Hard Work Quotes to Succeed in Business, Sports, and More

If you are striving for success, hard work has to be an essential part of your strategy.

The hard work quotes below will help you stay focused. 

Who’s the hardest worker you know? 

The importance of hard work has probably been reiterated to you throughout your life, whether it was from parents, bosses, or teachers.

Although, when you are faced with life’s difficulties, it can be hard to stay consistent. 

Below are tidbits of knowledge from successful people who have learned the importance of hard work by putting it into practice.

These insightful quotes are from famous athletes, actors, entrepreneurs, and more. 

Check out the quotes below and get motivated; it’s time to put in work!

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration.

Our inspirational quote category page has even more inspirational and educational quotes.

Motivational hard work quotes

1. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell

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2. “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

3. “The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work.” – Thomas A. Edison

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4. “If four things are followed – having a great aim, acquiring knowledge, hard work, and perseverance – then anything can be achieved.” – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

5. “You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you’re doing. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.” – Alan Alda

6. “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 S. Sharma

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

8. “When you live for a strong purpose, then hard work isn’t an option. It’s a necessity.” – Steve Pavlina

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

10. “Push yourself because no one else is going to do it for you.” – Unknown

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Hard work quotes for business

11. “Overcoming fear is the first step to success for entrepreneurs. The winners all exemplify that, and the hard work and commitment they have shown underlines what is needed to set up a business.” – Richard Branson

12. “If you love your work, you’ll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you – like a fever. ” – Sam Walton

13. “Great companies are built in the office, with hard work put in by a team.” – Emily Chang

14. “Without hard work and discipline it is difficult to be a top professional.” – Jahangir Khan

15. “Have the end in mind and every day make sure you’re working towards it.” – Ryan Allis

16. “You are not your resume, you are your work.” – Seth Godin

17. “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” – Theodore Roosevelt

18. “There’s no lotion or potion that will make sales faster and easier for you – unless your potion is hard work.” – Jeffrey Gitomer

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Hard work quotes from celebrities

19. “Power means happiness; power means hard work and sacrifice.” – Beyonce Knowles

20. “It’s definitely a dream come true to be recognized and to be able to sign autographs. But, it’s also a lot of hard work and can be draining. If you don’t know already, you will quickly learn who your real friends are.” – Christina Aguilera

21. “I always feel like it’s two key ingredients when it comes to following your dreams, making something happen that the average person deems difficult. If you truly believe it, that’s step one. Step two, is, you know, the hard work that goes along with it.” – J. Cole

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22. “I have achieved everything through either hard work or luck.” – Sandra Bullock

23. “Touring is a tough plane to get off the ground, and it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of investments.” – G-Eazy

24. “Comedy is not funny. Comedy is hard work and timing and lots and lots of rehearsals.” – Larry Hagman

25. “I believe in hard work. I think that everything flows out of that.” – Aisha Tyler

26. “The one thing I’ve learned in the last ten years is that successful artists don’t get paid to write and sing songs, they get paid for the psychological roller coaster they’re going to have to ride. That’s the hard work.” – Enrique Iglesias

27. “People from all walks of life and all over the world look at me and know my humble beginnings and know that everything I’ve done has been through hard work. People respect me as a marketer and brand builder.” – Sean Combs

28. “I believe destiny and hard work go hand in hand. I was studying to be an engineer when my mom and my brother sent my pictures for the Miss India contest. I didn’t even know about it. If that isn’t destiny, what is?” – Priyanka Chopra

29. “It feels like my hard work has paid off, but at the same time, I still have the impostor, you know, syndrome. I still feel like I’m going to wake up, and everybody’s going to see me for the hack I am.” – Viola Davis

30. “How long you can continue to be good at something is how much you believe in yourself and how much hard work you do with the training.” – Jason Statham

31. “Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” – Oprah Winfrey

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

33. “Everyone’s like, ‘overnight sensation.’ It’s not overnight. It’s years of hard work.” – Margot Robbie

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Hard work quotes for sports

34. “Skill is only developed by hours and hours of work.” – Usain Bolt

35. “Continuous effort, not strength or intelligence, is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Liane Cardes

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

37. “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.” – Dan Gable

38. “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” — Jerry Rice

39. “Irrespective of whether you have the talent or not, one has to work hard. Just being talented doesn’t mean anything; you can end up wasting it before you realize.” — Virat Kohli

40. “I am no genius; I just worked hard like my other teammates, and I believe all my teammates can win the title as they work hard, too.” — Lin Dan

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41. “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

42. “Nothing good comes in life or athletics unless a lot of hard work has preceded the effort. Only temporary success is achieved by taking shortcuts.” – Roger Staubach

43. “You need three things to win: discipline, hard work and, before everything maybe, commitment. No one will make it without those three. Sport teaches you that.” – Haile Gebrselassie

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Hard work quotes about success

44. “What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a flair for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.” – Margaret Thatcher

45. “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” – Dwayne Johnson

46. “The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability as opposed to resilience and hard work, we will be brittle in the face of adversity.” – Joshua Waitzkin

47. “Most of the time you will fail, but you will also occasionally succeed. Those occasional successes make all the hard work and sacrifice worthwhile.” – Dean Kamen

48. “To succeed, work hard, never give up and above all, cherish a magnificent obsession.” – Walt Disney

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49. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau

50. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon

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

52. “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

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More hard work quotes and sayings

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

54. “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.” – Thomas A. Edison

55. “If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.” – Steve Jobs

56. “Win or lose you will never regret working hard, making sacrifices, being disciplined or focusing too much. Success is measured by what we have done to prepare for competition.” – John Smith

57. “Give your dreams all you’ve got, and you’ll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.” – William James

58. “If you really want something, and really work hard, and take advantage of opportunities, and never give up, you will find a way.. Follow your Dreams.” – Jane Goodall

59. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” – Steve Jobs

60. “If you work hard, whatever you want, it will come to you. I know that’s easier said than done, but keep trying.” – Beyonce Knowles

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Hard Work Quotes To Inspire You To Give More At Whatever You Do

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

62. “Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.” — Gordon B. Hinckley

63. “Hard work is an essential element in tracking down and perfecting a strategy or in executing it.” — Charlie Munger

64. “Luck is great, but most of life is hard work.” — Iain Duncan Smith

65. “Work and you’ll get what you need; work harder and you’ll get what you want.” — Prabakaran Thirumalai

66. “Hard work compounds like interest, and the earlier you do it, the more time you have for the benefits to pay off.” — Sam Altman

67. “It’s not about money or connections – it’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone.” — Mark Cuban

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

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

70. “A lot of hard work is hidden behind nice things.” — Ralph Lauren

Hard Work Quotes To Inspire You To Put In More Effort

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

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

73. “Inspiration is the windfall from hard work and focus.” ― Helen Hanson

74. “Believe in yourself, work hard, work smart and passionately present your best self to the world.” ― Hill Harper

75. “Stay positive and happy. Work hard and don’t give up hope. Be open to criticism and keep learning. Surround yourself with happy, warm, and genuine people.” ― Tena Desae

76. “There is no substitute for hard work. There is no such thing as an overnight success or easy money.” ― Henry Sy

77. “I think that my biggest attribute to any success that I have had is hard work. There really is no substitute for working hard.” ― Maria Bartiromo

78. “Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.” ― Simon Sinek

79. “Every beautiful mind has great dreams, but rarely is anyone ever ready to work hard for their dreams.” ― Terry Mark

80. “There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits.” ― Michael Phelps

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What’s more important: talent or hard work? 

No matter what field you are in, there is a constant discussion on whether talent or hard work is more important.

I believe that natural talent can only take you so far.

If you work hard enough, talent can even be developed from scratch. 

Hard work will also establish the resilience you need to market your talent to other people.

You will then find more opportunities than someone who just has raw talent.

Working hard puts you on the path towards success. 

Which of these hard work quotes and sayings is your favorite?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below!