Quotations for Use in Motivating Students

by Mickey Wircenski

Instructors who wish to have highly motivated and engaged students in their classrooms are constantly looking for different ways to promote motivation and engagement. There are lots of strategies that can be used to accomplish this. One method is to use quotations and “sprinkle” them throughout a lesson, unit or semester. These quotations can be used for class discussion, group brainstorming, individual projects and individual consultations. Posting them around a classroom can be a positive addition to a positive learning environment.

For example, on a daily basis, or at least systematically, the class can discuss the meanings of the quotations as they relate to personal projects. Students scan also keep a list of quotes that are the most meaningful to them. The class might post a list of quotes on the bulletin board and periodically update it.

 The following quotes can be used as a “starter” list:

•  “The person on the top of the mountain did not fall there.” (Anonymous)
• “Without a struggle, there can be no progress.” (Frederick Douglass)
• “Genius is 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration.” (Thomas A. Edison)
• “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after the others have let go.” (William Feather)
• “I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” (Muhammad Ali)
• “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” (Michael Jordan)
• “Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth.” (Julie Andrews)
• “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all.” (Dale Carnegie)
• “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” (Vince Lombardi)
• “I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was.” (Muhammad Ali)
• “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” (John R. Wooden)
• “Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it.” (Bill Cosby)
• “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)
• “Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” (African proverb)
• “Do the best you can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem at the time.
• No one learns more about a problem than the person at the bottom.” (Sandra Day O’Connor) 

SOURCE: Marzano, R. & Pickering, D. (2011). The Highly Engaged Classroom. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research.