36 Teacher Quotes That Inspire a Love of Learning
Updated: May 10, 2023
These teacher quotes truly capture the priceless value of all educators
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Inspirational teacher quotes that show your appreciation for educators
Teachers are essential when it comes to the education of our children. They dedicate their time and resources to ensuring kids get a comprehensive education, along with teaching them how to think critically, ask important questions and develop skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives. So why not show how much you appreciate their work by sharing one of these teacher quotes? Dedicated teachers strive to provide the best for their students, after all—they deserve all the kind words (and teacher gifts) sent their way.
These uplifting quotes about teachers are perfect for thanking a teacher, or sharing how important education is for everyone. Send one in a thank-you note to a special teacher, complete with a red, juicy apple for their desk. Once you’re done reading (and sharing) them, check out these kid quotes, graduation quotes and leadership quotes for more inspiration.
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“Education is what survives when what has been learned is forgotten.” —B.F. Skinner
Don’t forget to read these patience quotes that inspire peaceful persistence.
“Our task, regarding creativity, is to help children climb their own mountains, as high as possible. No one can do more.” —Loris Malaguzzi
Talk about a hopeful quote!
“No one should teach who is not in love with teaching.” —Margaret Elizabeth Sangster
Check out these powerful reasons teachers love their jobs.
“What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.” —Karl Menninger
This is a quote that’s sure to boost confidence.
“Good teaching is 1/4 preparation and 3/4 theater.” —Gail Godwin
Sometimes, we need motivation to prepare for the day; here are some great Monday motivation quotes to help you kick the week off right.
“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” —Marian Wright Edelman
Check out these quotes about change that will make you optimistic about the future.
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” —Henry Brooks Adams
Read these “be yourself” quotes for more motivation.
“It is greater work to educate a child, in the true and larger sense of the world, than to rule a state.” —William Ellery Channing
Bookmark these strength quotes for future inspiration.
“Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best.” —Bob Talbert
Need a chuckle? Browse through some funny teacher memes.
“The test of a good teacher is not how many questions he can ask his pupils that they will answer readily, but how many questions he inspires them to ask him which he finds it hard to answer.” —Alice Wellington Rollins
Stream these great teacher movies for more inspiration.
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” —William A. Ward
Learn more about how teachers can change lives.
“Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions.” —Unknown
By the way, these are the things your child’s teacher wants you to know.
“If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” —John Dewey
Learn the polite habits teachers actually dislike—and what to do instead.
“Education is not to reform students or amuse them or to make them expert technicians. It is to unsettle their minds, widen their horizons, inflame their intellects, teach them to think straight, if possible.” —Robert M. Hutchins
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” —Albert Einstein
“The greatest sign of success for a teacher … is to be able to say, ‘The children are now working as if I did not exist.'” —Maria Montessori
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.” —Benjamin Franklin
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach.” —Aristotle
“You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him find it within himself.” —Galileo Galilei
“One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” —Malala Yousafzai
“The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence.” —Amos Bronson
“What we instill in our children will be the foundation upon which they build their future.” —Steve Maraboli
“Teaching is only demonstrating that it is possible. Learning is making it possible for yourself.” —Paulo Coelho
“Once she knows how to read, there’s only one thing you can teach her to believe in—and that is herself.” —Virginia Woolf
“Our children are only as brilliant as we allow them to be.” —Eric Micha’el Leventhal
Especially when they make us laugh. Don’t miss these hilariously heartwarming classroom stories from real-life teachers.
“Proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you that sensation which tells you this is something you have always known.” —Frank Herbert
“Teachers, you don’t teach a subject. You teach a child.” —Deepa Bhushan
“Teachers have three loves: love of learning, love of learners and the love of bringing the first two together.” —Scott Hayden
“What all good teachers have in common, however, is that they set high standards for their students and do not settle for anything less.” —Marva Collins
“We must become what we wish to teach.” —Nathaniel Branden
“Teachers, I believe, are the most responsible and important members of society because their professional efforts affect the fate of the earth.” —Helen Caldicott
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” —Mark Van Doren
“In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for less.” —Lee Iacocca
“A human being is not attaining his full heights until he is educated.” —Horace Mann
“To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil’s soul.” —The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Next, check out the best book quotes from our favorite reads.
