100+ Work Ethic Quotes To Inspire Your Hustle

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In this article, we’re diving into some of the best work ethic quotes that will inspire your inner hustle.

In life, there are very few things that you can control. You can’t control the family you were born into, other people’s actions, your past, and many times you can’t even control how you feel.

However, the one thing that you always have control over is what you do. 

No matter what is going on externally, you always have the ability to hustle and make forward progress towards your goals.

Work ethic is the one thing that can lead you to wealth and fulfillment, even if you’re start life at the back. It’s what allows you to jump the line of people waiting for their dreams to become reality.

So without further ado, here are some inspirational quotes about work ethic that will motivate you to hustle for the life you want.

Inspirational Work Ethic Quotes

  • “All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.” ~ Calvin Coolidge
  • “Commitment is staying true to what you said you would do long after the mood you said it in has left.” ~ Inky Johnson
  • “The best way to learn is by doing. The only way to build a strong work ethic is getting your hands dirty.” ~ Alex Spanos
  •  “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 Sharma
  • “If you want it to work, you’ve gotta get your hands dirty. What do you think they’re giving out envelopes with success inside?” ~ Joey Diaz
  • “You can control two things; your work ethic and your attitude about anything.” ~ Ali Krieger
  • “Genes can’t make you successful if you’re not doing the work. Until you work as hard as those you admire, don’t explain away their success as luck.” ~ James Clear
  • “Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing.” ~ William Arthur Ward
  • “When you are interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses.” ~ Kenneth Blanchard
  • “Developing a good work ethic is a key to success. Apply yourself at whatever you do, whether you’re a janitor or taking your first summer job, because that work ethic will be reflected in everything you do in life.” ~ Tyler Perry
  • “The only thing that can stop you is you.” ~ Ruby Bridges
  • “I wasn’t the biggest, I wasn’t the fastest, I wasn’t the strongest, and then I bought into something called work ethic.” ~ Ray Lewis

ray lewis quote on wall

  • “If we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things: You’re getting off first, or I’m gonna die. It’s really that simple. You’re not going to outwork me.” ~ Will Smith
  • “Work is a four letter word that most people don’t like. They’re simply not willing to put in the work.” ~ Les Brown
  • “There may be people who have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.” ~ Derek Jeter
  • “Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty minutes on something that most people would give up on after twenty seconds.” ~ Alan Schoenfeld
  • “One missed workout, one missed phone call, one missed alarm clock, one missed work session. It all adds up.” ~ Jocko Willink
  • “Reading quotes about work ethic isn’t doing the work, actually doing the work is the only thing that will move you forward.”
  • “What you don’t sweat out when you’re young will turn into tears when you’re old.” ~ Japanese Proverb
  • “For me the starting point for everything – before strategy, tactics, theories, managing, organizing, philosophy, methodology, talent, or experience – is work ethic.” ~ Bill Walsh
  • “The land of opportunity. You just need the right people and the right work ethic and you can accomplish anything.” ~ Bob Poser
  • “Work like there is someone working 24 hours a day to try to take it all away from you.” ~ Mark Cuban
  • “To achieve what 1% of the world’s population has, you must be willing to do what only 1% dares to do.” ~ Manoj Arora

quote about work ethic

  • “If you’re afraid of struggle, then you’re afraid of growth. You have to go through it to get to it.” ~ Trent Shelton
  • “The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.” ~ Andrew Carnegie
  • “A positive mindset in the absence of hard work will get you nowhere.” ~ Lailah Akita
  • “Everybody wants to be famous but nobody wants to do the work.” ~ Kevin Hart
  • “Just like a skill or any art, we cannot possess hope without practicing it. It is the most fundamental craft we demand of ourselves.” ~ Amanda Gorman

Work Ethic Quotes About Success

Enjoying this list of quotes so far? Then you’ll probably also enjoy these work hard play hard quotes or this collection of grind hustle quotes.

If you’d just prefer to keep reading, then here are some quotes about work ethic.

  • “Most people give up when they are about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from the winning touchdown.” ~ Ross Perot
  • Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better” ~ Jim Rohn
  • “If you can’t outplay them, outwork them.” ~ Ben Hogan
  • “A big part of my success is never letting negative thoughts cloud my mind, because that affects your work ethic.” ~ Morgan Wallen
  • “Success isn’t just hard work and big smiles. It’s built on sweat, tears, and frustrations.”
  • “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” – Pele
  • “Believe passionately in what you do, and never knowingly compromise your standards and values. Act like a true professional, aiming for true excellence, and the money will follow.” ~ David Maister
  • “All roads that lead to success have to pass through hard work boulevard at some point.”  ~ Eric Thomas
  • “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” ~ Zig Ziglar

work ethic quote posted on wall

  • “Your character, integrity, work ethic, and hard work will bring you more in life than anything else.” ~ Jason Poston
  • “It takes less time to do things right than it does to explain why you did it wrong.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  • “You need lofty goals. Then cement it with a great work ethic.” ~ Jerry West
  • “I feel like luck is a product of hard work.” ~ Nipsey Hussle
  • “Hard work might not guarantee success, but it’ll get you closer than anything else you do.”
  • ”Our lives improve only when we take chances—and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.” ~ Walter Anderson
  • “If hard work, integrity, thrift, and perseverance have caused you to succeed, then you don’t owe anyone an apology for winning.” ~ Dave Ramsey
  • “When your attitude fails, lean on your strong work ethic.”
  • “If your success was earned through hard work and honesty. Never apologize for it.” ~ Frank Sonnenberg
  • “The difference between a great man and a little man is their commitment to integrity and hard work.” ~ Shiv Khera
  • “The high road is always respected. Honesty and integrity are always rewarded.” ~ Scott Hamilton
  • “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again. Only this time, more wisely.” ~ Uncle Iroh
  • “Bad days are inevitable. Focus on the things you can control; your mindset and your work ethic. In the end, those are what matter most.”
  • “What’s the key to success? The key is, there is no key. Be humble, hungry, and the hardest worker in any room.” ~ The Rock

quote about hard work

  • “Hard work is more than what you get out of it. It’s also about who you become from it.”
  • “Hard work keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit.” ~ Helena Rubinstein
  • “It took me a lot of work to get where I’m at. I really had to go out there and earn my fans.” ~ Luke Combs

Quotes About Work Ethic & Perseverance

Let’s keep this list rolling with some more quotes on work ethic that will inspire you to hustle and work hard for your dreams.

  • “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” ~ Kevin Durant
  • “If you are persistent, you will get it. If you are consistent, you will keep it.” ~ Steve Harvey
  • “Hard work without talent is a shame, but talent without hard work is a tragedy.” ~ Robert Half
  • “You can read all of the work ethic quotes you want, it’s not gonna change the fact that every day is You vs. You.”
  • “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
  • “If you voluntarily choose resistance and then you go through it, then you have greater pleasure waiting for you on the other side of it.” ~ Matthew McConaughey
  • “Working hard becomes a habit, a serious kind of fun. You get self-satisfaction from pushing yourself to the limit, knowing that all the effort is going to pay off.” ~ Mary Lou Retton
  • “At the end of the day, if you put all the work in, eventually it’ll pay off. It could be in a year or it could be in 30 years. Eventually your hard work will pay off.” ~ Kevin Hart
  • “The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work. Work is the key to success, and hard work can help you accomplish anything.” ~ Vince Lombardi
  • “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
  • “I never feared about my skills because I put in the work. Work ethic eliminates fear. So if you put forth the work, what are you fearing?” ~ Michael Jordan
  • “Hard work is only sacrifice when you don’t have a goal. When you know what you want, you see hustle as an opportunity.”
  • “If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all.” ~ Michelangelo
  • “A positive mindset alone in the absence of hard work will get you nowhere.” ~ Ken Poirot
  • “My hustle is relentless. I’m not gonna stop. It took me a lot of losses to get where I’m at now.” ~ Kevin Gates
  • “Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.” ~ Sam Ewing

quote on blue wall

  • “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” ~ Newt Gingrich
  • “We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in.” ~ Arianna Huffington
  • “Work and you’ll get what you need; work harder and you’ll get what you want.” ~ Prabakran Thirumalai
  • “Follow your dreams and give it your all. Put your mind to it and there’s nothing that can stop you.” ~ Juice WRLD
  • “I do not believe in excuses. I believe in hard work as the prime solvent of life’s problems.” ~ James Cash Penney
  • “Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses.” ~ Kobe Bryant

Good Work Ethic Quotes

To wrap things up, here are some more quotes on work ethic to finish this article with a bang.

  • The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it’s possible to achieve the American dream.” ~ Tommy Hilfiger
  • “The essence of professionalism is the focus upon the work and its demands, while we are doing it, to the exclusion of all else.” ~ Steven Pressfield
  • “Being a professional is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don’t feel like doing them.” ~ Julius Irving
  • “You have to perform at a consistently higher level than others. That’s the mark of a true professional. Professionalism has nothing to do with getting paid for your services.”  ~ Joe Paterno
  • Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” ~ Jim Rohn
  • “This is the real secret of life – to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” ~ Alan Watts
  • “You can’t have a million dollar dream with a minimum wage work ethic.” ~ Stephen Hogan
  • “A lot of people in our generation like to make excuses about little things that don’t really hinder them from doing what they want to. It always comes down to the work ethic.” ~ Shaquem Griffin
  • “Millions of people are born talented and they never achieve what I’ve achieved; you have to work hard.” ~ Bad Bunny
  • “Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig.” ~ Malcolm Gladwell
  • “Without hard work and self-discipline it is difficult to be a top professional.” ~ Jahangir Khan
  • “If you want to get better, do the things that no one else wants to do. Do the things that no one is even thinking about doing.” ~ David Goggins

inspirational quote

  • “Work so hard that you no longer call them dreams, you call it your life.”
  • “Work hard, have fun, and make history.” ~ Jeff Bezos
  • “Work in silence. It is the silent work done in solitude, done purely in principle and conviction driven by a force of purpose that separates man.” ~ Max Panzer
  • “Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.” ~ Simon Sinek
  • “There are no shortcuts to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” ~ Colin Powell
  • “There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits.” ~ Michael Phelps
  • “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” ~ Jim Rohn
  • “I remember everything, the shine and the struggle. I remember all the pain, all the grind, all the hustle.” ~ Rod Wave

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re trying to achieve financial freedom, improve your relationships, or get in better shape, there’s no way around hard work.

Hard work is the bridge between where you are and where you want to be. So if you’re feeling incongruent because your actions aren’t matching your ambition, the quickest way to address that gap is to get to work.

Practice doing things you don’t want to do. Wake up early and focus on the tasks you usually avoid. Keep pushing through even when mental and physical fatigue kicks in.

That’s the price of success, and you’ve gotta be ready to pay it every day.

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