21+ Growth Mindset Quotes to Know for Success, Happiness & Fulfillment

Below are some of the best growth mindset quotes to help you build or improve your talents and abilities. But first, we'll talk about the definition of growth mindset vs fixed mindset and explain why having a mindset of growth is the way to go!

We all have certain abilities, some stronger than others.

But, where do your abilities come from? Are your talents innate and unchangeable, or are the majority of abilities able to be acquired through study and practice?

In this post, we’ll take a look at the two common “mindsets,” as well as give you some inspirational growth mindset quotes to consider just after.


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First, a Quick Look at Mindsets

A mindset is simply someone’s opinions, assumptions, and thought process, and it is a core topic in the field of decision theory.

According to Carol Dweck, an American psychologist and Stanford University professor, people can be grouped into two categories based on their behavior and their views on where ability and failure originate: the growth mindset and the fixed mindset.

What is a Growth Mindset?

A growth mindset is the belief that, for the most part, abilities are able to be picked up through training and effort.

Someone with a growth mindset is likelier to face challenges with resilience, as they’ll be persistent and determined to learn or build any lacking abilities to help overcome and obstacles or setbacks.

What is a Fixed Mindset?

A fixed mindset is the belief that, for the most part, a person is born with the general intelligence and abilities they’ll have their entire life.

Someone with a fixed mindset will be more likely to balk at tough challenges. If facing a failure or setback, they believe it is because they weren’t born with the right or sufficient amount of skills necessary to reach a successful outcome.

Related Read: How to Use the Feynman Technique to Learn Anything Fast & Effectively

Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

Carol Dweck laid out the differences between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset by saying:

In a fixed mindset students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount and that’s that, and then their goal becomes to look smart all the time and never look dumb. In a growth mindset students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence. They don’t necessarily think everyone’s the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it.

Carol Dweck

Essentially, one key difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset is talent: a person with a fixed mindset believes they are generally born with their talents and abilities, while someone with a growth mindset believes they can attain and improve a particular talent or skill through studying or training or practice.

Related Read: 15 Best Time Management Tips: How to Manage Your Time Effectively

21+ Growth Mindset Quotes to Know

The great thing about these mindsets is that they aren’t set in stone. For people with more of a fixed mindset, it is possible to reshape it into a growth mindset through a bit of effort and training (how meta is that, right?).

To inspire your journey toward a fulfilling and rewarding growth mindset, we’ve compiled some of the most motivational quotes around.

Here’s a list of the best growth mindset quotes to inspire success:

Live as if you were to die tomorrow; learn as if you were to live forever.

Mahatma Gandhi

The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.

Harry Golden

Test scores and measures of achievement tell you where a student is, but they don’t tell you where a student could end up.

Carol Dweck

Failure is so important. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success.

J.K. Rowling

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.

Henry Ford

Picture your brain forming new connections as you meet the challenge and learn. Keep on going.

Carol Dweck

Related Read: How to Improve Reading Comprehension: 15 Strategies to Follow

There’s no such thing as failure, only results.

Tony Robbins

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed no hope at all.

Dale Carnegie

Look for the good in every situation, seek the valuable lesson in every setback, look for the solution to every problem. Think and talk continually about your goals.

Brian Tracy

We only know a tiny proportion about the complexity of the natural world. Wherever you look, there are still things we don’t know about and don’t understand…. There are always new things to find out if you go looking for them.

David Attenborough

Success is not an accident, success is a choice.

Stephen Curry

It is hard to fail but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

Theodore Roosevelt

It’s not that I’m so smart. It’s just that I stay with problems longer.

Albert Einstein

If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. That way, their children don’t have to be slaves of praise. They will have a lifelong way to build and repair their own confidence.

Carol Dweck

Related Read: How to Set Goals You Can Actually Achieve (7+ Tips for Success)

Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think!

Albert Einstein

Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Joshua J. Marine

If you are facing a new challenge or being asked to do something that you have never done before don’t be afraid to step out. You have more capability than you think you do but you will never see it unless you place a demand on yourself for more.

Joyce Meyer

The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.

Jack Sparrow

The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

Steve Jobs

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So sail away from the safe harbour. Explore, Dream, Discover.

Mark Twain

No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.

Voltaire

Just because you haven’t found your talent yet doesn’t mean you don’t have one.

Kermit the Frog

Related Read: 51+ Work-Life Balance Quotes to Know for Happiness & Success

Well, that’s all our quotes on growth mindset for now, and we hope they help you find success, overcome any challenges, and lead a more fulfilling life! Got any questions, feedback, other growth mindset quotes to add, or your own take on the growth mindset definition? Let us know in the comments below, and thanks for reading!

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Christian Eilers
Written By Christian Eilers
is a writer and expert on the topics of education, entrepreneurship, career advice, travel, and culture. On the Goodwall Blog, he covers topics including self-improvement, social impact, college preparation, career development, climate action, and more. Christian is originally from New York City and now resides in Kyiv, Ukraine after living in Warsaw, Poland for the past 4 years. At his desk, you're sure to find Pickwick, his Devon Rex cat, either attacking his fingers as he types or the monitor as the mouse pointer moves around.

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