125 Work Ethic Quotes to Supercharge Your Motivation and Success

Few things are so valuable in life as having a good and positive work ethic.

It will help you to actually make your dreams and goals into reality. Instead of them mostly being wishes or daydreams as the months and years go by.

It will also help you to go where you want to go faster. And to bounce back more quickly from mistakes and setbacks.

No matter if the success you’re going after is at work, in your business or just on a more personal level.

So in this post I’d like to share the 125 of the best work ethic quotes.

And if you want more motivation and help with taking action more consistently then check out this post with quotes for work and also this one filled with my own 12 best tips for building the action habit.

Motivational Work Ethic Quotes

“All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.”
– Calvin Coolidge

“Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.”
– Jim Rohn

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”
– Thomas Jefferson

“Choices and decisions must be supported by your passion, resolve and a productive work ethic. If these meet opportunity – your success has finally come!”
– Archibald Marwizi

“If you’ve got the confidence and the work ethic, you can make any dream come true.”
– Bret Hart

“Don’t work for recognition but do work worthy of recognition.”
– H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“Hard work works!”
– Denzel Washington

“No matter how hard you work, someone else is working harder.”
– Elon Musk

“With hard work and effort, you can achieve anything.”
– Antoine Griezmann

“Genes can’t make you successful if you’re not doing the work. Yes, it’s possible that the ripped trainer at the gym has better genes, but if you haven’t put in the same reps, it’s impossible to say if you have been dealt a better or worse genetic hand. Until you work as hard as those you admire, don’t explain away their success as luck.”
– James Clear

“Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.”
– Arnold Palmer

“Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success.”
– Virat Kohil

“If a man is called a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and Earth will pause to say: Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.

“Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing.”
– William Arthur Ward

“The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Work is the key to success, and hard work can help you accomplish anything.”
– Vince Lombardi

“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.”
– Anthony Robbins

“Through hard work, perseverance and a faith in God, you can live your dreams.”
– Ben Carson

“Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”
– Napoleon Hill

“I have a work ethic. If I say I am going to do something, I do it.”
– Viggo Mortensen

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'”
– Muhahmad Ali

“Work harder than you think you did yesterday.”
– Alex Elle

“Everybody wants the hack, be the person who does the work.”
– Codie Sanchez

“At the end of the day, you put all the work in, and eventually it’ll pay off. It could be in a year, it could be in 30 years. Eventually your hard work will pay off.”
– Kevin Hart

“The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… one step at a time.”
– Joe Girard

“Work ethic is important because, unlike intelligence, athleticism, charisma, or any other natural attribute, it’s a choice.”
– Mike Rowe

“Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.”
– Conan O’brien

“How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.”
– Yvon Chouinard

“When I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. So I did ten times more work.”
– George Bernard Shaw

“I was willing to put in the work.”
– Ray Lewis

Smart Work Ethic Quotes to Help You Get More Done

“I never feared about my skills because I put in the work. Work ethic eliminates fear. So if you put forth the work, what are you fearing? You know what you're capable of doing and what you're not.”
– Michael Jordan

“Apply yourself at whatever you do, whether you're a janitor or taking your first summer job, because that work ethic will be reflected in everything you do in life.”
– Tyler Perry

“Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.”
– John C. Maxwell

“Working hard becomes a habit, a serious kind of fun. You get self-satisfaction from pushing your self to the limit, knowing that all the effort is going to pay off.”’
– Mary Lou Retton

“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”
– Steven Pressfield

“I accumulated small but consistent habits that ultimately led to results that were unimaginable when I started.”
– James Clear

“The best way to learn is by doing. The only way to build a strong work ethic is getting your hands dirty.”
– Alex Spanos

“Employment is nature’s physician, and is essential to human happiness.”
– Galen

“Work keeps at bay three great evils: boredom, vice, and need.”
– Voltaire

“I can say the willingness to get dirty has always defined us as an nation, and it’s a hallmark of hard work and a hallmark of fun, and dirt is not the enemy.”
– Mike Rowe

“Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.”
– David Bly

“The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it’s possible to achieve the American dream.”
– Tommy Hilfiger

“It’s not about money or connections. It’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone when it comes to your business.”
– Mark Cuban

“If you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.”
– Malcolm Gladwell

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”
– Newt Gingrich

“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
– Bruce Lee

“Without labor nothing prospers.”
– Sophocles

“Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it.”
– Napoleon Hill

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”
– Stephen King

“I believe that opportunity looks a lot like hard work.”
– Ashton Kutcher

“Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. And, when you stumble, keep the faith. And, when you're knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on.”
– Hillary Clinton

“I’m always kind of doing something – there’s never really any downtime.”
– Henry Rollins

“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goals: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.”
– Louis Pasteur

“Genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
– Thomas A. Edison

“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.”
– Booker T. Washington

Work Ethic Quotes for New Insights

“There is no easy way. There is only hard work, late nights, early mornings, practice, rehearsal, repetition, study, sweat, blood, toil, frustration, and discipline.”
– Jocko Willink

“Nobody can think straight who does not work. Idleness warps the mind.”
– Henry Ford

“Most people give up when they are about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from the winning touchdown.”
– Ross Perot

“Most people would assume my business success, and the wealth that comes with it, have brought me happiness. But I know I am successful, wealthy, and connected because I am happy.”
– Richard Branson

“The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.”
– Thomas A. Edison

“We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort. We postpone and postpone, until those smiling possibilities are dead.”
– William James

“I’ve got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.”
– Larry Bird

“Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.”
– Malcolm Forbes

“It's all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.

“I am just an average man, but by God I work harder than the average man.”
– Winston Churchill

“Hustle until your haters ask if you’re hiring.”
– Unknown

“The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.”
– Andrew Carnegie

“A lot about this industry is about who you know. If you set a really good example for yourself, and someone likes that, then they might recommend you to someone else. It doesn't matter what job you're in, any profession, it's always the same.”
– Tom Holland

“Success doesn’t happen because you are lucky – it happens because you worked for it!”
– Robert Herjavec

“You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.”
– Lionel Messi

“Work miracles by setting a good example. Others will catch your spirit! The power of a good example is the greatest miracle-working power of all.”
– Wilferd Peterson

“Life grants nothing to us mortals without hard work.”
– Horace

Lack of Work Ethic Quotes

“Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they're making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as punishment. And that's the difference.”
– Lou Holtz

“Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy.”
– Robert Half

“A true leader is a person whose influence inspires people to do what is expected of them to do. You cease to be a leader when you manipulate with your egos instead of convincing by your inspirations.”
– Israelmore Ayivor

“You can map out a fight plan or a life plan, but when the action starts, it may not go the way you planned, and you're down to your reflexes – your training. That's where your roadwork shows. If you cheated on that in the dark of morning, you're getting found out now, under the bright lights. ”
– Joe Frazier

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”
– William Arthur Ward

“Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”
– Kevin Durant

“Everyone talks about age, but it's not about age. It's about work ethic. Winning never gets old.”
– Lisa Leslie

“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.”
– Mahatma Gandhi

“It’s only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy, and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.”
– Theodore Roosevelt

“America is built around this premise that you can do it, and there are an awful lot of people who are unlikely to have done it.”
– Michael Bloomberg

“The price of excellence is discipline. The cost of mediocrity is disappointment.”
– William Arthur Ward

Humble Work Ethic Quotes

“I would visualize things coming to me. It would just make me feel better. Visualization works if you work hard. That’s the thing. You can’t just visualize and go eat a sandwich.”
– Jim Carrey

“Ideas don’t work for people unwilling to do the work.”
– Robin Sharma

“Our father taught us such a work ethic that if there's something worth doing, it's worth doing well. ”
– Donny Osmond

“Work hard in silence, let your success make the noise.”
– Frank Ocean

“My parents instilled a very strong work ethic in me from a young age, fortunately.”
– Matthew Gray Gubler

“We didn't have a lot when I was growing up, and it's the best thing that happened to me because I appreciate everything. I developed a strong work ethic, and I don't take anything for granted.”
– Sarah Jessica Parker

“You can’t have a million-dollar dream with a minimum-wage work ethic.”
– Stephen C. Hogan

“There is no substitute for hard work.”
– Thomas Edison

“Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers.”
– Magic Johnson

“I was taught a very strong work ethic that included punctuality, which I've always felt is a sign of respect for others. ”
– Nicole Kidman

“Trying hard and working hard is its own reward. It feeds the soul. It affirms your will and your power. And it radiates from you, lighting the way for all those who see you.”
– Charles M. Blow

“Be humble. Be hungry. And always be the hardest worker in the room.”
– Dwayne Johnson

“Believe passionately in what you do, and never knowingly compromise your standards and deepest values. Act like a true professional, aiming for true excellence, and the money will follow.”
– David Maister

“Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Work Ethic Quotes To Improve Team Performance

“A good example has twice the value of good advice.“
– Albert Schweitzer

“There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.”
– Derek Jeter

“Hard work opens doors and shows the world that you are serious about being one of those rare – and special – human beings who use the fullness of their talents to do their very best.”
– Robin Sharma

“If you set a good example, you need not to worry about setting rules.”
– Lee Iacocca

“Hard work betrays none. And it will start a positive chain effect in any kind of group.”
– Rip Miller

“If you want to feel secure, do what you already know how to do. If you want to be a true professional and continue to grow… Go to the cutting edge of your competency, which means a temporary loss of security. So whenever you don't quite know what you're doing, know you're growing.”
– Madeline Hunter

“A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.”
– Bob Proctor

“Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
– Steve Jobs

“Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.”
– David Rockefeller

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.”
– Chuck Close

Short Work Ethic Quotes

“I would rather risk wearing out than rusting out.”
– Theodore Roosevelt

“Who you are tomorrow begins with what you do today. ”
– Tim Fargo

“The best things in life make you sweaty.”
– Edgar Allan Poe

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”
– Peter Drucker

“If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all.”
– Michelangelo

“The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. ”
– Steve Jobs

“The highest reward for a man’s toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it.”
– John Ruskin

“All wealth is the product of labor.”
– John Locke

“If you train hard, you’ll not only be hard, you’ll be hard to beat.”
– Hershel Walker

“I believe that most successful people are ordinary people with extraordinary determination.”
– Mary Kay Ash

“If you can’t outplay them, outwork them.”
– Ben Hogan

“Genius begins great works; labor alone finishes them.”
– Joseph Joubert

“I never dreamed of success. I worked for it.”
– Estee Lauder

“Ethics is not definable, is not implementable, because it is not conscious; it involves not only our thinking but also our feeling.”
– Valdemar W. Setzer

“Success isn’t owned. It’s leased, and rent is due every day.”
– J. J. Watt

“Hard work doesn’t guarantee success, but improves its chances.”
– B.J. Gupta

“You always want to outwork your potential.”
– Kobe Bryant

“Where I excel is sickening, ridiculous, work ethic.”
– Will Smith

“Success is dependent upon the glands – sweat glands.”
– Zig Ziglar

If you liked these work ethic quotes then share them with a friend or co-worker on social media or via email.

Want more motivation to make your dreams into reality? Have a look at this post with quotes to help you get things done more consistently, this one with keep pushing quotes plus these two that are all about procrastination quotes and about a healthy balance in life.