Growth Mindset Quotes for Teachers and Students

These growth mindset quotes remind us that it’s our attitudes, beliefs and efforts – all things that are under our control- that have a profound effect on our success.

It was way back in 2006 that Carol Dweck’s text, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, was published, and you’d be hard-pressed now to find an educator who hasn’t hard of it.

Many schools, like mine, even ran programs on implementing growth mindset strategies into the classroom (I even ran ours!).

However as someone who has worked in education for over 20 years can tell you, schools and institutions have their own time scales. Implementation takes five times as long as you think and by the time you think you’re done, you’re already three years into the next big thing.

It would not be a lie, then, to say that despite the pervasiveness of ideas, we are still a long way away from living in a society where growth mindsets are the norm.

All I need to do is think of a student I had in class last year.

Toby had been put into a class for students who were excelling in their study of English. This was despite the fact that his grades the year before had been decidely average.

From the minute Toby walked into the class, I could tell he was going to be one to watch.

His usual arrival time was 15 minutes after class had started. “What?” was his phrase of choice and he was often doing things on his device that were about as connected to the lesson as the Netflix binge I’d indulged in the night before.

The old teacher me would have wanted to strangle him on a consistent basis, but post growth mindset training me could see instantly what I was dealing with.

Toby was out of his depth. He believed he’d had a talent for English that had got him so far. But now the level of work exceeded his capability. To try would be to admit that he was never really that good in the first place.

So trying was off the table.

And despite all our efforts, there are many many Toby’s out there.

Not just sitting at a student desk either.

As teachers, heck, as people, we still have to strive against our own fixed mindset tendencies which rear their ugly heads the minute we’re faced with something out of our comfort zones.

These growth mindset quotes for students and teachers are perfect for those moments (And I even exercised a lot of restraint and only put five Carol Dweck quotes in there. Okay, maybe six).

(These quotes about pencils also have a strong growth mindset element you might enjoy).

They make for meaningful discussion, prompt thinking, and even are awesome to have around the classroom or in your teacher planner for that little boost when you need it.

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Quotes about mindset for students and teachers

Unless you’re willing to have a go, fail miserably, and have another go, success won’t happen. – Phillip Adams

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

There is no failure. Only feedback. – Robert Allen

I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures. . .I divide the world into the learners and the non-learners. – Benjamin Barber

My dad encouraged us to fail. Growing up, he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn’t have something, he would be disappointed. It changed my mindset at an early age that failure is not the outcome, failure is not trying. Don’t be afraid to fail. – Sara Blakely

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed no hope at all.– Dale Carnegie

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. – Winston Churchill

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill

If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere. – Frank A. Clark

A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake. – Confucius

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. – Confucius

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail. – Confucius

Success is not an accident, success is a choice. – Stephen Curry

It’s kind of fun to do the impossible. – Walt Disney

If we only did things that were easy, we wouldn’t actually be learning anything. We’d just be practicing things we already knew.– David Dockterman

Is there something in your past that you think measured you? A test score? A dishonest or callous action? Being fired from a job? Being rejected? Focus on that thing. Feel all the emotions that go with it. Now put it in a growth-mindset perspective. Look honestly at your role in it, but understand that it doesn’t define your intelligence or personality. Instead, ask: What did I (or can I ) learn from that experience? How can I use it as a basis for growth? Carry that with you instead. – Carol S. Dweck

No matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment. – Carol S. Dweck

Think about your hero. Do you think of this person as someone with extraordinary abilities who achieved with little effort? Now go find out the truth. Find out the tremendous effort that went into their accomplishment—and admire them more. – Carol S. Dweck

The remarkable thing I’ve learned from my research is that in the growth mindset, you don’t always need confidence. What I mean is that even when you think you’re not good at something, you can still plunge into it wholeheartedly and stick to it. Actually, sometimes you plunge into something because you’re not good at it. – Carol S. Dweck

Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better? Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them? Why look for friends or partners who will just shore up your self-esteem instead of ones who will also challenge you to grow? And why seek out the tried and true, instead of experiences that will stretch you? The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives. – Carol S. Dweck

It’s not always the people who start out the smartest who end up the smartest. – Carol S. Dweck

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. – Thomas Edison

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

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

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. – Albert Einstein

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

It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. – Albert Einstein

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. – Albert Einstein

The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny. – Albert Ellis

Don’t worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try. – Sherman Finesilver

History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats. – B.C. Forbes

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

The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year. – John Foster Dulles

All things are difficult before they are easy. – Thomas Fuller

You can achieve anything you want in life if you have the courage to dream it, the intelligence to make a realistic plan, and the will to see that plan through to the end. – Sidney A. Friedman

Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be. – J. W. Goethe

The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work. – Harry Golden

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

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

You have not failed unless you have quit trying. – Gordon B. Hinckley

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make a mistake. – Elbert Hubbard

Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance. – Samuel Johnson

How to win in life: work hard, complain less, listen more, try, learn, grow, don’t let people tell you it cant be done, make no excuses – Germany Kent

The mind is just like a muscle – the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets and the more it can expand. – Idowu Koyenikan

You must have a level of discontent to feel the urge to want to grow. – Idowu Koyenikan

Whenever you are going through life’s challenges, remember that for iron to be cast into its desired form, it must first go through intense heat. – Idowu Koyenikan

Knowing what is and knowing what can be are not the same thing. – Ellen Langer

There is always a step small enough from where we are to get us to where we want to be. If we take that small step, there’s always another we can take, and eventually a goal thought to be too far to reach becomes achievable. – Ellen Langer

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears. – Nelson Mandela

Once your mindset changes, everything on the outside will change along with it. – Steve Maraboli

Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. – Joshua J. Marine

Dreams don’t work unless you do. – John C. Maxwell

If you are facing a new challenge or being asked to do something that you have never done before don’t be afraid to step out. You have more capability than you think you do but you will never see it unless you place a demand on yourself for more. – Joyce Meyer

The problem human beings face is not that we aim too high and fail, but we aim too low and succeed.– Michelangelo

We ought to relentlessly ignore excuses, especially those we are told by ourselves.– Mokokoma Mokhonoana

What does not destroy me makes me stronger. – Friedrich Nietzsche

Our thoughts shape us. We become our obsessions. Our thoughts can enslave us or save us.- Kilroy J. Oldster

If you think you can then you can. – Stephen Richards

Believe you can and you are half way there. – Theodore Roosevelt

Failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success. – J.K. Rowling

It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all. In which case, you fail by default. – J.K. Rowling

Don’t tell me how talented you are. Tell me how hard you work. – Arthur Rubenstein

Life is like a game of chess. To win you have to make a move. Knowing which move to make comes with insight and knowledge, and by learning the lessons that are accumulated along the way. We become each and every piece within the game called life. – Allan Rufus

What you feed your mind, will lead your life. – Kemi Sogunle

The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem. – Jack Sparrow

You may have to fight a battle more than once in order to win it.– Margaret Thatcher

Because some people see a wall, and assume that’s the end of their journey. Others see it, and decide that it’s just the beginning.”- Angeline Trevena

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… sail away from the safe harbor. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain

Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited about what could go right. – Unknown

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.- Unknown

What you get by reaching your destination is not nearly as important as what you will become by reaching your destination. – Unknown

I am always doing what I cannot do yet. In order to learn how to do it. – Vincent Van Gogh

Effort is grossly underrated. – Gary Vaynerchuk

Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.- Thomas Watson

Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. – Thomas Watson

The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make the most of yourself. – Wallace Wattles

Improve by 1% a day, and in just 70 days, you’re twice as good. – Alan Weiss

I don’t believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process. – Oprah Winfrey

Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of being. – John Wooden

You have to apply yourself each day to becoming a little better. By becoming a little better each and every day, over a period of time, you will become a lot better. – John Wooden

Summing up

These 85 growth mindset quotes are inspirational and motivational for both teachers and students alike.

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Why not select one a week for a great talking point in your classroom or a personal pick me up when you need it?