140 Inspirational Goal-Setting Quotes

Setting goals is important for people of all ages, no matter how big or small the goal. We all need some encouragement to help us turn our dreams into reality. Try some goal setting with your class with this list of our favorite goal-setting quotes, perfect for using as writing or discussion prompts. 

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Top 10 Goal-Setting Quotes

We love these goal-setting quotes for their simple language and inspirational ideas, making them perfect for sharing with students of any age.

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” —Albert Einstein

“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” —Robert H. Schuller

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” —Stephen Hawking

“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.” —Stephen King

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” —Zig Ziglar

“Begin with the end in mind.” —Stephen Covey

“Glory lies in the attempt to reach one’s goal and not in reaching it.” —Mahatma Gandhi

“Make at least one definite move daily toward your goal.” —Bruce Lee

“You know what the difference is between a dream and a goal? … A plan.” —Jodi Picoult

Goal-Setting Quotes by Writers, Artists, and Musicians

Artists of all kinds use their work to inspire others. They know how to set and achieve goals, plus how to keep going when things get tough.

“Having a great idea is simply not enough. The eventual goal is vastly more important than any idea. It is how ideas are implemented that counts in the long run.” —Felix Dennis

“Because your goal is a complete rough draft of a novel, and every rough draft, by being complete, is perfect.” —Jane Smiley

“Press on! there’s no such word as fail!
Press nobly on! the goal is near,—
Ascend the mountain! breast the gale!
Look upward, onward,—never fear!
Why shouldst thou faint? Heaven smiles above,
Though storm and vapor intervene;
That sun shines on, whose name is Love,
Serenely o’er Life’s shadow’d scene.” —Park Benjamin Sr.

“I spend most of my waking hours confronting and destroying things that I fear. A thousand-year-old master vampire was a tall order, but a girl’s got to have a goal.” —Laurell K. Hamilton

“Be winged arrows, aiming at fulfillment and goal, even though you will tire without having reached the mark.” —Paul Klee

“Everybody wants to have a goal—I gotta get to that goal, I gotta get to that goal, I gotta get to that goal. Then you get to that goal, and then you gotta get to another goal. But in between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed—and if you don’t, you’re a fool.” —Sid Caesar​​

“It is my goal as an artist to create works that expose injustice and reveal beauty. The rainbow is literally a spectrum of color while spiritually a symbol of hope and promise.” —Betye Saar

“All life is a purposeful struggle, and your only choice is the choice of a goal.” —Ayn Rand

“Science becomes dangerous only when it imagines that it has reached its goal.” —George Bernard Shaw

“There is a goal but no way; what we call the way is mere wavering.” —Franz Kafka

“Without some goal and some effort to reach it, no man can live. When he has lost all hope, all object in life, man becomes a monster in his misery.” —Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“Go, speed the stars of Thought On to their shining goals; – The sower scatters broad his seed, The wheat thou strew’st be souls.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion, I have a religion and love. Let me be myself and then I am satisfied. I know that I’m a woman, a woman with inward strength and plenty of courage.” —Anne Frank

“Humanism’s goal is ambitious but worthy—the best life possible for everyone on earth.” —Judith Hayes

“You are the grim, goal-oriented ones who will not believe that the joy is in the journey rather than the destination no matter how many times it has been proven to you.” —Stephen King

“The riders in a race do not stop short when they reach the goal. There is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill. There is time to hear the kind voice of friends and to say to one’s self, The work is done.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

“It is still not enough for language to have clarity and content … it must also have a goal and an imperative. Otherwise from language we descend to chatter, from chatter to babble, and from babble to confusion.” —René Daumal

“The leader is one who mobilizes others toward a goal shared by leaders and followers. … Leaders, followers, and goals make up the three equally necessary supports for leadership.” —Garry Wills

“The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication.” —Cecil B. De Mille

“Passion presented with a greater challenge achieves a greater goal.” —Aberjhani

“Competition is a by-product of productive work, not its goal. A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others.” —Ayn Rand

“It matters not what goal you seek
Its secret here reposes:
You’ve got to dig from week to week
To get Results or Roses.” —Edgar Guest

“One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals.” —Michael Korda

“The real value of setting and achieving goals lies not in the rewards you receive but in the person you become as a result of reaching your goals.” —Robin Sharma

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” —Les Brown

“If a person is working toward a predetermined goal and knows where to go, then that person is successful..” —Earl Nightingale

“I am always more interested in what I am about to do than what I have already done.” —Rachel Carson

“If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you.” —Les Brown

“I can’t control my destiny. I trust my soul, my only goal is just to be.” —Jonathan Larson

“The goal is not to sail the boat, but rather to help the boat sail herself.” —John Rousmaniere

“The first right on earth is the right of the ego. Man’s first duty is to himself. His moral law is never to place his prime goal within the persons of others. His moral obligation is to do what he wishes, provided his wish does not depend primarily upon other men.” —Ayn Rand

“And I’m still alive. That’s what I have to focus on. Because I want to live. Even now I can’t let myself give up. And that’s something I didn’t know about myself before—that I have such dogged determination and strength. That I can be completely focused on a goal and work long past what I thought my endurance was, when I have to.” —Cheryl Rainfield

“The only thing that matters my goal my reward my beginning my end is the work itself. My work done my way. A private personal selfish egotistical motivation. That’s the only way I function. That’s all I am.” —Ayn Rand

“Attempts at imitation would put the emphasis where it didn’t belong. The goal was to improve the lives of others, not oneself.” —Tracy Kidder

“The first goal need not be the final one, for a sailing ship sails first by one wind, then another. The point is that it is always going somewhere, proceeding toward a final destination.” —Louis L’Amour

“The world is bigger than you know, and scarier than you might imagine. The only currency worth anything is being true to yourself, and the only goal worth seeking is finding out who you truly are.” —Derek Landy

“Fame is not the glory; virtue is the goal, and Fame only a messenger to bring more to the fold.” —Vanna Bonta

“My goal in life is to make people think. If I do that, I’ve been a success.” —Charles A. Reich

“As we voyage along through life,
’Tis the set of the soul
That decides the goal
And not the calm or the strife.” —Ella Wheeler Wilcox

“What is the goal? A house that is like the life that goes with it, a house that gives us beauty as we understand it—and beauty of a nobler kind that we may grow to understand.” —Elsie de Wolfe

“But I want you to know that you’re a beautiful girl, far more beautiful than I ever was at your age, and that starving yourself to compete with all of those skinny celebrities who spend half their lives checking in and out of rehab is not only a completely unreasonable and unattainable goal, but will only end up making you sick.” —Alyson Noël

Quotes About Goal Setting by Motivational Speakers and Writers

Motivational speakers and authors draw on their own experiences to inspire others. They’ve shared a lot of helpful thoughts about goal setting over the years, including these quotes.

“The most powerful way of being able to listen to your own intuition is by being silent. Find a quiet space, slow down and calm your mind. Your goal is to eliminate all that noise going through your head—all those thoughts that appear from nowhere.” —Nigel Cumberland

“Our goal should be that we’re going to live life to the fullest, pursuing our passions and dreams, and when it comes our time to go, we will have used as much of our potential as possible.” —Joel Osteen

“Wealth, my son, should never be your goal in life. Your words are eloquent but they are mere words. True wealth is of the heart, not of the purse.” —Og Mandino

“When you regularly take continuous action toward your most important goals, you activate the Momentum Principle of success.” —Brian Tracy

“Every great, successful person I know shares the capacity to remain centered, clear, and powerful in the midst of emotional ‘storms.’” —Anthony Robbins​​

“You know that you have fully experienced love when you turn into love—that is the spiritual goal of life.” —Deepak Chopra

“With definite goals you release your own power, and things start happening.” —Zig Ziglar​​

“It’s not just getting a goal that matters, but the quality of life you experience along the way.” —Anthony Robbins

“You must raise your aspirations, set higher goals, and make detailed plans to achieve them.” —Brian Tracy​​

“Try to fix firmly in your mind what you would like to do; and then, without veering off direction, you will move straight to the goal.” —Dale Carnegie

“Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” —Brian Tracy

“The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them.” —Og Mandino

“Personal development is the belief that you are worth the effort, time, and energy needed to develop yourself.” —Denis Waitley

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” —Anthony Robbins

“Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. There’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.” —Jim Rohn

“Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, What’s in it for me?” —Brian Tracy

Quotes About Goal Setting by Scientists, Psychologists, and Teachers

When in doubt, turn to those who spend their lives using logic and reason to find answers and help others. These are people with real-life experience in setting and achieving goals, as these quotes show.

“If you want to accomplish something in the world, idealism is not enough—you need to choose a method that works to achieve the goal.” —Richard Stallman

“The goal towards which the pleasure principle impels us—of becoming happy—is not attainable: yet we may not—nay, can not—give up the efforts to come nearer to realization of it by some means or other.” —Sigmund Freud

“It is also a natural thing for a serious young man that he should form for himself as precise an idea as possible of the goal of his desires.” —Albert Einstein

“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

“Science will stagnate if it is made to serve practical goals.” —Albert Einstein

“In the past, having a life while earning a living didn’t seem like too much to ask. Today, even this basic goal has been redefined as ‘having it all.’” —Sally Helgesen

“Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task.” —Haim Ginott

“Here in these shades the Ancient knows itself, the Soul,
And out of slumber waking starts unto the goal.” —George William Russell

“Sometimes you may feel like you are just about to realize your goal only to fall short. That is no reason to quit. Defeat happens only to those who refuse to try again.” —Nick Vujicic

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” —Laurence J. Peter

“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.” —Louis Pasteur

“My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.” —Stephen Hawking

“Goals too clearly defined can become blinkers.” —Mary Catherine Bateson

“After all, the ultimate goal of all research is not objectivity but truth.” —Helene Deutsch

“We are built to conquer environment, solve problems, achieve goals, and we find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve.” —Maxwell Maltz

Goal-Setting Quotes by Philosophers and Spiritual Leaders

Some people spend their lives thinking about the purpose of life itself. Here’s what they have to say on goal setting.

“Success or achievement is not the final goal. It is the ‘spirit’ in which you act that puts the seal of beauty upon your life.” —Chinmayananda Saraswati

“It is never presumptuous for anyone to hope for realization. It is the goal of creation and the birthright of humanity. Blessed are they who are prepared to assert that right in this very life.” —Meher Baba

“Happiness does not depend on the size or content of a goal, but on the strength of the desire to have it.” —Simon Soloveychik

“Although all of us desire happiness, few of us reach that goal because of the seemingly endless cycle of expectation and disappointment.” —Tarthang Tulku

“Transform enjoying into an even and objectless ecstasy; let all thyself be bliss. This is thy goal.” —Sri Aurobindo

“Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.” —Polybius

“Mere philosophy will not satisfy us. We cannot reach the goal by mere words alone. Without practice, nothing can be achieved.” —Satchidananda Saraswati

“If you think that you are bound, you remain bound; you make your own bondage. If you know that you are free, you are free this moment. This is knowledge, knowledge of freedom. Freedom is the goal of all nature.” —Swami Vivekananda

“Transform reason into ordered intuition; let all thyself be light. This is thy goal.” —Sri Aurobindo

“Understand and accept that you will have to make sacrifices to achieve your goal. If you are willing to pay the price, however high, you may be surprised by what you get in exchange. Pay the price.” —Danny Yamashiro

“When men are arrived at the goal, they should not turn back.” —Plutarch

“I believe history teaches us a categorical lesson: that once a people are determined to become free, then nothing in the world can stop them reaching their goal.” —Desmond Tutu

“The real and legitimate goal of the sciences is the endowment of human life with new inventions and riches.” —Francis Bacon

“The life of man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long.” —Bertrand Russell

“It is not possible to run a course aright when the goal itself has not been rightly placed.” —Francis Bacon

“Once a positive goal is chosen, you should decide to pursue it all the way to the end. Even if it is not realized, at least there will be no regret.” —Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

“Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.” —George Whitefield

“The great glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live with purpose.” —Michel de Montaigne

“Learn as if you were not reaching your goal and as though you were scared of missing it.” —Confucius

“It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.” —Benjamin E. Mays

Goal Setting Quotes by Entrepreneurs

The world of business thrives on goals and achievements. That makes entrepreneurs and businesspeople some of the most goal-oriented people of all, with lots of good advice to offer.

“Being superficially different is the goal of so many of the products we see … rather than trying to innovate and genuinely taking the time, investing the resources and caring enough to try and make something better.” —Jonathan Ive

“Courage … is not a selfish attribute: it is only possible if you are pursuing a wider and more worthy goal.” —Ted Malloch

“Lacking an external focus, the mind turns inward on itself and creates problems to solve, even if the problems are undefined or unimportant. If you find a focus, an ambitious goal that seems impossible and forces you to grow, these doubts disappear.” —Timothy Ferriss

“The primary goal of real education is not to deliver facts but to guide students to the truths that will allow them to take responsibility for their lives.” —John Taylor Gatto

“A goal can play an essential role in the psychological situation without being clearly present in consciousness.” —Kurt Lewin

“It is when things go hardest, when life becomes most trying, that there is greatest need for having a fixed goal.” —B.C. Forbes

“I believe in goals. It’s never a bad thing to have a dream. If something is really what you want to do, just do it. Whatever your goal.” —Richard Branson

“Everyone needs something to aim for. You can call it a challenge, or you can call it a goal. It is what makes us human. It was challenges that took us from being cavemen to reaching for the stars.” —Richard Branson

“A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.” —Walt Disney

“To solve a problem or to reach a goal, you don’t need to know all the answers in advance. But you must have a clear idea of the problem or the goal you want to reach.” —W. Clement Stone

“If your only goal is to become rich, you will never achieve it.” —John D. Rockefeller

“And yet the Nobel Prizes, in singling out individuals, have done a great deal of good in pointing up to the world as a whole and setting forth clearly goals for achievement.” —Willard Libby

“Envision, create, and believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you.” —Tony Hsieh

“A good goal is like a strenuous exercise—it makes you stretch.” —Mary Kay Ash

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” —Steve Jobs

“Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction.” —Kenichi Ohmae

More Goal-Setting Quotes

Looking for even more goal-setting inspiration? Take a look at these quotes.

“Always stay true to yourself, and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.” —Michelle Obama

“Never bet against anyone who is committed to excellence.” —Lou Holtz

“It’s harder to stay on top than it is to make the climb. Continue to seek new goals.” —Pat Summitt

“Every twist and turn in life is an opportunity to learn something new about yourself, your interests, your talents, and how to set and then achieve goals.” —Jameela Jamil

“No matter how many goals you have achieved, you must set your sights on a higher one.” —Jessica Savitch

“Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.” —Theodore Roosevelt

“Set a goal so big that you can’t achieve it until you grow into the kind of person who can.” —Anonymous

“A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.” —Larry Bird

“You must accept that you might fail; then, if you do your best and still don’t win, at least you can be satisfied that you’ve tried. If you don’t accept failure as a possibility, you don’t set high goals, you don’t branch out, you don’t try—you don’t take the risk.” —Rosalynn Carter

“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things—to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals. The intense effort, the giving of everything you’ve got, is a very pleasant bonus.” —Edmund Hillary

“A man has to have goals—for a day, for a lifetime—and that was mine, to have people say, ‘There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.’” —Ted Williams

“It may be true that he travels farthest who travels alone, but the goal thus reached is not worth reaching.” —Theodore Roosevelt

“Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product. Paradoxically, the one sure way not to be happy is deliberately to map out a way of life in which one would please oneself completely and exclusively.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

“Rebuffed, but always persevering; self-reproached, but ever regaining faith; undaunted, tenacious, the heart of man labors toward immeasurably distant goals.” —Helen Keller

“I have the same goal I’ve had ever since I was a girl. I want to rule the world.” —Madonna

“If we continue to think and live as if we belong only to different cultures and different religions, with separate missions and goals, we will always be in self-defeating competition with each other. Once we realize we are all members of humanity, we will want to compete in the spirit of love.” —Muhammad Ali

“Today, the notion of progress in a single line without goal or limit seems perhaps the most parochial notion of a very parochial century.” —Lewis Mumford

“The idea for which this nation stands will not survive if the highest goal free man can set themselves is an amiable mediocrity. Excellence implies striving for the highest standards in every phase of life.” —John W. Gardner

“I don’t perceive my role as a newsman at all. I’m a comedian from stem to stern. You can cut me open and count the rings of jokes. If people learn something about the news by watching the show, that is incidental to my goal.” —Stephen Colbert

“The goal of climbing big, dangerous mountains should be to attain some sort of spiritual and personal growth, but this won’t happen if you compromise away the entire process.” —Yvon Chouinard

“Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” —Vince Lombardi

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If you liked these goal-setting quotes, check out our Motivational Quotes for Students and Teachers.