122 Graduation Quotes & Caption Ideas for the Class of 2024

The best high school graduation quotes are all about celebrating the closing of one chapter and the opening of another. Whether or not you’re headed off to college, these quotes will leave you feeling proud, inspired, and ready to step into the world.

1. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” — Neale Donald Walsch
2. “All dreams are within reach. All you have to do is keep moving towards them.” — Viola Davis
3. "Now go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here." —Neil Gaiman
4. "Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X
5. "Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom." — Oprah Winfrey
6. "Your inexperience is an asset in that it will make you think in original, unconventional ways. Accept your lack of knowledge and use it as your asset." —Natalie Portman
7. "You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." —Steve Jobs
8. “If it’s flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s, be the best hamburger flipper in the world. Whatever it is you do you have to master your craft." — Snoop Dogg
9. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu
10. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." — Arthur Ashe
11. “Instruction ends in the schoolroom, but education ends only with life.” — Frederick W. Robertson
12. “My dear terrified graduates, you are about to enter the most uncertain and thrilling period of your lives. The stories you are about to live are the ones you will be telling your children, and grandchildren, and therapists.” — Lin-Manuel Miranda

Earning an undergraduate, masters, or doctorate degree is a huge deal, and more often than not, an emotional one, too! These quotes, some of which were pulled from some of the best commencement speeches of all time — perfectly encapsulate the feelings of pride, hope, excitement, and anxiety that stepping out of student life and into the real world can incite.

13. "Your education is a dress rehearsal for a life that is yours to lead." — Nora Ephron
14. “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
15. "Go make your big beautiful dent, and as you do so come down on the side of boldness. If you err, may it be for too much audacity, and not too little. For you really are enough. You have untold strengths and resources inside. You have your glorious self." —Sue Monk Kidd
16. “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” — Henry Ford
17. “Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor.” — Jackson Browne
18. "You are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what's going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say 'yes.' And if you're lucky, you'll find people who will say 'yes' back." —Stephen Colbert
19. "That clock you hear is the sound of your own heart. Sink your teeth into this life, and don’t get let go." —Lin-Manuel Miranda
20. "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." —Henry David Thoreau
21. "Celebrate endings — for they precede new beginnings." — Jonathan Lockwood Huie
22. "I look to the future because that is where I'm going to spend the rest of my life.” — George Burns
23. “I am here to tell you that whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change. And that’s okay.” —Conan O’Brien
24. “You are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no script. No idea what’s going to happen, often with people and places you have never seen before. And you are not in control. So say ‘yes.’ And if you’re lucky, you’ll find people who will say ‘yes’ back.” — Stephen Colbert
25. "You will stumble and fall, you will experience both disaster and triumph, sometimes in the same day. But it's really important to remember that like a hangover, neither triumphs nor disasters last forever." —Helen Mirren

Get excited for the beginning of your next chapter — or help remind your graduate that the best is yet to come — with these inspiring graduation quotes.

26. “Success is loving life and daring to live it.” ― Maya Angelou
27. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” ― Robert Collier
28. “What could we accomplish if we knew we could not fail?” — Eleanor Roosevelt
29. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” ― John D. Rockefeller
30. “Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.” — Aisha Tyler
31. “Persistence is the most powerful force on earth, it can move mountains.” — Albert Einstein
32. "A great accomplishment shouldn't be the end of the road, just the starting point for the next leap forward." — Harvey Mackay
33. "There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed." — Ray Goforth
34. “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." — Albert Einstein
35. “Nobody likes to fail, but failure is an essential part of life and of learning. If your uniform isn’t dirty, you haven’t been in the game.” — Ben Bernanke
36. “If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.” — Nora Roberts
37. “When you respect the idea that you are sharing the Earth with other humans, and when you lead with your nice foot forward, you’ll win, every time. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but it comes back to you when you need it.” — Kristen Bell
38. “Try to keep your mind open to possibilities and your mouth closed on matters that you don’t know about. Limit your ‘always’ and your ‘nevers.’ Continue to share your heart with people even if it has been broken.” — Amy Poehler
39. “Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.” — Malcolm S. Forbes
40. “Things turn out best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out.” — Art Linkletter
41. “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” — Confucius
42. “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” — Alexander Graham Bell
43. “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
44. “Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.” — Lao-Tze
45. “It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old; they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.” — Gabriel García Márquez
46. “You cannot dream of becoming something you do not know about. You have to learn to dream big. Education exposes you to what the world has to offer, to the possibilities open to you.” — Sonia Sotomayor
47. “Be willing to embrace wonder, to experience unexpected discovery, and to go in unknown directions. Never become so enamored of your own smarts that you stop signing up for life’s hard classes.” — Melissa Harris-Perry
48. “It’s your turn to choose and define what success means to you. Now, others will try to define it for you, but yours is the only voice that matters.” — Octavia Spencer
49. “Let us never be betrayed into saying we have finished our education; because that would mean we had stopped growing.” — Julia H. Gulliver
50. “There’s something so special about a woman who dominates in a man’s world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer.” — Rihanna
51. “And though she be but little, she is fierce.” — Shakespeare
52. “All the dreams I prayed you’d be, are all the things you are. You were once my little girl, and now my shining star.” — Unknown
53. “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” — David Brinkley
54. “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." — Winston Churchill
55. "Don’t be afraid of fear. Because it sharpens you, it challenges you, it makes you stronger; and when you run away from fear, you also run away from the opportunity to be your best possible self." — Ed Helms
56. “Behind you, all your memories. Before you, all your dreams. Around you, all who love you. Within you, all you need.” — Lilli Vaihere

Bring some humor and some levity to this serious achievement with a graduation quote that is funny, sarcastic, and lighthearted.

57. "Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school." — Albert Einstein
58. "A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open." — Frank Zappa
59. “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” — Vidal Sassoon
60. “The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces.” — Will Rogers
61. “Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” — Will Rogers
62. “If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito.” — Betty Reese
63. “There may be days when you’ll say to yourself, ‘I can’t. I literally can’t even.’ But you can! You can even!” — Katie Couric
64. “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
65. “Life is like one big Mardi Gras. But instead of showing your boobs, show people your brain, and if they like what they see, you’ll have more beads than you know what to do with.” — Ellen DeGeneres
66. “You will never have more energy or enthusiasm, hair, or brain cells than you have today.” — Tom and Ray Magliozzi
67. “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
68. “Sometimes you find out what you are supposed to be doing by doing the things you are not supposed to do.” — Oprah Winfrey
69. “If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses. So whatever your dream is right now, if you don’t achieve it you haven’t failed and you’re not some loser.” — Stephen Colbert
70. “Now that you’ve graduated, just remember: Bosses don’t usually accept notes from your mother.” — Melanie White
71. “You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it” — Robin Williams
72. “If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you” — Muhammad Ali
73. “To those of you who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you too may one day be president of the United States” — George W. Bush
74. “If at first you don’t succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.” — William Lyon Phelps

Classic coming of age movies like Ferris Bueller's Day off and Dead Poets Society are filled with quotes perfect for celebrating graduation. That said, you can find funny, inspiring, and emotional graduation quotes in unexpected movies, too. There’s something for everyone — including film buffs.

75. “Carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.” — Dead Poets Society
76. “You must always have faith in people. And, most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself.” — Legally Blonde
77. “Don’t let anyone ever make you feel like you don’t deserve what you want. Go for it.” — 10 Things I Hate About You
78. “It’s fine to live in the now. But the best thing about now is that there’s another one tomorrow. I’m gonna start makin’ them count.” — The Spectacular Now
79. “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.” — Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
80. “If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead.” — Ratatouille
81. "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." — Ferris Bueller's Day Off
82. “Did everyone see that? Because I will not be doing it again.” — Pirates of the Caribbean

You can’t go wrong with a short and sweet graduation quote. Whether you’re looking for something funny or inspiring, these short graduation quotes are perfect to print on the back of a graduation announcement, scrawl on the inside of a graduation card, or share in an Instagram caption.

83. “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” — Dr. Seuss
84. “Do not let making a living prevent you from making a life.” — John Wooden
85. “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” — Steven Jobs
86. “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” — Oprah Winfrey
87. “Intelligence without ambition is like a bird without wings.” — Dali
88. “You can never be overdressed or overeducated.” — Oscar Wilde
89. “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” — Babe Ruth
90. “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” — Bobby Kennedy
91. “Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try it.” — John F. Kennedy
92. “There is no script. Live your life. Soak it all in.” — Dick Costolo
93. “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” — Truman Capote
94. “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” — Napoleon Hill
95. “Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.” — Charles Kettering
96. “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” — Shakespeare
97. “This above all: To thine own self be true.” — William Shakespeare
98. "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." —John Dewey

Every good cap and gown picture needs a perfect graduation caption to go alongside it! Whether you’re the sentimental type, couldn’t be happier to finally be done with school, or are hyped on your achievement, you’ll find the perfect caption idea in the list below.

99. The things we are racing towards are better than what we leave behind.
100. I did not let anyone or anything stand in my way.
101. I believed I could, so I did.
102. Very proud, very tired.
103. In my graduate era.
104. Beauty and brains.
105. I want to thank Google, Wikipedia, ChatGPT, and whoever invented copy & paste.
106. Hotter by one degree.
107. It’s giving graduate.
108. Thank you Mom, Dad, and coffee.
109. All good things must come to an end, but this is just the beginning!
110. “What, like it’s hard?” — Elle Woods, Legally Blonde
111. “Thank U, Next.” — Ariana Grande
112. “Watch out for me, I’m bound to glow.” — Drake
113. “It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right. I hope you had the time of your life” — Green Day
114. “What she tackles, she conquers.” — Gilmore Girls
115. “Goodbye everyone, I’ll remember you in therapy.” — Plankton, Spongebob Squarepants
116. “Gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this.” — Taylor Swift
117. So, is anyone hiring?
118. “We did it, Joe.” — Barack Obama
119. Serving graduate.
120. Finally earned my B.A. in B.S.
121. Category is: graduation
122. Ur fav graduate.

When it comes to picking the perfect graduation quote or caption to share on the big day, you can’t really go wrong with any of the options we’ve shared in this list. But if you’re still having trouble deciding, remember this: go with something that either feels like something you’d say or that lights a fire in your heart and leaves you feeling empowered, excited, or just plain understood.

If you need even more graduation inspiration, check out Minted’s Class of 2024 Shop for gifts, cards, and even dorm decor.