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90 Inspirational Quotes for Kids + 3 Motivational Tips

Being a parent can certainly take a lot out of you. If you have kids, then you’ll know how much they rely on you for all sorts of things, including inspiration. Whether they need help boosting their imagination for games or drawings, or they are trying to figure out the many wonders of life, here are some inspirations.

We want to inspire our kids to be the best versions of themselves and teach them virtues like kindness and care. It’s important that they learn early on that they can achieve anything they put their minds to.

This article includes a wide variety of inspirational quotes for children across many diverse categories, and you will even find some tips on how to motivate your children at the end.

Inspirational Quotes and Sayings for Kids

Inspirational Quotes and Sayings for Kids

Sometimes, it can help to rely on other people’s wise words to get the message we want to convey across. Using quotes and sayings as a way of inspiring your kids can offer them a new way of looking at things, and the messages will stick in their heads more easily for future motivation.

If you want to encourage your children to be successful and ambitious, kind and caring, or even if you just want to pass along some funny sayings to them, then you are sure to find what you’re looking for below.

Once you’ve found some you like, you and your kids could write out your favorites together on sticky notes and place them around your house for a boost of inspiration whenever you pass them.

This shared activity will be a fond memory for all of you, while also helping to keep your kids inspired.

Here you will find more inspirational quotes.

Positive Inspiring Quotes for Kids

Positive Inspiring Quotes for Kids

It is very important that children learn from a very young age to believe in themselves, and not to let others try to change who they are. Some positive quotes about these matters will inspire them to live their lives authentically, to try new things, and to feel confident in themselves.

  1. Every action in our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity.
    (Edwin Hubbel Chapin, American preacher, 1814–1880)
  2. Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment.
    (Horace, Roman poet, 65–8 B.C.)
  3. You may live all the days of your life.
    (Jonathan Swift, Irish poet, 1667–1745)
  4. The best way to make children good is to make them happy.
    (Oscar Wilde, Irish poet, 1854–1900)
  5. The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.
    (Henry Ford, American industrialist, 1863–1947)
  6. If people did not do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.
    (Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian philosopher, 1889–1951)
  7. To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
    (Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, 1803–1882)
  8. If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.
    (Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter, 1853–1890)
  9. Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart.
    (Ancient Indian proverb)
  10. Be true to your work, word, and your friend.
    (Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist, 1817–1862)

Here you will find quotes about children.

Motivational Quotes for Children

Motivational Quotes for Children

If your little one is struggling with motivation, it can be hard to come up with the right words to help them. It is important to remind them that they can do or be anything they set their minds to, and that their future is in their hands.

Help them to broaden their imagination and exercise their ambition by sharing some of these motivational quotes below with them.

  1. We know what we are but know not what we may be.
    (William Shakespeare, English playwright, 1564–1616)
  2. To live is so startling, it leaves little time for anything else.
    (Emily Dickinson, American poet, 1830–1886)
  3. Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future.
    (Maria Montessori, Italian physician, 1870–1952)
  4. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.
    (Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, 1803–1882)
  5. The most important thing in life is to stop saying “I wish” and start saying “I will.”
    (Charles Dickens, English writer, 1812–1870)
  6. Preparation is the key to success.
    (Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish inventor, 1847–1922)
  7. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.
    (Chinese proverb)
  8. Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
    (Oscar Wilde, Irish poet, 1854–1900)
  9. Whatever you are, be a good one.
    (Abraham Lincoln, former US president, 1809–1865)
  10. What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.
    (Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, 1803–1882)

Here you’ll find more motivational quotes.

Quotes for Kids about Kindness

Quotes for Kids about Kindness

One of the most important virtues a child can learn is kindness. Treating others with empathy and care is something that should be learned early on so that they can carry it through the rest of their lives.

The quotes below will inspire kindness in your child and teach them that little acts of kindness can brighten up both your life and the lives of others.

  1. Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.
    (Charles Dickens, English writer, 1812–1870)
  2. Not only must we be good, but we must also be good for something.
    (Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist, 1817–1862)
  3. In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.
    (Theodore Roosevelt, Former US president, 1858–1919)
  4. No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness, and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.
    (Emma Goldman, Russian political activist, 1869–1940)
  5. No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
    (Aesop, Greek storyteller, 620–564 B.C.)
  6. That best portion of a man’s life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.
    (William Wordsworth, English poet, 1770–1850)
  7. Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners.
    (Laurence Stern, Anglo-Irish novelist, 1713–1768)
  8. A man’s own manner and character is what most becomes him.
    (Cicero, Roman statesman, 106–43 B.C.)
  9. When you see a good man, try to emulate his example, and when you see a bad man, search yourself for his faults.
    (Confucius, Chinese philosopher, 551–479 B.C)
  10. Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear, and the blind can see.
    (Mark Twain, American writer, 1835–1910)

Reading Quotes for Kids

Reading Quotes for Kids

Reading is a wonderful way for children to broaden their imaginations and allows them to explore the world – and other worlds – from the comfort of your home. Books can teach your child a lot about life, and the quotes below emphasize how important reading is.

Read these quotes with your child to show them how many great minds over the years have valued reading so highly.

  1. Who questions much, shall learn much, and retain much.
    (Francis Bacon, English philosopher, 1561–1626)
  2. Learning never exhausts the mind.
    (Leonardo da Vinci, Italian polymath, 1452–1519)
  3. The man who does not read books has no advantage over the one who cannot read them.
    (Mark Twain, American writer, 1835–1910)
  4. Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
    (John Dewey, American philosopher, 1859–1952)
  5. Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.
    (Confucius, Chinese philosopher, 551–479 B.C)
  6. Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself.
    (George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, 1856–1950)
  7. Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.
    (Napoleon Bonaparte, French military commander, 1769–1821)
  8. The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest (people) of the past centuries.
    (René Descartes, French philosopher, 1596–1650)
  9. Reading brings us unknown friends.
    (Honoré de Balzac, French novelist, 1799–1850)
  10. Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.
    (Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist, 1817–1895)

Inspirational and Encouraging Quotes for Kids

Inspirational and Encouraging Quotes for Kids

Teach your children to dream big with the quotes below. Children need encouragement and inspiration from their parents to learn how to lead their lives and what to aspire to be. These quotes will teach your child courage, ambition and resilience so that they can achieve their goals.

  1. Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.
    (Abraham Lincoln, former US president, 1809–1865)
  2. If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.
    (Mahatma Gandhi, Indian ethicist, 1869–1948)
  3. Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.
    (Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman, 1813–1887)
  4. It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.
    (Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist, 1818–1895)
  5. Just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending, he turned into a butterfly.
    (Proverb)
  6. The best way to predict the future is to create it.
    (Abraham Lincoln, former US president, 1809–1865)
  7. Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.
    (Will Rogers, American humorist, 1879–1935)
  8. Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.
    (Andre Gide, French author, 1869–1951)
  9. What does not destroy me, makes me stronger.
    (Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, 1844–1900)
  10. Honesty is the best policy. If I lose mine honor, I lose myself.
    (William Shakespeare, English playwright, 1564–1616)

Short Quotes for Kids

Short Quotes for Kids

Sometimes, a nice and short quote can be the best way to help a child understand something. These quotes still offer inspirational messages for children, but their short nature makes them more likely to stick in their heads.

Choose a couple from the short quotes below with your child and write them on sticky notes to provide constant inspiration in your home.

  1. We grow great by dreams.
    (Woodrow Wilson, former US president, 1856–1924)
  2. Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.
    (Hans Christian Anderson, Danish author, 1805–1875)
  3. The years teach much the days never know.
    (Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, 1803–1882)
  4. Fall seven times, stand up eight.
    (Japanese proverb)
  5. Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
    (Confucius, Chinese philosopher, 551–479 B.C)
  6. Nothing is particularly hard f you break it down into small jobs.
    (Henry Ford, American industrialist, 1863–1947)
  7. You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
    (Mahatma Gandhi, Indian ethicist, 1869–1948)
  8. Be silly, be honest, be kind.
    (Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, 1803–1882)
  9. There is no substitute for hard work.
    (Thomas Edison, American inventor, 1847–1931)
  10. The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
    (Mark Twain, American writer, 1835–1910)
  11. Manners easily and rapidly mature into morals.
    (Horace Mann, American educational reformer, 1796–1859)

Baseball Quotes for Kids

Baseball Quotes for Kids

The bat and ball game of baseball is a great sport for teaching your child discipline and resilience. It is a game of teamwork and motivation. The quotes below can inspire your little league-er to apply some of the principles of baseball to their own life.

  1. Never allow the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.
    (Babe Ruth, American baseball player, 1895–1948)
  2. Baseball gives a growing boy self-poise and self-reliance. Baseball is a man maker.
    (Albert Goodwill Spalding, American baseball manager, 1850–1915)
  3. Baseball is more than a game to me, it’s a religion.
    (Bill Klem, baseball umpire, 1874–1951)
  4. Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.
    (Babe Ruth, American baseball player, 1895–1948)
  5. There is no room in baseball for discrimination. It is our national pastime and a game for all. (Lou Gehrig, American baseball first baseman, 1903–1941)
  6. Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world.
    (Babe Ruth, American baseball player, 1895–1948)
  7. I swing big, with everything I’ve got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.
    (Babe Ruth, American baseball player, 1895–1948)
  8. Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.
    (Babe Ruth, American baseball player, 1895–1948)
  9. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.
    (Babe Ruth, American baseball player, 1895–1948)
  10. You don’t get the breaks unless you play with the team instead of against it.
    (Lou Gehrig, American baseball first baseman, 1903–1941)

Funny Quotes about Life for Kids

Funny Quotes about Life for Kids

Some of the most rewarding moments with your children can be the giggles you share together. Whether you’re laughing at each other, at a TV show or movie or a silly game you’re playing together, these moments are ones to be cherished.

Why not add to these moments by having a giggle at the funny quotes about life below.

  1. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
    (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French writer, 1900–1944)
  2. A child is a curly, dimpled lunatic.
    (Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, 1803–1882)
  3. Be like a postage stamp; stick to one thing until you get there.
    (Josh Billings, American humorist, 1818–1885)
  4. I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.
    (Oscar Wilde, Irish poet, 1854–1900)
  5. A clear conscience is a sure sign of a bad memory.
    (Mark Twain, American writer, 1835–1910)
  6. You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.
    (Irish proverb)
  7. I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
    (Thomas Edison, American inventor, 1847–1931)
  8. Even a stopped clock is right twice every day. After some years, it can boast of a long series of successes.
    (Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Moravian-Austrian writer, 1830–1916)
  9. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
    (Thomas Edison, American inventor, 1847–1931)
  10. Cupcakes are the muffins that believed in miracles.
    (Unknown)

Growth Mindset Quotes for Kids

Growth Mindset Quotes for Kids

It can be difficult to get children to listen when you try to encourage them to do their best to ensure a bright future for them. Whether that’s at school, in sports or in other hobbies.

We always want our children to succeed and grow, but sometimes the words of famous figures can inspire them to do so more easily. Take a look at the options we’ve gathered below.

  1. Stunt, dwarf or destroy the imagination of a child, and you have taken away its chances of success in life. Imagination transforms the commonplace into the great and creates the new out of the old.
    (L. Frank Baum, American author, 1856—1919)
  2. When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.
    (George Washington Carver, American agricultural scientist, 1864–1943)
  3. Never give up, for that is the place and time that the tide will turn.
    (Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author, 1811–1896)
  4. The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.
    (Mark Twain, American writer, 1835–1910)
  5. The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.
    (Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, 1803–1882)
  6. If people only knew how hard I’ve worked to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.
    (Michelangelo, Italian artist, 1475–1564)
  7. Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.
    (Henry Ford, American industrialist, 1863–1947)
  8. It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.
    (Confucius, Chinese philosopher, 551–479 B.C)
  9. All things are difficult before they are easy.
    (Thomas Fuller, American mathematician, 1710–1790)
  10. Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance.
    (Samuel Johnson, English writer, 1709–1784)

Tips on How to Inspire and Motivate Kids

Tips on How to Inspire and Motivate Kids

Don’t worry if the quotes above aren’t enough to motivate and inspire your child on their own: we’ve also compiled a few tips for you to integrate into your parenting skills to boost your child’s motivation.

It can be hard when your child doesn’t care about things that are important in life, and just because you care doesn’t mean they will. There are plenty of techniques you can integrate into your parenting to teach your child accountability, responsibility and the importance of putting in effort.

The tips listed here will help you to inspire your kids to motivate themselves, without having to resort to strict punishments. Check them out and try to use them when your kid is lacking motivation.

Be a Good Role Model

Be a Good Role Model

Inspire your child with your own actions. Children are like sponges and soak up everything they see and hear, and repeat it themselves.

Make sure that when they are around, you speak about yourself and others respectfully. Lead by example and vocalize your goals and how achieving them makes you feel.

If you aren’t sure how to act as their role model, think of someone you have always looked up to and try to mirror what you admire about them.

Be Curious, Not Pushy

Be Curious, Not Pushy

Pushing and nagging your child to do the things they are unmotivated to do will only motivate them to resist you. Being forced into doing something will just decrease their motivation. Motivation is most effective when it comes from within.

Try asking your child about the reasoning behind their actions, for example, if you see they are doing their homework last thing on a Sunday evening, ask them why they chose this time, is it the best choice, what are the pros and cons and will they continue to make this choice.

Helping a child self-reflect can lead them to their own conclusions, meaning they will be more likely to make positive changes by themselves.

Praise Them & Love Them

Praise Them & Love Them

Make sure to praise your child when they behave in a positive way. Acknowledge effort they make, kindness they show, and improvements they make in how they react or behave in certain situations. Children benefit greatly from praise and affection.

Hug them when they have done something right or simply when they need it. Physical affection is so important for children, and it is a clear way to express your love for them.

Remember to love your child as the unique person they are. Children are not extensions of their parents, and parents should not attempt to live vicariously through their children. Understand that your child will have different interests, tastes and ambitions – and love them regardless.

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