109 Inspirational Quotes for Kids

Inspirational quotes for kids are a great way to encourage the little ones in your life. We’ve rounded up over 100 of our favorite inspirational quotes for kids that we know you’ll love! These quotes are perfect if you’re looking for the right words to say in a birthday card or just a note for your kids. They also make great phrases for a sign or letterboard in your kids’ rooms.

Whether you want to inspire your kids to dream big, spread kindness, or study hard, we’ve got inspirational quotes for kids for all purposes.

Dreaming Big

All parents want their children to dream big and know they are capable of whatever they put their minds to. These inspirational quotes remind kids that the sky’s the limit for achieving big things in life!

1. If you focus on what you left behind, you will never see what lies ahead. – Gusteau, Ratatouille

2. Our fate lives within us; you only have to be brave enough to see it. – Merida, Brave

3. If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. – Martin Luther King Jr.

4. Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts. – Albert Einstein

5. Sometimes, the right path is not the easiest one. – Grandmother Willow, Pocahontas

6. With great power comes great responsibility. – Spiderman

7. You can’t focus on what’s going wrong. There’s always a way to turn things around. – Joy, Inside Out

8. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky

9. Be the change that you wish to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi

10. The people who are crazy enough to believe they can change the world are the ones who do. – Steve Jobs

11. It always seems impossible until it’s done. – Nelson Mandela

12. The best way to predict the future is to create it. – Abraham Lincoln

13. It’s not about what it is. It’s about what it can become. – Dr. Suess

14. If my mind can conceive it, if my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it. – Muhammed Ali

15. Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world. – Matilda, Roald Dahl

16. The secret of getting ahead is getting started. – Mark Twain

17. Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. – Barack Obama

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

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

20. Dreams come a size too big so we can grow into them. – Josie Bisset

21. If you care about what you do and work hard at it, there isn’t anything you can’t do if you want to. – Jim Henson

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

Failure and Success

Whether young or old, we’ve all experienced failure in some form. Kids often have difficulty bouncing back and seeing the purpose of failure. It can be hard as a parent to help them navigate this.

These quotes inspire kids to see the beauty in failure and share wisdom in finding success through hardships.

1. Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up. – Batman

2. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life. – Sophia Loren

3. Never let the fear of striking out stop you from playing the game. – Babe Ruth

4. Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein

5. No one is perfect. That’s why pencils have erasers. – Wolfgang Riebe

6. Don’t fear failure. Be afraid of not having the chance, you have the chance! – Sally Carrera, Cars 3

7. There are no regrets in life — just lessons. – Jennifer Aniston

8. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. – Thomas Edison

9. Fall seven times, stand up eight. – Japanese Proverb

10. You always pass failure on the way to success. – Mickey Rooney

11. It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up. – Vince Lombardi

12. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great. – Tom Hanks

14. Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. – Robert F. Kennedy

15. There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. – Colin Powell

16. Winning doesn’t mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve done before. – Bonnie Blair

Being Yourself

We often describe our son as thoughtful, kind, and quiet. Our daughter, on the other hand, is bright and energetic. They’re so different, but both are so special and perfect just how they are! Here are some inspirational quotes for kids to help them find their inner strength and confidence.

1. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. – Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh

2. Remember, you’re the one who can fill the world with sunshine. – Snow White, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

3. Being different isn’t a bad thing. It means you’re brave enough to be yourself. -Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter

4. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. – Theodore Roosevelt

5. Don’t let what you can’t do stop you from doing what you can do. – John Wooden

6. Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. – Oscar Wilde

7. Be silly, be honest, be kind. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

8. If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you will always look lovely. – Roald Dahl

9. Why fit in when you were born to stand out? – Dr. Seuss

10. Never doubt yourself. It will only hold you back. – J.M. Barrie

11. Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. – Judy Garland

12. Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do. – H. Jackson Brown

13. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. – The Lorax, Dr. Seuss

14. You have to be unique and different and shine in your own way. – Lady Gaga

15. Just be yourself. There is no one better. – Taylor Swift

16. Don’t try hard to fit in, and certainly don’t try so hard to be different . . . just try hard to be you. – Zendaya

17. Don’t doubt your value. Don’t run from who you are. – Aslan, The Chronicles of Narnia

Kindness and Friendship

We all want to raise kind children, and these quotes inspire kids to spread kindness and see the value in friendship.

1. Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up. – Jesse Jackson

2. People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel. – Maya Angelou

3. Kindness and politeness are not overrated at all. They’re underused. – Tommy Lee Jones

4. A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference. – Eeyore, Winnie-the-Pooh

5. Be true to your work, word, and your friend. – Henry David Thoreau

6. No road is long with good company. – Turkish proverb

7. When you decide not to be afraid, you can find friends in super unexpected places. – Ms. Marvel

8. A true friend is the greatest of all blessings. – Francois de La Rochefoucauld

9. Good friends help you to find important things when you have lost them . . . your smile, your hope, and your courage. – Doe Zantamata

10. If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours. – Dolly Parton

11. Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. – Maya Angelou

12. Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear, and the blind can see. – Mark Twain

13. You will never have a completely bad day if you show kindness at least once. – Greg Henry Quinn

14. Be kind to unkind people. They need it the most. – Ashleigh Brilliant

15. You are always responsible for how you act, no matter how you feel. – Robert Tew

16. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. – J.K. Rowling

17. Only surround yourself with people who will lift you higher. – Oprah Winfrey

18. No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. – Aesop

19. Never be so busy as not to think of others. – Mother Teresa

20. You are always responsible for how you act, no matter how you feel. – Robert Tew

21. Friends and good manners will carry you where money won’t go. – Margaret Walker

School Inspiration

Here are our favorite inspirational quotes for kids that relate to school and learning. The bonus is that many come from celebrities and well-known figures your kids may already look up to!

1. The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice. – Brian Herbert

2. Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. – Malcolm X

3. Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. – Stephen Hawking

4. Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good. – Malcolm Gladwell

5. Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom. – Oprah Winfrey

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

7. The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go. – Dr. Seuss

8. The expert in anything was once a beginner. – Helen Hayes

9. Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen. – Conan O’Brien

10. Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. – Nelson Mandela

11. Nothing is particularly hard if you break it down into small jobs. – Henry Ford

12. There is no substitute for hard work. – Thomas Edison

13. The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. – Marvin Phillips

14. Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. – Chinese Proverb

15. Education doesn’t just make us smarter. It makes us whole. – Jill Biden

Just For Fun

Check out these whimsical quotes that make for inspiring quotes to share with your kids.

1. In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. – Mary Poppins

2. Everything you can imagine is real. – Pablo Picasso

3. Even though you’re growing up, you should never stop having fun. – Nina Dobrev

4. When one door of happiness closes, another opens. – Helen Keller

5. I keep my heart and my soul, and my spirit open to miracles. – Patrick Swayze

6. Always keep a positive mindset. It will improve your outlook on the world. – Roald Dahl

7. Don’t just fly, soar. – Dumbo

8. To laugh at yourself is to love yourself. – Mickey Mouse

9. Every adventure requires a first step. –  Alice, Alice In Wonderland

10. Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude. – Zig Ziglar

11. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why we call it “The Present.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

12. Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. – Matilda, Roald Dahl

13. The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it. – Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie

14. You’re mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are. – Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

15. We all can dance when we find music we love. – Giles Andreae

16. Life has no remote . . . get up and change it yourself! – Mark A. Cooper

17. A person’s a person, no matter how small. – Dr. Seuss

18. 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

Which inspirational quote for kids is your favorite? Be sure to save a few of your favorites because you never know when it could be just what your kid needs to hear as you inspire them through childhood.