34 Meaningful Quotes for Music Educators
Sometimes, it's important to remember why we started.
What first drew you to music? When did you know you wanted to teach? What are the pivotal moments that stand out in your memory—those particular students or experiences or revelations that propelled you forward, that fed your soul, that inspired you to keep going?
We all have our own answers and a whole collection of stories we could tell. This is one of the things I love most about teaching.
It's the heart behind what we do and the reasons why we do it that make teaching such a wonderful, life-giving profession (but maybe I'm a little biased?).
If you're looking for inspiration or a reminder of why you started teaching in the first place, I hope you find something encouraging in this collection of music quotes.
Today, I'm sharing 34 of my favorite inspiring and uplifting music teacher quotes. Enjoy!
34 Music Quotes for Music Teachers
“Tell me, and I forget. Show me, and I remember. Involve me, and I understand.” - Chinese proverb
“Music can change the world because it can change people.” - Bono
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” - Judy Garland
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” - Mark Van Doren
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” - William Butler Yeats
“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” - John Dewey
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” - William Ward
“I’m not a teacher, but an awakener.” - Robert Frost
“If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” - Ignacio Estrada
“Teaching is the one profession that creates all other professions.” - Anonymous
“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” - Socrates
“Never discourage anyone . . . who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.” - Plato
“Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.” - Confucius
“If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” - John Dewey
“The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book.” - Anonymous
“Spoon-feeding, in the long run, teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.” - E. M. Forster
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” - Maya Angelou
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” - Steve Jobs
“Alone we can affect a few. But together, we can change the world.” - Jen Hatmaker
“It isn’t where you came from, it’s where you’re going that counts.” - Ella Fitzgerald
“In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.” - Phil Collins
“Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.” - Lou Holtz
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” - Walt Disney Company
“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” ― Karen Lamb
"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” - Albert Einstein
"A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning." - Brad Henry
"I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” - 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
"The principle goal of education is to create men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done.” - Jean Piaget
"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” - John Wooden
"The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.” - Richard Moss
"A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image.” - Anonymous
"Nine-tenths of education is encouragement.” - Anatole France
"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
Looking for more? See these posts:
21 Inspirational Quotes for the 21st Century Musician
30 Inspiring Quotes for Church Musicians
I’d love to hear from you:
What are your favorite teaching-related quotes?
