64 Motivational Monday Quotes to Kick-Start Your Week

UPDATED: November 19, 2024
PUBLISHED: November 18, 2024
diverse group of people celebrating at work

Mondays, the most feared day of the week for many of us, can present a challenge. It’s the day we project our fears and uncertainties as the joy of the weekend ends. This can be especially true if we’ve been conditioned to accept the negative associations with Mondays. But this doesn’t need to be our framework of reality.

Some may say that it’s impossible to change this. No, impossible nothing! Mondays have been unfairly stigmatized, and with the right perspective, we can learn to embrace them. They can be seen as a fresh start, brimming with opportunities for new connections, service and growth.

Reading these Monday quotes is a powerful way to support this paradigm shift and set yourself on a positive path at the start of the week. From inspirational and motivational quotes to mindful Monday phrases, we’ve compiled a list of 64 powerful quotes to help you kick-start your week with enthusiasm for new opportunities.

Monday Quotes For Inspiration 

To be inspired is to breathe in and be in spirit. We all have within ourselves the resources and capacity to bring our minds and hearts into everything we do. Let these inspiring Monday quotes take you where you belong as the most creative and powerful being. 

  • “Light tomorrow with today.” —Elizabeth Barrett Browning 
  • “Human beings have the remarkable ability to turn nothing into something. They can turn weeds into gardens and pennies into fortunes.” —Jim Rohn 
  • “I should think you could be gladder on Monday mornin’ than any other day in the week, because ‘twould be a whole week before you’d have another one!” —Eleanor H. Porter, Pollyanna
  • “Develop an ‘attitude of gratitude.’ Say thank you to everyone you meet for everything you do.” —Brian Tracy
  • “Some of our finest work comes through service to others.” —Gordon Hinckley


  • “When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.” —Marcus Aurelius
  • “Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your modus operandi and change your world.” —Annie Lennox 
  • “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” —Mahatma Gandhi
  • “I never did a day’s work in my life, it was all fun.” —Thomas Edison 
  • “As we lose ourselves in the service of others we discover our own lives and our own happiness.” —Dieter F. Uchtdorf
  • “How beautiful a day can be, when kindness touches it!” —George Elliston

Related: 15 Motivational Quotes to Stop Making Excuses

Monday Motivation Quotes 

Having things we value and treasure in life motivates us to take action and moves us toward our passions and dreams. Need some motivation to turn your Monday into a powerful day? Embrace these motivational quotes to get your inner engine started. 

  • “There is no Monday which will not give its place to Tuesday.” —Anton Chekhov
  • “Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.” —Brian Tracy
  • “The cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday morning.” —C.S. Lewis
  • “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.” —Thomas Edison
  • “Buckle up, and know that it’s going to be a tremendous amount of work, but embrace it.” —Tory Burch
  • “Monday is the day that opens up the week for many opportunities.” —R.K. Narayan 
  • “I hate Sunday, I can’t wait for Monday so I can go back to work again.” —Ingrid Bergman
  • “I’ve decided that every day is a Friday—filled with anticipation, excitement and joy.” —Barrie Davenport
  • “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” —Robert Louis Stevenson
  • “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” —Maya Angelou
  • “It is not what we get, but who we become, what we contribute that gives meaning to our lives.” —Tony Robbins

Related: 17 Motivational Quotes to Help You Achieve Your Dreams

Monday Morning Quotes

Starting your week on a lighthearted note is a perfect way to take the seriousness out of Monday. Enjoy these witty Monday morning quotes and have a little laugh. 

  • “On Monday mornings I am dedicated to the proposition that all men are created jerks.” —H. Allen Smith
  • “How can we worship a homeless man on Sunday and ignore one on Monday?” —Shane Claiborne
  • “Hot on Sunday, cold on Monday, hashed on Tuesday, minced on Wednesday, curried Thursday, broth on Friday, cottage pie on Saturday.” —Dorothy Hartley, Food in England 
  • “A man gets drunk on Monday on whisky and soda water; he gets drunk on Tuesday on brandy and soda water, and on Wednesday on gin and soda water. What causes his drunkenness? Obviously, the common factor, the soda water.” —Anthony Standen, Science Is a Sacred Cow


  • “Monday could not have arrived on a worse day. It could have been polite and waited until Tuesday or even Wednesday.” —Michael Scott Gallegos, Alligator
  • “Saturday and Sunday’s fun to sport around. But no use denying—Monday’ll get you down.” —Langston Hughes
  • “No wonder Bob Geldof is such an expert on famine. He’s been feeding off ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ for 30 years.” —Russell Brand
  • “This morning, did you wake up to an alarm clock or an opportunity clock?” —Zig Ziglar
  • “A Christian is a man who feels repentance on a Sunday for what he has done on Saturday and is going to do on Monday.” —Unknown
  • “Always on Monday morning the press reports God as revealed to His vicars in various guises—benevolent, stormy, patient or out of sorts. God knows which God is the God God recognizes.” —Phyllis McGinley
  • “Of all the days that’s in the week I dearly love but one day, and that’s the day that comes betwixt a Saturday and Monday.” —Henry Carey, The Ballad of Sally in our Alley 

Related: 19 Quotes About Motivation

Happy Monday Quotes 

Some of us can easily find something in the world that disrupts our peace and joy. But life is too short to delay happiness. These quotes are designed to bring some well-deserved cheerful energy into your day. 

  • “Each morning when I open my eyes, I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead; tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” —Groucho Marx
  • “Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.”  —Ingrid Bergman
  • “Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
  • “Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy. No person will make you happy unless you decide to be happy. Your happiness will not come to you. It can only come from you.” —Ralph Marston
  • “When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it also helps us develop inner happiness and peace.” —The Dalai Lama


  • “Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” —James Matthew Barrie
  • “The only true happiness lies in knowing who you are…and making peace with it.” —Laurell K. Hamilton
  • “Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” —Benjamin Disraeli
  • “The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.” —Henry Ward Beecher
  • “Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.” —Jim Rohn 
  • “Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.” —Booker T. Washington
  • “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” —The Dalai Lama

Positive Monday Quotes For Work 

Having a positive attitude is a skill that we can learn and master. It can help us better deal with stress and improve well-being and life satisfaction. If you need some colorful and positive thoughts at the office, immerse yourself in these positive Monday sayings to help you make the best of your day. 

  • “Power to me is the ability to make a change in a positive way.” —Victoria Justice
  • “Nothing happens until you decide. Make a decision and watch your life move forward.” —Oprah Winfrey
  • “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” —Albert Einstein 
  • “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” —Jack Layton
  • “Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” —Emily Dickinson


  • “Hey, I know it’s Monday, but it’s also a new day, a new week, and in that lies a new opportunity for something special to happen.” —Michael Ealy
  • “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” —Steve Jobs
  • “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” —Arthur Ashe
  • “Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.” —Charles F. Kettering
  • “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” —Jane Goodall
  • “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” —Helen Keller

Mindful Monday Phrases

Most of us find it challenging to be aware of and stay in the present moment. When life distracts us with endless demands, we can easily be tempted to live in the past or the future. Use these mindful Monday quotes to bring yourself back to the now. 

  • “Stay present instead of having the mindset of ‘When I… then I’ll…’” —Emma Murray
  • “I am only one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” —Edward Everett Hale
  • “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” —Theodore Roosevelt
  • “In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.” —Anne Frank
  • “If you don’t pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves.” —David Allen
  • “If each Monday morning, you make a choice to move into the new work week with renewed commitment and passion, you can change all areas of your life. You can truly change your Mondays and change your life.” —David Cottrell
  • “The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.” —Mother Teresa
  • “Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” —Charles Dickens
  • “He profits most who serves best.” —Arthur F. Sheldon
  • “I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change…I’m changing the things I cannot accept.” —Angela Davis
  • “All other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy.” —Mahatma Gandhi
  • “Don’t ever forget that you’re a citizen of this world, and there are things you can do to lift the human spirit—things that are easy, things that are free, things that you can do every day: Civility, respect, kindness, character.” —Aaron Sorkin

Transform Your Mondays

While reading these quotes may not completely change your perspective on Mondays, if you’re determined to shift your attitude, you could find more satisfaction at the start of the week. It might help to choose your favorite phrases for when you need them the most.

Words have the power to change our attitudes, and if you make it a habit to use many of these Monday quotes at home or in the office, you may even help encourage others to enjoy a better quality of life.

Photo by: Ground Picture/Shutterstock

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