75 Graduating High School Quotes to Inspire You

High school graduation is a momentous occasion marking the end of one chapter and the exciting commencement of another.

It signifies the start of a student’s transition from childhood to adulthood. Celebrations include parties, photographs and carefully selected graduation gifts.

However, it’s not just about ceremonies and festivities.

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Graduation is also a perfect time for students to start planning their future whether they choose to attend college, trade school or the military, begin jobs or internships or simply start exploring their true identity in the world.

For those who struggle to express their emotions during this bittersweet time, there are numerous inspirational, motivational, or wise quotes available that can be shared with the graduates.

These can be used in cards, as social media posts, or even incorporated into personalized gifts, conveying heartfelt messages to both high school and college graduates.


Best Graduating High School Quotes

When you leave here, don’t forget why you came. ~ Adlai Stevenson.

Wherever you go, go with all your heart. ~ Confucius.

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. ~ B. F. Skinner.

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Be bold, be courageous, be your best. ~ Gabrielle Giffords.

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The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future. ~ Plato.

The first of many graduations of life. From elementary school to senior school, each one holds successes for you to enjoy. ~ Catherine Pulsifer.

Look in the mirror tonight. Who is that man? Who is that woman? She is the work of your life. He is its greatest glory. ~ Anna Quindlen.

People will frighten you about a graduation. They use words you don’t hear often: “And we wish you Godspeed.” It is a warning, Godspeed. It means you are no longer welcome here at these prices. ~ Bill Cosby.

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Instruction ends in the schoolroom, but education ends only with life. ~ Frederick W. Robertson.

It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. ~ Babe Ruth.

Famous Graduating High School Quotes

Be aware that even before you have reached your ultimate professional destination, if you always strive for excellence, you can and should have a substantial impact on the world in which you live. ~ Sandra Day O’Connor.

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Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world right in the eye. ~ Helen Keller.

Life is an improvisation. You have no idea what’s going to happen next and you are mostly just making things up as you go along. ~ Stephen Colbert.

Fight for what makes you optimistic about the world. Find it, insist on it, dig into it, go after it. ~ Jennifer Garner.

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

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It’s amazing what you can get if you quietly, clearly and authoritatively demand it. ~ Meryl Streep.

Graduation is a time of completion, of finishing, of an ending, however, it is also a time of celebration of achievement and a beginning for the new graduate. ~ Catherine Pulsifer.

Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle. ~ Christian D. Larson.

As you start your journey, the first thing you should do is throw away that store-bought map and begin to draw your own. ~ Michael Dell.

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Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors. ~ Louisa May Alcott.

You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it. ~ John Updike.

My wish for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to. Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small and that you never need to carry more than you can hold. ~ Rascal Flatts.

Gaining knowledge is our only hope for survival. Passing that knowledge on to future generations is our most important challenge. ~ George Lucas.

Understand that one day you will have the power to make a difference, so use it well. ~ Mindy Kaling.

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Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. ~ Anthony J. D’Angelo.

Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you’ll make a difference. ~ Arie Pencovici.

For the most important decisions in your life, trust your intuition, and then work with everything you have, to prove it right. ~ Tim Cook.

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Graduation isn’t the end of a tough journey. It is the beginning of a beautiful one. ~ Unknown.

You can’t do it alone. Be open to collaboration. Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you. Spend a lot of time with them and it will change your life. ~ Amy Poehler.

It is indeed ironic that we spend our school days yearning to graduate and our remaining days waxing nostalgic about our school days. ~ Isabel Waxman.

Before you act, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you quit, try. ~ William Arthur Ward.

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Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. ~ Henry Ford.

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. ~ Dr. Seuss.

It is critical that you continually assess where you are in all facets of your life, determine where you want to go, and set goals that you wish to achieve. But remember, achieving your goals is not your destination, just part of your journey. ~ Florence Griffith Joyner.

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It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. ~ E.E. Cummings.

Education should be a lifelong process, the formal period serving as a foundation on which life’s structure may rest and rise. ~ Robert H. Jackson.

Whatever you choose for a career path, remember the struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose. ~ Chadwick Boseman.

The unfortunate, yet truly exciting thing about your life, is that there is no core curriculum. The entire place is an elective. ~ Jon Stewart.

Also read: First Day Of School Quotes to Inspire Every Student and Schooled Quotes from Schooled by Gordon Korman

Top Graduating High School Quotes

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

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

The unfortunate, yet truly exciting thing about your life, is that there is no core curriculum. The entire place is an elective. ~ Jon Stewart.

You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world. ~ Tom Brokaw.

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. ~ Anatole France.

My job is to bore you and let the hardness of your seat and the warmth of your robe prepare you for what is to come. ~ William McNeill.

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Don’t always worry what your next line is going to be. ~ Costolo.

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself. ~ Alan Alda.

Graduating high school was really emotional for me. I’d obviously made a huge thing out of what that experience was for me, and saying goodbye to it was very weird. So I had to be like, boom, onward and upward. ~ Tavi Gevinson.

As you take leave of your school, as you graduate into a new life of the mind, may each of you ask yourself this: What am I doing to increase the sum hope of the world? What am I doing to teach someone else what I have learned? ~ Arthur Burns.

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Wherever you go, go with all your heart. ~ Confucius.

You can accomplish wonders through focus and persistence. Over time, the fruits of your efforts will multiply to yield a luxuriant carpet of achievement. ~ Gina Mohammed.

I will reach for the stars no matter how hard it seems, and fly like a bird with the knowledge this journey brings. ~ Semetra C. Vanison.

That diploma you hold in your hands today is really just your learner’s permit for the rest of the drive through life. Remember, you don’t have to be smarter than the next person, all you have to do is be willing to work harder than the next person. ~ Jimmy Iovine.

Short Graduating High School Quotes

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

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Life has a very simple plot: first you’re here and then you’re not. ~ Eric Idle.

You already have everything you need inside of you right now, today. ~ Alicia Keys.

Follow your passion. Stay true to yourself. Never follow someone else’s path unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path. By all means, you should follow that. ~ Ellen DeGeneres.

An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. ~ Benjamin Franklin.

At commencement you wear your square-shaped mortarboards. My hope is that from time to time you will let your minds be bold, and wear sombreros. ~ Paul Freund.

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Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right. ~ Henry Ford.

Your families are extremely proud of you. You can’t imagine the sense of relief they are experiencing. This would be a most opportune time to ask for money. ~ Gary Bolding.

Young ladies and gentlemen, this is not your world yet. You have to make it. ~ Bill Cosby.

Not graduating high school on time leads to fewer chances of attending college and obtaining good paying jobs, and creates instead higher chances of incarceration and unemployment. ~ Al Sharpton.

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Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead. ~ Nora Ephron.

Fall forward. Every failed experiment is one step closer to success. You’ve got to take risks. ~ Denzel Washington.

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

Inspirational Graduating High School Quotes

The morning after my high-school graduation found me up early job hunting. The dream of college I put on the back burner. ~ Martha Reeves.

Take pride in how far you’ve come. Have faith in how far you can go. But don’t forget to enjoy the journey. ~ Michael Josephson.

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The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse. ~ Edward Koch.

A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that “individuality” is the key to success. ~ Robert Orben.

Just remember, you can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets. ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. ~ Albert Einstein.

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Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. ~ Michelle Obama.

Graduation is an exciting time. It marks both an ending and a beginning; it’s warm memories of the past and big dreams for the future. ~ Unknown.


So these were the 75 quotes about Graduating High School.

If these quotes and sayings connect with you, check out our other posts on singing quotes and fence quotes.

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Chandan Negi
Chandan Negi

I’m the Founder of Internet Pillar - I love sharing quotes and motivational content to inspire and motivate people - #quotes #motivation #internetpillar