best employee appreciation message motivational quotes for employees

100 Motivational Quotes for Employees

Here are 100 quotes from some of the most successful and inspirational people around the world. Use this list of simple yet powerful motivational quotes for employees to inspire teamwork and positivity. In fact, why not use them to start meetings?

Motivational quotes for employees

1. Positive quotes
2. Inspiring quotes
3. Appreciation quotes
4. Engagement quote
5. Value quotes

 

Positive quotes for employees

1. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
2. “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” – Thomas Jefferson
3. “Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” –Joshua J. Marine
4. “The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.”– Harry Golden
5. “Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
6. “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” – Henry Ford
7. “How wonderful it is that nobody needs wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” —Anne Frank
8. The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck. – Tony Robbins
9. "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." – African Proverb
10. “A diamond is a piece of coal that stuck to the job.” – Michael Larsen
11. “It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn’t matter who gets the credit” Harry S. Truman
12. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou
13. “Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you.” – Stephen Covey

 

Inspiring quotes for employees

14. “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” – Colin Powell
15. “No great achiever – even those who made it seem easy – ever succeeded without hard work.” – Jonathan Sack
16. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” ―Walt Disney Company
17. “All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.”– Calvin Coolidge
18. “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”– Beverly Sills
19. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon
20. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotle
21. “A boat doesn’t go forward if each one is rowing their own way.” – Proverb
22. “If you can’t fly, then run; if you can’t run, then walk; if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
23. “I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.” – Florence Nightingale
24. “We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.”- Maya Angelou
25. “If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.”- Steve Jobs
26. “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
27. “Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” —Jamie Paolinetti
28. “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” —Vince Lombardi
29. “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson
30. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
31. “Life is about making an impact, not making an income.” – Kevin Kruse
32. “Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” – Jamie Paolinetti
33. “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” – Rosalynn Carter (Former US First Lady)
34. “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” – Henry Ford
35. “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill
36. “The expert in anything was once a beginner.” – Helen Hayes

Motivational quotes for employee appreciation

37. "Working hard is very important. You're not going to get anywhere without working extremely hard." – George Lucas
38. “Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy.”– Robert Hall
39. “It’s not about money or connection — it’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone.” – Mark Cuban, American investor
40. “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is hard work.” – Stephen King
41. “Talent means nothing, while experience, acquired in humility and with hard work, means everything.” – Patrick Suskind
42. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
43. “Criticism is the best sign you’re onto something.” – Michael Lopp
44. “Goodness and hard work are rewarded with respect.”– Luther Campbell
45. “Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there.”– Haile Gebrselassie
46. “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” – David Brinkley
47. “Throw yourself into some work you believe in with all you heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours.”– Dale Carnegie
48. “Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”– St. Francis of Assisi
49. “We are really competing against ourselves. We have no control over how other people perform.” – Pete Cashmore
50. “When I meet successful people, I ask about 100 questions to find out who they attribute their success to. It is usually the same: persistence, hard work and hiring good people.”– Kiana Tom

Employee engagement motivational quotes

51. “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
52. “Self-respect tends to inspire respect from others.” – Nathaniel Branden, Ph.D.
53. “We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” – Max DePree
54. “All employees have an innate desire to contribute to something bigger than themselves.” – Jag Randhawa, Author
55. “The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.” – Hasidic Proverb
56. “Pay attention to those employees who respectfully ask why. They are demonstrating an interest in their jobs and exhibiting a curiosity that could eventually translate into leadership ability.” – Harvey Mackay
57. “Treat employees like partners, and they act like partners.” – Fred Allen
58. "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." – Michael Jordan
59. “Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer. I think you build one with your employees first.” – Angela Ahrendts
60. “Leaders can let you fail and yet not let you be a failure.” —Stanley McChrysta
61. “Employees engage with employers and brands when they’re treated as humans worthy of respect.” – Meghan M. Biro
62. “An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” – Jack Welch
63. “Culture is about performance, and making people feel good about how they contribute to the whole.” – Tracy Streckenbach
64. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
65. "A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit." – Arnold Glasow
66. “Research indicates that workers have three prime needs: interesting work, recognition for doing a good job, and being let in on things that are going on in the company.” – Zig Ziglar
67. “The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought and attended to my answer.” – Henry David Thoreau
68. "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." – Dwight D. Eisenhower
69. "Don't follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you." – Margaret Thatcher
70. “The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.”– Hasidic Proverb
71. “A single leaf working alone provides no shade.” – Chuck Page
72. “Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” – Ryunosuke Satoro
73. “It doesn’t take strength to win. It takes the true heart of the team to win.” – Emily Voyles
74. “It is not a question of how well each process works; the question is how well they all work together.” – Lloyd Dobens
75. “Synergy — the bonus that is achieved when things work together harmoniously.” – Mark Twain
76. “Teamwork is so important that it is virtually impossible for you to reach the heights of your capabilities or make the money that you want without becoming very good at it.” – Brian Tracy
77. “Culture makes people understand each other better. And if they understand each other better in their soul, it is easier to overcome the economic and political barriers. But first they have to understand that their neighbour is, in the end, just like them, with the same problems, the same questions.” – Paulo Coelho
78. “The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side.” – Margaret Carty
79. “Leadership is absolutely about inspiring action, but it is also about guarding against mis-action.” – Simon Sinek
80. “Good leadership requires you to surround yourself with people of diverse perspectives who can disagree with you without fear of retaliation.” – Doris Kearns Goodwin
81. “Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: Hard work—and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't.” – Lucille Ball
82. "I've always had a great work ethic, even when I was washing dishes." – Leon Bridges
83. "Leave your ego at the door every morning, and just do some truly great work. Few things will make you feel better than a job brilliantly done." – Robin S. Sharma
84. “When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” – Simon Sinek, Author
85. “Connect the dots between individual roles and the goals of the organization. When people see that connection, they get a lot of energy out of work. They feel the importance, dignity and meaning in their job.” – Scott and Kelly Blanchard
86. “Motivating employees to work at their full potential is the main premise of successful management.” –Eraldo Banovac

 

Quotes about employee value

87. “Everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don’t keep it a secret.” – Mary Kay Ash
88. “Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.” – Albert Einstein
89. “Your employees come first. And if you treat your employees right, guess what? Your customers come back, and that makes your shareholders happy. Start with employees and the rest follows from that.” – Herb Kelleher
90. “The employer generally gets the employees he deserves.” – J. Paul Getty
91. “People want to know they matter, and they want to be treated as people. That’s the new talent contract.” – Pamela Stroko
92. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
93. “Take time to appreciate employees and they will reciprocate in a thousand ways.” – Bob Nelson
94. "A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent." – Douglas MacArthur
95. “People may take a job for more money, but they often leave it for more recognition.” – Bob Nelson
96. “Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” – Stephen R. Covey
97. "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." –Abraham Lincoln
98. “The real competitive advantage in any business is one word only, which is ‘people.’” – Komil Toume
99. “If you don’t create a great, rewarding place for people to work, they won’t do great work.” – Ari Weinzweig
100. “Employees aren't just workers, they're the backbone of business and that makes them more important than the boss any day of the week. Good Employees = Good Business.” – Kilroy J. Oldster

 

Motivational quotes for workplace success

If your workplace could use some motivation, try incorporating some of these quotes into your office space, meetings, and more. If you’re looking for other ways to improve your company culture, reach out to me directly today!