Hats off to the Class of 2024! 150 Graduation Quotes to Celebrate This Year’s Graduates

Here are the best graduation quotes for high school and college for 2024. From cards filled with inspiring graduation quotes to practical graduation gifts they can use in their post-grad phase of life, these 150 graduation quotes will give them the support and guidance they need during this difficult time, while commemorating their momentous achievement: finally reaching graduation.

Hats off to the graduating class of 2024! You did it.

150 Graduation Quotes for 2024

1. Everything's always ending. But everything's always beginning, too. — Patrick Ness

2. There is no passion to be found in playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. —Nelson Mandela

3. The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match, each one of you is a fuse.” — Ed Koch

4. Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. —Dr. Seuss

5. Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. — Judy Garland

6. You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result. — Mahatma Gandhi

7. The noblest question in the world is: What good may I do in it? — Benjamin Franklin

8. Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. —Winston Churchill

9. Don't underestimate the power of your dreams. — Corinna Kong

10. You get in life what you have the courage to ask for. —Oprah Winfrey

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11. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

12. The important thing is not to stop questioning. — Albert Einstein

13. Education is something we have to keep pursuing day after day. — Premier Brian Gallant

14. If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place. – Nora Roberts

15. There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind. — C.S. Lewis

16. The best way to predict your future is to create it. – Abraham Lincoln

17. No, the sky is not the limit. It is only the beginning. — Donovan Livingston

18. Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

19. Every person you meet knows something you don’t; learn from them. —H. Jackson Brown Jr.

20. There are no regrets in life. Just lessons. —Jennifer Aniston

21. Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. — Vincent Van Gogh

22. Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world right in the eye. – Helen Keller

23. To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe. — Anatole France

24. It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. – E.E. Cummings

25. Wherever you go, go with all your heart. — Confucius

26. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover. – Mark Twain

27. Just remember, you can't climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets. — Arnold Schwarzenegger

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28. A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. – Francis Bacon

29. When you take risks, you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important. — Ellen DeGeneres

30. Surround yourself with doers. Be around people who demonstrate their boldness. — Wayne W. Dyer

31. Fortune does favor the bold, and I promise that you will never know what you’re capable of unless you try. — Sheryl Sandberg

32. Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings. — Samuel Johnson

33. It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. — William Shakespeare

34. Man's greatness consists in his ability to do, and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done. — Frederick Douglass

35. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt

36. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know it when you find it. —Steve Jobs

37. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. — Henry David Thoreau

38. Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. — Hillary Clinton

39. You’re going to fall down, but the world doesn’t care how many times you fall down, as long as it’s one fewer than the number of times you get back up. — Aaron Sorkin

40. A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. —John A. Shedd

41. If you're willing to stand for what you believe in ... you won't need advice from me, because you will be able to handle whatever comes. — Whoopi Goldberg

42. You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through. — Rosalynn Smith Carter

43. The road to success is always under construction. — Lily Tomlin

44. Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. — Babe Ruth

45. We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. —Nelson Mandela

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46. Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets. – Leonardo da Vinci

47. Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself. Love everything you love, everyone you love, with all your might. And do so, please, with a sense of urgency, for every tick of the clock subtracts from fewer and fewer. —David McCullough Jr.

48. Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else. – Les Brown

49. Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential. – John Maxwell

50. The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. — Sydney Harris

51. My wish for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to. Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small and that you never need to carry more than you can hold. – Rascal Flatts

52. Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

53. Life is an improvisation. You have no ideas what’s going to happen next and you are mostly making things up as you go along. – Stephen Colbert

54. There may be days when you’ll say to yourself, ‘I can’t. I literally can’t even.’ But you can! You can even! — Katie Couric

55. So many of our dreams first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable. —Christopher Reeve

56. Share your sparkle wherever you are. – Dodinsky

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57. You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once, but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own ”– Michelle Obama

58. If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done. — Thomas Jefferson

59. Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. — Dr. Seuss

60. Sometimes you find out what you are supposed to be doing by doing the things you are not supposed to do. – Oprah

61. Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors. — Louisa May Alcott

62. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education. — Martin Luther King Jr.

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

64. You will find the key to success under the alarm clock. — Benjamin Franklin

65. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. — A.A. Milne

66. Intelligence without ambition is like a bird without wings. – Dali

67. No matter where you're from, your dreams are valid. —Lupita Nyong'o

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

69. Love what you do. Get good at it. Competence is a rare commodity in this day and age. — Jon Stewart

70. Don’t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table. – Barack Obama

71. It is clear the future holds great opportunities. It also holds pitfalls. The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home by six o’clock. — Woody Allen

72. Showing up is 80 percent of life. – Woody Allen

73. I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance. Never settle for the path of least resistance. — Lee Ann Womack

74. The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you. — B.B. King

75. No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world. — Robin Williams

76. If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it. — Ronnie Lott

77. Struggling to decide what to do after graduation is, and always will be, a sort of rite of passage to the next phase of your life. — Gloria Davidson

78. Before you act, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you quit, try. – William Arthur Ward

79. What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul. — Joseph Addison

80. Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right. – Henry Ford

81. Instruction ends in the schoolroom, but education ends only with life. — Frederick W. Robertson

82. Effort and courage are not enough without purpose and direction. — John F. Kennedy

83. I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. – Thomas Edison

84. Do or do not. There is no try. — Yoda

85. Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable. — Wendy Wasserstein

86. Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive: easy to govern, but impossible to enslave. — Henry Peter Brougham

87. Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer

88. If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere. — Frank A. Clark

89. Success doesn’t rush. The greatest reward is the journey! — Jeff Moore

90. Things turn out best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out. — Art Linkletter

91. Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Don't let anything stand in the way of the light that shines through this form. Risk being seen in all of your glory. —Jim Carrey

92. When you leave here, don’t forget why you came. — Adlai E. Stevenson

93. You have to dance a little bit before you step out into the world each day, because it changes the way you walk. — Sandra Bullock

94. The unfortunate, yet truly exciting thing about your life, is that there is no core curriculum. The entire place is an elective. – Jon Stewart

95. Don’t wait. The time will never be just right. — Napoleon Hill

96. The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore. – Dale Carnegie

97. Nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks. Fall forward. Every failed experiment is one step closer to success. — Denzel Washington

98. The world rewards those who take responsibility for their own success. – Curt Gerrish

99. Now that you’ve graduated, just remember: Bosses don’t usually accept notes from your mother. — Melanie White

100. Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. — Arnold H. Glasow

101. The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. — Anthony Robbins

102. If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. — Milton Berle

103. It is absolutely still possible to make a difference. — Michelle Obama

104. Nothing is going to be handed to you. You have to make things happen. — Florence Griffith-Joyner

105. There is no script. Live your life. Soak it all in. — Dick Costolo

106. Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it. — Charles Swindoll