Graduation mottos are hopeful and inspiring verses used to commemorate a rite of passage. Whether the graduation verse is needed for an elementary or middle school graduation or even a high school graduation, there are plenty of mottos that vary from deeply sentimental and encouraging, to lighthearted and humorous.
When to Use a Motto
If you are in your senior year of high school, anxiously approaching the evening you can throw your graduation cap off to the wind, graduation mottos are probably something you've heard of and have quickly become familiar with.
High school graduation invitations normally include a significant and meaningful verse carefully selected to represent the celebration. Depending on your school and graduation committee, the same verse may be used in banners, yearbooks, and on specialty items such as senior t-shirts.
Examples of Graduation Mottos
It takes some brainstorming to find the perfect graduation mottos that reflect those being honored. Cultural, current events and environmental influences may impact the choice of graduation mottos. Popular songs, books and movies also take some of the credit for influencing an appropriate, time reflecting motto.
The following examples of graduation mottos are classic, thought provoking and inspiring, and they can be used to commemorate a special day in a speech or written word.
- The past is my heritage; the present - my responsibility, the future - my challenge.
- Cherish yesterday, live for today and reach for tomorrow.
- Our lives are before us, our pasts is behind us, our memories are forever within us.
- Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.
- The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
- '"Success is a journey, not a destination." - Ben Sweetland
- It matters not what you are thought to be, but what you are.
- '"Don't cry because it is over- smile because it happened." - Charles Dickens
- Learn as if you were to live forever, live as if you were to die tomorrow.
- Nothing we do changes the past - everything we do changes the future.
- We cannot discover new oceans unless we have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
- " If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream in, you can become it." William A. Word
- The tassel's worth the hassle.
- All that stands between the graduate and the top of the ladder, is the ladder.
- "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet."-''Aristotle
- "An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."- Benjamin Franklin
- The future lies before you, like a field of driven snow. Be careful how you tread it, for every step will show.
- "Hitch your wagon to a star."- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Put your future in good hands - your own.
- "The man who graduates today and stops learning tomorrow is uneducated the day after."- ''Newton D. Baker
- We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails.
Deciding on a Motto
Mottos can be used individually or used by an entire class to celebrate an upcoming graduation. If you've been asked to contribute graduation mottos for a deciding vote, consider some of your favorite verses or quotations made popular by distinctive people who have imparted their wisdom or goodwill on society.
A favorite author, a legendary hero, a character who has lived through challenges and has risen above to become a better person, may enlighten you and feel fitting for this memorable time.
Mottos also make great graduation gift ideas. If you feel connected to a quotation or a proverb and know of an upcoming graduate, consider engraving the motto on an object such as a trinket box, a locket, a sterling silver photo frame, or on a leather bound journal.
No matter how well known or unique the graduation mottos are, they always speak of life and shed an introspective light on a tender and transitional period.
A graduation is a special event that deserves its own unique and special words, words that can be lived by and remembered forever.
