55 Powerful Back-to-School Quotes for Teachers

As an educator, you want to start the new year on a positive note. These delightful back-to-school quotes for teachers can help.

These inspirational school quotes for teachers motivate, teach, and inspire.

Read a few of them daily to establish a positive mood for your day, print them to hang in your classroom, or jot down a few in your lesson plan book or planner.

These inspirational quotes for teachers going back to school will give you the boost of positivity that you need to maintain a growth mindset and an optimistic outlook when it comes to teaching.

So as you prepare for the first day of school, be sure to include these wonderful back-to-school quotes for teachers as part of your back-to-school toolkit. 

Powerful Back-to-School Quotes for Teachers

These inspirational back-to-school quotes for teachers prompt educators to reflect, stay motivated, and maintain a growth mindset.

1. “One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai

2. “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” – Carl Sagan

3. “In an effective classroom, students should not only know what they are doing, they should also know why and how.” – Harry Wong

4. “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” – Aristotle 

5. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

Related Content: Inspirational Back-to-School Quotes for Students

6. “I am not a teacher but an awakener.” – Robert Frost

7. “All students can learn and succeed, but not in the same way and not in the same day.” – William G. Spady

8. “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” – Ignacio Estrada

9. “Teaching is the highest form of understanding.” – Aristotle

10. “They may forget what you said but they will not forget how you made them feel.” – Carl Buechner

back to school quotes for teachers

11. “Children want the same things we want: to laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained, and delighted.” – Dr. Seuss 

12. “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin 

13. “We learn 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we hear, 70% of what we discuss, 80% of what we experience, 95% of what we teach others.” – William Glasser

14. “It is not what is poured into the student but what is planted that counts.” – E. P. Bertin

15. “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress. In every society, in every family.” – Kofi Annan

 16. “You are responsible not only by what you say but also by what you don’t say.” – Martin Luther

17. “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” –  William Butler Yeats

Related Content: Inspirational Quotes for New Teachers

18. “A new school year means new beginnings, new adventures, new friendships, and new challenges. The slate is clear and anything can happen.” – Denise Witmer

19. “Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.” – Confucius

20. “Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.” – Oprah Winfrey

21. “The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think – rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men.” – Bill Beattie

22. “A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers.” – Helen Keller 

23. “I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.” – Lily Tomlin

24. “You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.” – Clay P. Bedford

25. “Intelligence plus character – that is the true goal of education.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

back to school quotes for teachers
back-to-school quotes for teachers

26. “If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.” – Chinese proverb

27. “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” – Aristotle

28. “The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” – William Arthur Ward 

29. “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids to work together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”- Bill Gates

30. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier

31. “If you really want to know about the future, don’t ask a technologist, a scientist, a physicist. If you want to know what society’s going to be like in 20 years, ask a kindergarten teacher.” –  Clifford Stoll 

32. “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” – Margaret Mead

33. “There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.” – Mahatma Gandhi

34. “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

35. “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X

36. “What makes a child gifted and talented may not always be good grades in school, but a different way of looking at the world and learning.” – Chuck Grassley

37. “Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers.” – Josef Albers

38. “The future of the world is in my classroom today.” – Ivan Welton Fitzwater

39. “Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students.” – Solomon Ortiz

40. “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo

41. “If the school sends out children with a desire for knowledge and some idea of how to acquire and use it, it will have done its work.” – Richard Livingstone

42. “Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers.” – Josef Albers

43. “Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students.” – Solomon Ortiz

44. “What makes a child gifted and talented may not always be good grades in school, but a different way of looking at the world and learning. – Chuck Grassley

45. “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.” – Japanese Proverb

back to school quotes for teachers
inspirational quotes for teachers going back to school

46. “Children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.” – Lady Bird Johnson

47. “All children start their school careers with sparkling imaginations, fertile minds, and a willingness to take risks with what they think.” – Ken Robinson

48. “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” – Henry B. Adams

49. “You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.” – Clay P. Bedford

50. “The job of an educator is to teach students to see the vitality in themselves.” – Joseph Campbell

Funny Back-to-School Quotes for Teachers

Use the following back-to-school quotes for teachers to add a bit of humor to your teaching life.

51. “Football players have the Super Bowl. Runners have the Olympics. Teachers have Back-to-School. Armed with new ideas, fresh views, a stapler, and glue. Game on!” – Anonymous

52. “A policeman pulled me over and asked me for my papers.  I gladly gave him all of my students’ essays to grade and drove off.”

53. “Being a teacher is a lot like being a rock star: you work hard to keep the attention of a distracted crowd, your fans freak out when they see you in public, groupies line up to follow you everywhere, you hear your name being called out all the time.”

54. “Sometimes the greatest PD is the teacher down the hall.” – Brian Aspinall 

55. “Cheers to all of the teachers who give out pencils every single day knowing that they’ll never get them back.”

56. “A police officer came to my house and asked me where I was between 5 and 6.  I replied, ‘Kindergarten.’.”

Teacher Back-to-School Quotes: Q & A

What Is a Nice Quote for a Teacher?

“Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students.” – Solomon Ortiz

What to Say to Inspire Teachers?

To inspire teachers, show them that they are appreciated by giving gifts, sharing inspirational quotes, writing a thank you letter, and/or recognizing their hard work.

What Is a Good Quote for the First Day of School?

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” – Dr. Seuss

How Do You Welcome Teachers Back to School?

To welcome teachers back to school, provide a small gift; breakfast; sufficient time to work in their classrooms; and a supportive attitude.

Final Thoughts

This collection of favorite inspirational back-to-school quotes for teachers can be used for various purposes.

Though there are several reasons for reciting motivational quotes daily, keeping your mindset in a growth state is arguably one of the most important reasons for doing so.

For whichever occasion you use these funny and inspirational teacher back-to-school quotes, you’ll spark plus maintain a positive mindset.

For more growth mindset resources, see anxiety-reducing teacher affirmations.