — Mary Shelley

• “You don’t become what you want, you become what you believe.” — Oprah Winfrey

• “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — A.A. Milne, “Winnie the Pooh”

Short graduation quotes

• “Celebrate endings — for they precede new beginnings.” — Jonathan Lockwood Huie

• “There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart.” — Mahatma Gandhi

• “The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.” — Les Brown

• “A star is a rock that never gave up on its dream to rise.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo

• “Success is loving life and daring to live it.” ― Maya Angelou

• “Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead.” — Nora Ephron

• “Through discipline comes freedom.” — Aristotle

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

• “What could we accomplish if we knew we could not fail?” — Eleanor Roosevelt

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

• “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, ‘I’m possible!’” — Audrey Hepburn

• “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” — Steve Martin

• “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” — Neale Donald Walsch

• “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” — Mark Twain

• “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — Nelson Mandela

• “Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.” — Aisha Tyler

• “Accept no one’s definition of your life. Define yourself.” ― Harvey Fierstein

• “Today’s accomplishments were yesterday’s impossibilities.” — Robert H. Schuller

• “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

• “Your education has prepared you for what lies ahead.” — Conan O’Brien, 2020 Harvard commencement

• “What we learn with pleasure we never forget.” — Alfred Mercier

• “The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” — Arthur C. Clarke

• “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” — Jimmy Dugan, “A League of Their Own”

• “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu

• “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

• “Persistence is the most powerful force on earth, it can move mountains.” — Albert Einstein

• “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” — Helen Keller

Funny graduation quotes

• “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” — Albert Einstein

• “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” — Ferris Bueller, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”

• “I look to the future because that is where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.” — George Burns

• “Try not to have a good time ... This is supposed to be educational.” — Lucy Van Pelt, “Peanuts”

• “People don’t turn down money. It’s what separates us from the animals.” — Jerry Seinfeld

• “When all else fails, there’s always delusion.” — Conan O’Brien

• “Summer vacation does kind of set up an adulthood of disappointment. That first job, you’re like, ‘I have to go to work in July? What is this, Russia?’”— Jim Gaffigan, “Cinco”

• “Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they’re looking for ideas.”  —Paula Poundstone

• “A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.” — Frank Zappa

• “Do not take life too seriously — you will never get out of it alive.” — Elbert Hubbard

• “You’re only given a little spark of madness, you mustn’t lose it.” — Robin Williams

• “You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the water slide overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.” — Tina Fey

• “All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific.” — Jane Wagner

• “If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving definitely isn’t for you.” — Steven Wright

• “Never follow anyone else’s path. Unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path; then, by all means, you should follow that path.” — Ellen Degeneres

• “You’re still here? It’s over. Go home. Go.” — Ferris Bueller, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”

Inspirational graduation quotes

• “All dreams are within reach. All you have to do is keep moving towards them.” — Viola Davis

• “That’s a great motto for all of us — find somebody to be successful for. Raise their hopes. Rise to their needs.” — Barack Obama, Arizona State University commencement speech 2009

• “Look back on the journey that brought you here. What moments challenged you most? When were you asked to step outside of your familiar territory in order to rise to the occasion of your potential? I want you to remember those moments because they will embolden you.” — Kerry Washington, George Washington University commencement speech 2013

• “Just because you don’t know what you want yet, it doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to want.” — Emily Henry, “The Love That Split the Wind”

• “You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” — Brigham Young

• “You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.” — Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

• “Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.” — Martin Luther King, March for Integrated Schools

• “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” — Dr. Seuss, “Happy Birthday to You!”

• “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go...” — Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

• “A great accomplishment shouldn’t be the end of the road, just the starting point for the next leap forward.” — Harvey Mackay

• “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” — Henry David Thoreau, “Walden”

• “It is you, the young and fearless at heart, the most diverse and educated generation in our history, who the nation is waiting to follow.” — Barack Obama, Selma Anniversary speech 2015

• “It’s opener, out there, in the wide, open air.” ― Dr. Seuss, "Oh, the Places You’ll Go!"

• “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” ― Dr. Seuss

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

• “Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!” ― Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

• “It is our failure to become of perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.” — Conan O’Brien, 2011 Dartmouth College commencement address

• “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” — Bill Bradley

• “There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.” — Ray Goforth

• “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” — Walt Disney

• “Becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.” — Michelle Obama, “Becoming”

• “I am a firm believer that you don’t achieve greatness on your own. There is always someone there to lend a hand.” — Greg Louganis

Graduation quotes inspired by song lyrics

• “Tonight / We are young /So, let’s set the world on fire / We can burn brighter than the sun.” — Fun, “We Are Young”

• “I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly / I’ll do what it takes ‘til I touch the sky / And I’ll make a wish, take a chance, make a change and breakaway.” — Kelly Clarkson, “Breakaway”

• “And I’ll be gone, gone tonight / The ground beneath my feet is open wide.” — One Direction, “Story of My Life’

• “You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine / Just own the night, like the Fourth of July.” — Katy Perry, “Firework”

• “It’s something unpredictable, but in the end, it’s right / I hope you had the time of your life.” — Green Day, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”

• “Ain’t about how fast I get there / Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side / It’s the climb.” — Miley Cyrus, “The Climb”

• “I am unwritten / Can’t read my mind / I’m undefined / I’m just beginning / The pen’s in my hand / Ending unplanned.” —Natasha Bedingfield, “Unwritten”

• “As we go on, we remember / All the times we had together / And as our lives change / Come whatever / We will still be friends forever.” — Vitamin C, “Graduation (Friends Forever)

• “I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance / Never settle for the path of least resistance.” — Lee Ann Womack, “I Hope You Dance”

• “School’s out for summer / School’s out forever.” — Alice Cooper, “School’s Out”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com