Sometimes, it's important to remember why we started.
Indulge me for a moment and ask yourself the following:
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 a little inspiration in your week 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 + a free teaching reflection workbook for music educators. Enjoy!
Free Resource
What kind of teacher do you want to become?
Download this free 5-page Teaching Reflection Workbook with writing prompts and space to reflect and write out your goals for the coming year.
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
What are your favorite teaching-related quotes?
