120 Ultimate Best Quotes About Progress To Fuel Your Growth

There are days when, despite your efforts and hard work, everything seems to be at a standstill.

If you’re feeling stuck, these uplifting quotes about progress will boost your inspiration and eagerness for success.

As a wise saying says, “Little progress is better than no progress at all.“ There are times when we need to slow down, whether we want it or not because circumstances call for it.

But the key is to keep moving and making steps, no matter how small they are.

Consistency is crucial.

Keep moving even when it seems to be all in vain. Keep making small steps, do what you can at the moment, but never quit.

I’ve collected the 120 best quotes about progress in this article to help you stay motivated on a path to success.

Let’s check them out!

Contents show

Top 10 Quotes About Progress

Check out my favorite quotes about progress below.

1. “Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.“ — Frank Zappa

man with a pen image representing quote about progress

2. “True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice.“ — Saint Francis de Sales

3. “Progress is not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.“ — Khalil Gibran

4. “Comfort is the enemy of progress.“ — P. T. Barnum

5. “The wise are like a river; they go forward and upward, never backward or downward.“ ― Matshona Dhliwayo

man writing on a paper image representing quote about progress

6. “Changes call for innovation, and innovation leads to progress.“ — Li Keqiang

7. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.“ — Frederick Douglass

8. “Progress and growth are impossible if you always do things the way you’ve always done things.“ — Wayne Dyer

9. “Change is inevitable, change will always happen, but you have to apply direction to change, and that’s when it’s progress.“ — Doug Baldwin

10. “Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.“ — Joyce Brothers

man writing on a paper illustration representing quotation on progress

Uplifting Work In Progress Quotes

These uplifting quotes about progress will lift your spirit and make you grateful for every step of your journey.

1. “Even if you’re not where you want to be yet, you should appreciate this version of yourself. You’re a work in progress.“ — Kirsten Hill

2. “Slow progress is still progress.“ — Megan Auman

3. “Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies.“ — Robert Kennedy

4. “Every day, you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path.“ — Winston Churchill

5. “Each man must learn his own ideal and try to accomplish it: that is a surer way of progress than to take the ideas of another.“ — Romain Rolland

6. “Progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be… If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.“ — C.S. Lewis

7. “One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.“ — Abraham Maslow

8. “Don’t look too far into the future, just look at tomorrow. One day at a time. Can you win tomorrow? Can you make progress? The answer is yes, you have a choice, and tomorrow you’re going to win.“ — Joe Wicks

9. “Each morning my characters greet me with misty faces willing, though chilled, to muster for another day’s progress through the dazzling quicksand the marsh of blank paper.“ — John Updike

10. “You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.“ — Sophia Bush

11. “I consider myself a student of many religions. The more I learn, the more questions I have. For me, the spiritual quest will be a life-long work in progress.“ — Dan Brown

12. “The important thing is that we must constantly be moving forward — yes, the progress realization of a predetermined goal. And our growth should never end.“ — Og Mandino

13. “A work-in-progress generates its own energy field. You, the artist or entrepreneur, are pouring love into the work; you are suffusing it with passion and intention and hope.“ — Steven Pressfield

14. “Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid failure also avoid success.“ — Robert Kiyosaki

15. “The key to happiness is really progress and growth and constantly working on yourself and developing something.“ — Lewis Howes

16. “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential…these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.“ — Confucius

17. “Too much action with too little intent makes for wasteful exertion of energy and the confusion between movement and progress.“ — Steve Maraboli

18. “Creation takes things forward. Without anything new, there is no progress. Creation equals new.“ — Rei Kawakubo

19. “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.“ — Steve Jobs

20. “Change equals self-improvement. Push yourself to places you haven’t been before.“ ― Pat Summitt

Inspirational Quotes About Progress

Check out these inspirational quotes about progress to boost your inspiration.

1. “Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change.“ — Henry Steele Commager

2. “Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress.“ — Mahatma Gandhi

3. “Progress is the attraction that moves humanity.“ — Marcus Garvey

4. “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, Brazilian soccer player

5. “Whatever there be of progress in life comes not through adaptation but through daring.“ — Henry Miller

6. “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.“ — George Bernard Shaw

7. “Some quit due to slow progress. Never grasping the fact that slow progress is progress.“ — Jeff Olson

8. “Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.“ — Harry S Truman

9. “It’s the same each time with progress. First, they ignore you, then they say you’re mad, then dangerous, then there’s a pause, and then you can’t find anyone who disagrees with you.“ — Tony Benn

10. “One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.“ — Abraham Maslow

11. “Life does not stand still. Where there is no progress, there is disintegration. Today a thousand doors of enterprise are open to you, inviting you to useful work. To live at this time is an inestimable privilege, and a sacred obligation devolves upon you to make the right use of your opportunities. Today is the day in which to attempt and achieve something worthwhile.“ — Grenville Kleiser

12. “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.“ — Buckminster Fuller

13. “Run your own race. Who cares what others are doing? The only question that matters is ‘Am I progressing?’“ — Robin Sharma

14. “Progress always involves risks. You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.“ — Frederick B. Wilcox

15. “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.“ — Ralph Waldo Emerson

16. “When we make progress quickly, it feeds our emotions. Then, when there’s a period of waiting, or we hit a plateau, we find out how committed we really are and whether we’re going to see things through to the finish or quit.“ — Joyce Meyer

17. “We are not at the end of our progress but at the beginning. We have but reached the shores of a great unexplored continent. We cannot turn back . . . It is man’s destiny to ponder on the riddle of existence and, as a by-product of his wonderment, to create a new life on this earth.“ — Charles Kettering

18. “Good health is a duty to yourself, to your contemporaries, to your inheritors, to the progress of the world.“ — Gwendolyn Brooks

19. “Progress does not come from hard work, but from persistent hard work.“ — Nitin Namdeo

20. “Actively recognizing progress towards your goal will ultimately end up inspiring you and have you pushing even harder.“ — Denzel J. Wellington

Motivational Quotes To Keep Going

If you could use some help staying motivated, check out these motivational quotes about progress below.

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

2. “There is no progress or accomplishment without sacrifice.“ — Idowu Koyenikan

3. “A little progress every day adds up to big results.“ — Satya

4. “Progress is measured by richness and intensity of experience, by a wider and deeper apprehension of the significance and scope of human existence.“ — Herbert Read

5. “Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and attaches her curse on all inaction.“ — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

6. “I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.“ — Marie Curie

7. “I see that the path of progress has never taken a straight line, but has always been a zigzag course amid the conflicting forces of right and wrong, truth and error, justice and injustice, cruelty and mercy.“ — Kelly Miller

8. “Never discourage anyone… who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.“ — Plato

9. “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.“ — Barack Obama

10. “Courage means to keep making forward progress while you still feel afraid!“ — Joyce Meyer

11. “I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. Since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition. In fact, there are so few people this crazy that I feel like I know them all by first name.“ — Larry Page

12. “When any real progress is made, we unlearn and learn anew what we thought we knew before.“ — Henry David Thoreau

13. “What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.“ — Buddha

14. “The most important thing is to make decisions. Whether the decision is right or wrong is secondary. You will soon receive feedback that will help you to progress.“ — Marc Reklau

15. “Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress.“ — Nicholas M. Butler

16. “As time progresses, increase the amount of time spent on self-improvement, and less time on mental junk food. Create a healthy balance, it’s no different than indulging in some cake here and there. Moderation, moderation, moderation!“ — Curt Hinson

17. “People who want a cure, provided they can have it without pain, are like those who favor progress, provided they can have it without change.“ — Anthony de Mello

18. “First steps are always the hardest, but until they are taken, the notion of progress remains only a notion and not an achievement.“ — Aberjhani

19. “The only thing a person can ever really do is keep moving forward. Take that big leap forward without hesitation, without once looking back. Simply forget the past and forge toward the future.“ — Alyson Noel

20. “The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious.“ — Marcus Aurelius

Powerful Quotes About Progress

Next up is a collection of deep and powerful quotes about progress. Have a look!

1. “Changes and progress very rarely are gifts from above. They come out of struggles from below.“ — Noam Chomsky

2. “No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.“ — Tony Robbins

3. “You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.“ — Shirley Chisholm

4. “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.“ — Franklin D. Roosevelt

5. “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.“ — Robert Heinlein

6. “This seems to be the law of progress in everything we do; it moves along a spiral rather than a perpendicular; we seem to be actually going out of the way, and yet it turns out that we were really moving upward all the time.“ — Frances E. Willard

7. “Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.“ — George A. Sheehan

8. “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.“ — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

9. “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.“ — Michael Jordan

9. “Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress.“ — Alfred A. Montapert

10. “We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community… Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.“ — Cesar Chavez

11. “Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.“ — Ayn Rand

12. “Together, we have the power to inspire, connect, and deliver on new opportunities and rich experiences that can open doors to innovation and progress while growing global economies and increasing well-being.“ — Tae Yoo

13. “However, it is one thing to be consumed by your future financial goals, and another thing to be making progress and enjoying the process with a more balanced life by doing what brings you joy.“ — Maggie Thompson

14. “Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.“ — Chinese Proverb

15. “Problems are the price of progress. Don’t bring me anything but trouble. Good news weakens me.“ — Charles Kettering

16. “The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.“ — Steve Maraboli

17. “Measuring progress is often like watching grass grow. While it’s difficult to detect movement on a daily basis, it’s simple to see growth over time.“ — Frank Sonnenberg

18. “Remember that progress is not linear either. Sometimes you make great progress for a while, and then you slide back a little. That’s OK. Don’t give up.“ — Lee Labrada

19. “There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.“ — Ronald Reagan

20. “The key is not to settle for less than we desire. Once you settle, you stop progressing.“ — Kirsten Hill

Encouraging Quotes About Progress

Here is a collection of quotes about progress to encourage you to be the best version of yourself.

1. “Thinking always ahead, thinking always of trying to do more, brings a state of mind in which nothing seems impossible.“ — Henry Ford

2. “Failure is success in progress.“ — Albert Einstein

3. “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.“ — George Bernard Shaw

4. “Baby steps count as long as you are going forward. You add them all up, and one day you look back, and you’ll be surprised at where you might get to.“ — Chris Gardner

5. “Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.“ — Andy Rooney

6. “Every difficult goal that, at first, may be viewed as an insurmountable obstacle can be resolved when you implement a strategy that requires only one step at a time. Each action taken moves you forward, continuous progress is seen, and the final goal is closer and closer until it is accomplished.“ — Byron Pulsifer

7. “Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.“ — George Bernard Shaw

8. “We are the nation of human Progress, and who will, what can, set limits to our onward march? Providence is with us, and no earthly power can.“ — John L. O’Sullivan

9. “When we are sure that we are on the right road, there is no need to plan our journey too far ahead. No need to burden ourselves with doubts and fears as to the obstacles that may bar our progress. We cannot take more than one step at a time.“ — Orison Swett Marden

10. “Nothing in progression can rest on its original plan. We might as well think of rocking a grown man in the cradle of an infant.“ — Edmund Burke

11. “A person with a clear purpose will make progress on even the roughest road. A person with no purpose will make no progress on even the smoothest road.“ — Thomas Carlyle

12. “Determine a single measure that you can use to grade your progress and success in each area of your life. Refer to it daily.“ — Brian Tracy

13. “I believe that no matter what situation in life you find yourself, there is room for you to take control of little things, which ultimately adds up to big things.“ — Lisa J. Shultz

14. “It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.“ — Marcus Tullius Cicero

15. “The purpose of fear is to raise your awareness, not to stop your progress.“ — Steve Maraboli

Inspirational Quotes About Growth

Don’t forget to check out these amazing quotes about progress and growth below.

1. “Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good.“ — Calvin Coolidge

2. “Through a long and painful process, I’ve learned that happiness is an inside job – not based on anything or anyone in the outer material world. I’ve become a different and better person – not perfect, but still a work in progress.“ — Alana Stewart

3. “Ever since I was a child, I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.“ — Bruce Lee

4. “It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off! You cannot make progress without making decisions.“ — Jim Rohn

5. “The real spiritual progress of the aspirant is measured by the extent to which he achieves inner tranquility.“ — Swami Sivananda

6. “Only mediocrities progress. An artist revolves in a cycle of masterpieces, the first of which is no less perfect than the last.“ — Oscar Wilde

7. “Finds progress, man’s distinctive mark alone, Not God’s, and not the beast’s; God is, they are, Man partly is, and wholly hopes to be.“ — Robert Browning

8. “Challenge is the pathway to engagement and progress in our lives. But not all challenges are created equal. Some challenges make us feel alive, engaged, connected, and fulfilled. Others simply overwhelm us. Knowing the difference as you set bigger and bolder challenges for yourself is critical to your sanity, success, and satisfaction.“ — Brendon Burchard

9. “Progress changes consciousness, and when people’s consciousness changes, then their awareness of what is possible changes as well a virtuous circle.“ — Bill Clinton

10. “Whatever makes you uncomfortable is your biggest opportunity for growth.“ — Bryant H. McGill

11. “Great changes cannot take place in the minds of generations of men without a corresponding change in their external symbols. There must be a harmony between the inner and the outward condition of human beings, and the progress of the one must keep pace with the progress of the other.“ — William Godwin

12. “Believe me, my journey has not been a simple journey of progress. There have been many ups and downs, and it is the choices that I made at each of those times that have helped shape what I have achieved.“ — Satya Nadella

13. “I’m a big believer in growth. Life is not about achievement, it’s about learning and growth, and developing qualities like compassion, patience, perseverance, love, and joy, and so forth.“ — Jack Canfield

14. “History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.“ — B.C. Forbes

15. “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.“ — Benjamin Franklin

To Sum Up

These inspirational quotes about progress can give you clarity of mind and boost your aspiration and inspiration to accomplish great things.

Thank you for stopping by and hope to see you again.

Until next time!