130 Mentor Quotes About Mentoring To Inspire You

Looking for inspirational quotes about mentoring? We have rounded up the best mentor quotes, sayings, wishes, and captions, (with images and pictures) which will inspire you to find yourself a teacher who will motivate you to set your goals and achieve your best.

Mentorship is a relationship where an individual (mentor) with more knowledge and experience passes what they have learned to their junior (mentee) in a certain field. A mentor acts as a role model to their mentee.

They provide motivation, guidance, and emotional support to their protege.

Everything cannot be learned from school, the library, or the internet. The right way of learning something is to learn from someone who knows – a mentor (who teaches you a new skill and guides you to excel in it).

Mentors play a very vital role in our lives because without them we will not be able to meet our full potential.

A mentor may help his junior in setting goals, exploring careers, identifying resources, and developing contacts. To have a promising career the best you can do is find an adviser for yourself.

Finding a wise teacher who will guide you in the right direction is not easy. But, once you find that person whom you can look up to, you will then be able to find your interests and explore your talents.

Also See: Inspirational Coach Quotes

There are times when all we need is a little push to go after our goals and achieve what we want to, a mentor is a perfect person who can motivate us to do so.

With proper mentoring the youth of today can be guided in the right direction to unleash their full potential.

There is no wrong place to find a mentor. It may be your boss who gives you guidance to grow in your career, a coach of a sporting team who motivates you to never give up, a teacher who pushes you to your real potential, or a confidant who you look up to.

These famous mentor quotes will not only inspire you but will motivate you to find a teacher who will challenge you, push you, and help you grow in your career and in life.

Famous Mentor Quotes

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

  2. “The great masters are great mentors.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

  3. “My mistakes have been my greatest mentors.” – Steve Maraboli                                               
    mentor quotes
    mentor quotes

  4. “We are what our great Mentors have taught us.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

  5. “The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book.” – Unknown

  6. “What you do has far greater impact than what you say.” – Stephen Covey

  7. “We all need someone who inspires us to do better than we know how.” – Unknown

  8. “You are my inspiration. Thank you for being a wonderful friend, teacher, and mentor.”

  9. “A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey
    mentoring quotes
    mentoring quotes

  10. “A good mentor hopes you will move on. A great mentor knows you will.” – Leslie Higgins

  11. “Spoon feeding, in the long run, teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.” – E.M.Forster

  12. “Colleagues are a wonderful thing – but mentors, that’s where the real work gets done.” – Junot Diaz

  13. “A mentor is someone who shares their knowledge and experience to inspire others to reach their goals.”


  14. “My mentor said, ‘Let’s go do it,’ not ‘You go do it.’ How powerful when someone says, ‘Let’s!’” – Jim Rohn

  15. “A mentor empowers a person to see a possible future, and believe it can be obtained.” – Shawn Hitchcock

  16. “We must find time to stop and thank those the people who make a difference in our lives.” – John F Kennedy

  17. “The best teachers are those who tell you where to look – but don’t tell you what to see.” – Alexandra K.Trenfor

  18. “If a man is to shed the light of the sun upon other men, he must first of all have it within himself.” – Romain Rolland

  19. “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” – Alexander the Great

  20. “A true mentor wants to see you rise to the top, and is willing to let you stand on their shoulders to get there.” – Unknown                                                                             
    mentorship quotes
    mentorship quotes

  21. “A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.” – Anonymous

  22. “Mentors build mentors. Leaders build leaders. When you look at it closely, it’s really one and the same thing.” – Tony Dungy

  23. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

  24. “We all carry the seeds of greatness within us, but we need an image as a point of focus in order that they may sprout.” – Epictetus

  25. “One good mentor could be more informative than a college education and more valuable than a decades income.” –  Unknown

  26. “It’s the one thing you can control. You are responsible for how people remember you – or don’t. So don’t take it lightly.” – Kobe Bryant

  27. “A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.” – Bob Proctor


  28. “You have always been very instrumental in my career. I really appreciate your mentorship and guidance. Thank you so much.” – Unknown

  29. “The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself.” – Edward Buller-Lyton

  30. “A mentor is not someone who walks ahead of you to show you how they did it. A mentor walks alongside you to show you what you can do.” – Unknown

  31. “More than mere teachers, mentors are often emancipators, freeing artists from poor technique, clouded vision and personal uncertainty.” – Paul Soderberg

  32. “Behind every great leader, at the base of every great tale of success, you will find an indispensable circle of trusted advisors, mentors, and colleagues.” – Unknown

  33. “One of the greatest values of mentors is the ability to see ahead what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to their destination.” – John C. Maxwell

  34. “The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth.” – Dan Rather

  35. “It is one thing to be a boss, another thing to be a mentor but a completely different thing to be a leader. We are proud to be led by a boss, mentor, and leader like you. Thank you for being you!”


  36. “What I think the mentor gets is the great satisfaction of helping somebody along, helping somebody take advantage of an opportunity that maybe he or she did not have.” – Clint Eastwood

  37. “The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not and never persist in trying to set people right.” – Hannah Whitall Smith

  38. “What you want in a mentor is someone who truly cares for you and who will look after your interests and not just their own. When you do come across the right person to mentor you, start by showing them that the time they spend with you is worthwhile.” – Vivek Wadhwa

  39. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the smartest person in the room: If you’re not someone who people want to be around, you won’t get far. Likewise for helping those in line behind you. I take seriously my role as a mentor to young female filmmakers–I make sure my time is tithed.” – Melissa Rosenberg

  40. “In order to be a mentor, and an effective one, one must care. You must care. You don’t have to know how many square miles are in Idaho, you don’t need to know what is the chemical makeup of chemistry, or of blood or water. Know what you know and care about the person, care about what you know and care about the person you’re sharing with.” – Maya Angelou

Inspirational Quotes About Mentorship

Mentorship is the guidance, influence, or direction given by a mentor to his protege. A mentor acts as an advisor to his mentee when it comes to advising them on how to tackle difficult situations in life.

They act as a guide and teacher when it comes to guiding their juniors to follow the right path to achieve success. Mentors also act as consultants when they help their students to solve the problems they are facing in their careers.

What is the purpose of mentorship? The purpose of a mentor is to make you the best version of yourself and help you grow as a person. This may include sharing valuable life lessons, challenging your limitations, enhancing your thought process by introducing you to new ideas or viewpoint about things, helping you achieve career or personal goals, and much more.

  1. “Great mentors give wise guidance.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

  2. “Getting a mentor is a shortcut to success.” – Bo Sanchez

  3. “Every great achiever is inspired by a mentor.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

  4. “Your mentors in life are important, so choose them wisely.” – Robert Kiyosaki

  5. “A great mentor helps you to achieve what seems impossible.” – Mariela Dabbah                                                                                                                                                                         
    quotes about mentorship
    quotes about mentorship

  6. “Mentors change lives, but students change mentors’ lives more.” – Richie Norton

  7. “A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.” – John Wooden                                                                                                                                                                           
    quotes on mentoring
    quotes on mentoring

  8. “A truly great mentor is hard to find, difficult to part with, and impossible to forget.”

  9. “Find a great mentor who believes in you; your life will change forever!” – Bill Walsh

  10. “The mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting.” – Plutarch

  11. “Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher.” – Oprah Winfrey
    mentor quotes oprah
    mentor quotes oprah

  12. “Mentorship is the key to unlocking each of our entrepreneurial spirits.” – Richard Branson

  13. “With careful guidance and mentorship, you will reach your highest self.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

  14. “Being under your supervision has been an amazing experience. Thank you for your mentorship!”

  15. “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin

  16. “The question is not only who can be your mentor but also who can you mentor?” – Mariela Dabbah

  17. “It’s been true in my life that when I’ve needed a mentor, the right person shows up.” – Ken Blanchard

  18. “No man is capable of self-improvement if he sees no other model but himself.” – Conrado I. Generoso

  19. “Mentors don’t necessarily have the answers, but they can help you find your own answers.” – Amelia Rope

  20. “A role model should be like the light at the end of a tunnel, guiding you when you are lost.” – Cristina Imre

  21. “A mentor empowers the person to see a possible future, and believe it can be obtained.” – Shawn Hitchcock

  22. “Mentors have a way of seeing more of our faults that we would like. It’s the only way we grow.” – George Lucas

  23. “True mentors have this unique ability to pick up vibes that everyone else misses from within you.” – Ahmad R Kazi

  24. “It’s so essential to surround yourself with individuals who are already where you want to be. Iron sharpens iron.”

  25. “If you ask any successful business person, they will always have had a great mentor at some point along the road.” – Richard Branson

  26. “There is no greater feeling in the world than knowing that you’ve had a truly positive impact on the lives of others.” – Michael ONeill

  27. “It is important for us to see that our mentors are human and, therefore, fallible; it makes our own short-comings more tenable.” – John Wooden

  28. “The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.” – Khalil Gibran

  29. “My mentor had genuinely had my best interests and my goal for growth at heart. As a result, that mentorship changed my career path.” – Lyn Immerman

  30. “Leaders..should influence others..in such a way that it builds people up, encourages and edifies them so they can duplicate this attitude in others.” – Bob Goshen

  31. “A mentor is not someone who walks ahead of us and tells us how they did it. A mentor is someone who walks alongside us to guide us on what we can do.” – Simon Sinek

  32. “Alexander the Great valued learning so highly, that he used to say he was more indebted to Aristotle for giving him knowledge than to his father Philip for life.” – Samuel Smiles

  33. “Encouragement: To place courage within them, by coming along side them and inspiring them to hold on, to work hard, to fight for the cause placed in their care.” – Jozua Van Otterloo

  34. “Conflict between an apprentice and his master is not always bad; in fact, it is almost inevitable, if the apprentice’s destiny is to exceed the accomplishments of the master.” – Kilroy J. Oldster

  35. “Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” – Plato

  36. “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.” – Rachel Carson

  37. “A mentor is someone who allows you to know that no matter how dark the night, in the morning, joy will come. A mentor is someone who allows you to see the higher part of yourself when sometimes it becomes hidden to your own view.” – Oprah Winfrey

  38. “A mentor is a person, an expert in a specific area of endeavor, who trains, guides and observes a less experienced person to also become an expert through support, advice, and involvement in character-building opportunities.” – Israelmore Ayivor

  39. “One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” – Carl Jung

  40. “In order to be a mentor, and an effective one, one must care. You must care. You don’t have to know how many square miles are in Idaho, you don’t need to know what is the chemical makeup of chemistry, or of blood or water. Know what you know and care about the person, care about what you know and care about the person you’re sharing with.” – Maya Angelou

Motivational Mentoring Quotes

The best mentors are those who push you to your limits to achieve things that you thought you never will be able to do. Those who motivate you to have a positive mindset and make you understand that nothing is impossible. Those who inculcate a never to give up attitude in you.

It is important to have a mentor who will motivate you to achieve your best. These quotes about mentors and mentor captions for Instagram will inpire you to find that wise teacher in your life and appreciate them for their guidance and advice.

  1. “Mentor someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.”

  2. “Good coaching is good teaching and nothing else.” – Pat Conroy

  3. “In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.” – Phil Collins

  4. “Every kid needs a mentor; every human needs a mentor.” – Donovan Bailey

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

  6. “It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” – Tom Brokaw

  7. “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” – Isaac Newton

  8. “Mentoring is: Sharing life’s experiences and God’s faithfulness.” – Janet Thompson

  9. “Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition.” – Jacques Barzun

  10. “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill

  11. “Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.” – John Crosby

  12. “Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
    mentor quotes inspirational
    mentor quotes inspirational

  13. “I’ve trained my people in mentoring entrepreneurs and made myself obsolete.” — Ram Shriram

  14. “If you cannot see where you are going, ask someone who has been there before.” – J Loren Norris

  15. “You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him discover it within himself.” – Galileo Galilei

  16. “A mentor is a compass that activates curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom. Thank you for your guidance.”


  17. “Working with you gives me the fulfillment that I never knew was possible as an employee. Thanks, Boss.” – Unknown


  18. “I think a role model is a mentor – someone you see on a daily basis, and you learn from them.” -Denzel Washington

  19. “Women helping each other- coaching, mentoring, providing tips is a great way for us to be our own force.” -Indra Nooyi

  20. “In a battery, I strive to maximize electrical potential. When mentoring, I strive to maximize human potential.” — Donald Sadoway

  21. “The mediocre leader tells. The good leader explains. The superior leader demonstrates. The great leader inspires.” – Gary Patton

  22. “The recommendation when I’m mentoring folks, I always tell them – and we talked about this last year—take a risk.” — Ginni Rometty

  23. “Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.” –  Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  24. “We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.” – Whoopi Goldberg

  25. “Be patient with yourself; trust in the Universe; find mentors; know that you can achieve whatever you set out to do.” – Diane L. Dunton

  26. “I’ll happily mentor anyone who wants mentoring, and most of that goes on by internet rather than face to face.” — Bernard Cornwell

  27. “My favorite mentor unleashed my passions, channeled my energy, guided my growth, and encouraged my success.” – Anna Letitia Cook

  28. “Without appreciation and respect for other people, true leadership and mentorship becomes ineffective, if not impossible.” – George Foreman


  29. “My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even better.” – Steve Jobs

  30. “The heart of mentoring getting the most out of life isn’t about how much you keep for yourself, but how much you pour into others.” – David Stoddard

  31. “Mentoring is a two-way street. The mentor gets wiser while mentoring, and the mentee gains knowledge through his/her mentor.” – Marisol Gonzalez

  32. “Dear mentor, your entrepreneurial skill has endeared you into many hearts. Accept my heartfelt gratitude for your time, support, and patience.” – Unknown


  33. “The path to diversity begins with supporting, mentoring, and sponsoring diverse women and men to become leaders and entrepreneurs.” — Denise Morrison

  34. “The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” – Steven Spielberg

  35. “Coaches are aware of how to ignite passion and motivate people. They have an energy that is contagious and know exactly how to get their team excited.” – Brian Cagnee

  36. “Regardless of our titles or years of experience, we can learn from each other. Through mentoring and by being open to learn where we can reach our ultimate potential.” – Lily Benjamin

  37. “I think it’s so important as a woman, and especially as a minority, to lift as you climb. So having people shadow you or mentoring people – that’s important to me.” — Maria Taylor

  38. “What is a teacher? I’ll tell you: it isn’t someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.” – Paulo Coelho

  39. “As we get older, it’s important for us to help hand back some of what we’ve gained as we’ve grown older. It should be one of your responsibilities – it’s almost like being a mentor.” – Ciara

  40. “I take mentoring very seriously and I am on the board of an organization called Girls Write Now, where we match teen girls and writing mentors because it changes their lives.” — Tayari Jones

  41. “Mentoring is an indispensable requirement for an artist’s growth. Not only are skills and experience shared, but there is value in the essential re-examination of one’s own work and techniques.” – Jim Norman

  42. “Learning is finding out that you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, and teachers.” – Richard Bach

  43. “A mentor is someone with a willingness to help others, who has a capacity to inspire, a determination to work hard, a clear sense of vision, an inspiring purpose, a deep sense of integrity and an appreciation for joy.” — Kerry Kennedy

  44. “The people closest to me determine my level of success or failure. The better they are, the better I am. And if I want to go to the highest level, I can do it only with the help of other people. We have to take each other higher.” – John C. Maxwell

  45. “Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don’t care what you do for a living—if you do it well I’m sure there was someone cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor.” – Denzel Washington

  46. “All of us no matter what our upbringing, will face obstacles and detours on our journey through life. Having a positive role model, a mentor, who we can count on to help guide us, teach us, and inspire us is a true gift that has the rippling power to uplift our entire life.” – Unknown

  47. “Mentoring brings us together – across generation, class, and often race – in a manner that forces us to acknowledge our interdependence, to appreciate, in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words, that ‘we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied to a single garment of destiny.’” – Marc Freedman

  48. “I think the greatest thing we give each other is encouragement…knowing that I’m talking to someone in this mentoring relationship who’s interested in the big idea here is very, very important to me. I think if it were just about helping me get to the next step, it would be a heck of a lot less interesting.” – Anne Sweeney

  49. “The problem with feminism in the second wave was that we fought so much among ourselves, and I think we did so much damage to the movement… and I think the next wave, the third wave, is women mentoring younger women and women helping younger women to enter the political process and the writing world.” — Erica Jong

  50. “Search for role models you can look up to and people who take an interest in your career. But here’s an important warning: you don’t have to have mentors who look like you. Had I been waiting for a black, female Soviet specialist mentor, I would still be waiting. Most of my mentors have been old white men, because they were the ones who dominated my field.” – Condoleeza Rice

These great quotes will inspire you to be a mentor or find one for yourself. Don’t be clueless for long, just find your mentor and move towards success.

These powerful mentor quotes also cover mentoring quotes, entrepreneur mentor quotes, mentor-mentee quotes, mentor teacher quotes, boss quotes, boss appreciation quotes, and teacher appreciation quotes to inspire you to live life at its best with a mentor by your side.

If you have some of your favorite quotes which are not included in the above list, please share them in the comments section below and we will love to add them to the list.

If you like these quotes about dignity, also check our posts on toxic people quotes and toxic relationship quotes that will give you some clarity to the confusion and frustration of having these poisonous people in your life.

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