60 Quotes About Making Excuses

In the journey of self-improvement and personal growth, one of the biggest obstacles many people face is the habit of making excuses. Excuses are the comfortable justifications we give ourselves to avoid stepping out of our comfort zones and embracing change. They can hold us back from achieving our full potential, hindering both personal and professional growth. To help you break free from the chains of excuse-making, we've curated a collection of 60 powerful and inspiring quotes. These quotes serve as reminders and motivators, encouraging you to overcome excuses and take ownership of your actions and decisions. Whether you're looking for a little push to start that new project or need the inspiration to stick with your goals, these quotes will provide the motivation you need to stop making excuses and start taking action.

1. “It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” - George Washington

2. “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” - Benjamin Franklin

3. “For like a poisonous breath over the fields, like a mass of locusts over Egypt, so the swarm of excuses is a general plaque, a ruinous infection among men, that eats off the sprouts of the Eternal.” - Kierkegaard

4. “Rationalization is a process of not perceiving reality, but of attempting to make reality fit one’s emotions.” - Ayn Rand

5. “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it.” - Jordan Belfort

6. “A werewolf tossed me against a giant packing crate while I was trying to rescue a frightened young girl who'd been kidnapped by an evil witch and a drug lord.” - Patricia Briggs

7. “Once upon a time, the Reindeer took a running leap and jumped over the Northern Lights.But he jumped too low, and the long fur of his beautiful flowing tail got singed by the rainbow fires of the aurora.To this day the reindeer has no tail to speak of. But he is too busy pulling the Important Sleigh to notice what is lost. And he certainly doesn’t complain.What's your excuse?” - Vera Nazarian

8. “Idiot. Which road do you take when you're running from something weaker than yourself? Or maybe you're the one looking for an excuse to back out.” - Watsuki Nobuhiro

9. “I attribute my success to this:—I never gave or took an excuse.” - Florence Nightingale

10. “The heart has its reasons but the mind makes the excuses.” - Amit Abraham

11. “Anyone can have an off decade.” - Larry Cole

12. “How pitiful is an intelligence used only to make excuses to quieten the conscience.” - Ignazio Silone

13. “Sure, okay, I'll pick up some cat litter. Anything else?""Watch your back, G." Then she hung up.Hero paused in her sobbing to look at me quizzically. "Why does your mom want cat litter? You guys don't even have a cat.""She uses it for..." I searched my brain madly, but all I could come up with was "teaching.""She uses cat litter to teach English?"I nodded. "She's kind of unconventional in her methods."Hero frowned. "But how does she use it?"The girl was relentless when she fixated on something. "Um, when their papers are really bad, she gives them a little bag of cat litter. It's her way of telling them their writing is crap." I laughed. "She's kooky.” - Jody Gehrman

14. “For many have but one resource to sustain them in their misery, and that is to think, “Circumstances have been against me, I was worthy to be something much better than I have been. I admit I have never had a great love or a great friendship; but that is because I never met a man or a woman who were worthy of it; if I have not written any very good books, it is because I had not the leisure to do so; or, if I have had no children to whom I could devote myself it is because I did not find the man I could have lived with. So there remains within me a wide range of abilities, inclinations and potentialities, unused but perfectly viable, which endow me with a worthiness that could never be inferred from the mere history of my actions.” But in reality and for the existentialist, there is no love apart from the deeds of love; no potentiality of love other than that which is manifested in loving; there is no genius other than that which is expressed in works of art.” - Jean-Paul Sartre

15. “To my way of thinking, the slavery issue is just an excuse to allow some people to do hateful things and feel righteous about it.” - Joan Lowery Nixon

16. “I was only following orders," the Mayor mocks. "The refuge of scoundrels since the dawn of time.” - Patrick Ness

17. “Don't you dare take the lazy way. It's too easy to excuse yourself because of your ancestry. Don't let me catch you doing it! Now -- look close at me so you will remember. Whatever you do, it will be you who do.” - John Steinbeck

18. “He didn't seem to realize that three excuses was as good as no excuse.” - Ann Brashares

19. “A man does not have to feel less than human to realize his sin; oppositely, he has to realize that he gets no special vindication for his sin.” - Criss Jami

20. “Like crying wolf, if you keep looking for sympathy as a justification for your actions, you will someday be left standing alone when you really need help.” - Criss Jami

21. “Taking on too much of other people's drama is just a poor excuse for not taking ownership and control over your own life.” - José N. Harris

22. “Don't use your past as an excuse, excuse your excuses and take action now!!!” - Bernard Kelvin Clive

23. “Kick the crutch out from under your excuses” - Lorii Myers

24. “Part of being of a true existentialist is wanting to be what we make ourselves be by the way we choose to act, as opposed to making excuses for the way we act and regretting it.” - Gary Cox

25. “I make no excuse for what happened. Drunkenness is never more than a symptom, not an absolute cause, and I realize that it would be wrong of me to try to defend myself. Nevertheless, there is at least the possibility of an explanation.” - Paul Auster

26. “The excuses we make to ourselves when we want to do something are excellent material for soliloquies, for they are rarely made except when we are alone, and are very often made aloud.” - Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

27. “No matter how old you are now. You are never too young or too old for success or going after what you want. Here’s a short list of people who accomplished great things at different ages1) Helen Keller, at the age of 19 months, became deaf and blind. But that didn’t stop her. She was the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.2) Mozart was already competent on keyboard and violin; he composed from the age of 5.3) Shirley Temple was 6 when she became a movie star on “Bright Eyes.”4) Anne Frank was 12 when she wrote the diary of Anne Frank.5) Magnus Carlsen became a chess Grandmaster at the age of 13.6) Nadia Comăneci was a gymnast from Romania that scored seven perfect 10.0 and won three gold medals at the Olympics at age 14.7) Tenzin Gyatso was formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama in November 1950, at the age of 15.8) Pele, a soccer superstar, was 17 years old when he won the world cup in 1958 with Brazil.9) Elvis was a superstar by age 19.10) John Lennon was 20 years and Paul Mcartney was 18 when the Beatles had their first concert in 1961.11) Jesse Owens was 22 when he won 4 gold medals in Berlin 1936.12) Beethoven was a piano virtuoso by age 2313) Issac Newton wrote Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica at age 2414) Roger Bannister was 25 when he broke the 4 minute mile record15) Albert Einstein was 26 when he wrote the theory of relativity16) Lance E. Armstrong was 27 when he won the tour de France 17) Michelangelo created two of the greatest sculptures “David” and “Pieta” by age 2818) Alexander the Great, by age 29, had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world19) J.K. Rowling was 30 years old when she finished the first manuscript of Harry Potter20) Amelia Earhart was 31 years old when she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean21) Oprah was 32 when she started her talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind22) Edmund Hillary was 33 when he became the first man to reach Mount Everest23) Martin Luther King Jr. was 34 when he wrote the speech “I Have a Dream."24) Marie Curie was 35 years old when she got nominated for a Nobel Prize in Physics 25) The Wright brothers, Orville (32) and Wilbur (36) invented and built the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight26) Vincent Van Gogh was 37 when he died virtually unknown, yet his paintings today are worth millions.27) Neil Armstrong was 38 when he became the first man to set foot on the moon.28) Mark Twain was 40 when he wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and 49 years old when he wrote "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"29) Christopher Columbus was 41 when he discovered the Americas30) Rosa Parks was 42 when she refused to obey the bus driver’s order to give up her seat to make room for a white passenger31) John F. Kennedy was 43 years old when he became President of the United States32) Henry Ford Was 45 when the Ford T came out.33) Suzanne Collins was 46 when she wrote "The Hunger Games"34) Charles Darwin was 50 years old when his book On the Origin of Species came out.35) Leonardo Da Vinci was 51 years old when he painted the Mona Lisa.36) Abraham Lincoln was 52 when he became president.37) Ray Kroc Was 53 when he bought the McDonalds Franchise and took it to unprecedented levels.38) Dr. Seuss was 54 when he wrote "The Cat in the Hat".40) Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III was 57 years old when he successfully ditched US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in 2009. All of the 155 passengers aboard the aircraft survived41) Colonel Harland Sanders was 61 when he started the KFC Franchise42) J.R.R Tolkien was 62 when the Lord of the Ring books came out43) Ronald Reagan was 69 when he became President of the US44) Jack Lalane at age 70 handcuffed, shackled, towed 70 rowboats45) Nelson Mandela was 76 when he became President” - Pablo

28. “It's time, we're waiting for you. We're tired of your excuses, your complaining, your everything else. We need you now more than we have ever needed you before, so it's time for you to use your boredom wisely. Yes there will be time for you to have fun, and life is indeed meant to be fun, but if you fill every waking moment with something to amuse you, then you will never accomplish anything worthwhile - which makes me concerned for you, because after all, if you were not meant for something worthwhile, then why exactly are you here?” - Osayi Osar-Emokpae

29. “I have to go," I say, "I am baking a cake.” - Matt Cutugno

30. “If you accept excuses from others, it's usually because you have accepted your own excuse.” - Orrin Woodward

31. “When a man is willing to find an excuse for being God's enemy he need never be at a loss. He who hath to find a fact may find some difficulty; but he who would forge a lie may sit at his own fireside and do it.” - Charles H. Spurgeon

32. “Your complaints, your drama, your victim mentality, your whining, your blaming, and all of your excuses have NEVER gotten you even a single step closer to your goals or dreams. Let go of your nonsense. Let go of the delusion that you DESERVE better and go EARN it! Today is a new day!” - Steve Maraboli

33. “We may place blame, give reasons, and even have excuses; but in the end, it is an act of cowardice to not follow your dreams.” - Steve Maraboli

34. “It’s called an ‘accomplishment’, not an ‘intent-ishment’. You’ve got to BE it to SEE it. NO MORE EXCUSES - Decide what you want, create a plan, and get your ass out there!” - Steve Maraboli

35. “Once I ran out of excuses, I reclaimed my life. Now, I don't need excuses.” - Jamie Anne Richardson

36. “Don't make excuses. They're pointless.” - Shannon A Thompson

37. “No one ever excused his way to success.” - Dave Del Dotto

38. “Your explanation is good, but your herring doesn't fry, as we say in Ramaldah," he exploded.” - Andrew Ashling

39. “Excuses are a time thief. Have a goal, accept responsibility, and take action!” - Steve Maraboli

40. “Even if there are instances in which it can be mistook by onlookers, never fool yourself into using misunderstood genius as an excuse to be a fool.” - Criss Jami

41. “Excuses are used to justify leaving the scene of truth without changing.” - Orrin Woodward

42. “But is the word used before you rationalize why the situation is not your fault nor responsibility.” - Orrin Woodward

43. “Anyone can find an excuse. It takes a special person to find the time” - Linda Poindexter

44. “To rush into explanations is always a sign of weakness.” - Agatha Christie

45. “Excuses are merely nails used to build a house of failure.” - Habeeb Akande

46. “Don't always use PAIN that you receive as an excuse to GIVE PAIN...” - Tsem Tulku Rinpoche

47. “Let's make progress, not excuses.” - Justin Cotillard

48. “I didn't do anything wrong. I swear.'He grunted. 'Like I've never heard that before. Funny, but I expected a little more originality from Moira's daughter.''Yeah, well, the dog ate my notebook with all my good excuses.” - Mindee Arnett

49. “Put some action on your good intentions!” - Lorii Myers

50. “Becoming limitless involves mental agility; the ability to quickly grasp and incorporate new ideas and concepts with confidence.” - Lorii Myers

51. “Extend beyond your preconceived limits!” - Lorii Myers

52. “Don't make excuses for why you're not doing what you have already deemed critical to your success.” - Lorii Myers

53. “When aspirations are perceived to be achievable, ambition and drive can erase excuses.” - Lorii Myers

54. “Excuses fall silent behind self-control, focus, and direction.” - Lorii Myers

55. “The BIG push means being able to develop and sustain momentum toward your goal; it is the process of actively replacing excuses with winning habits, the ultimate excuses blockers. Moreover, it is being willing to go to the wall for what you want or believe in, to push beyond your previous mental and physical limits, no matter what it takes.” - Lorii Myers

56. “Push today for what you want tomorrow!” - Lorii Myers

57. “Go BIG or go BIG...there is nothing else!” - Lorii Myers

58. “When you begin to expect that there is always room for improvement, you put yourself in the driver’s seat. Why wait for someone else to figure it out or do it? Expect that you are the one. Expect great outcomes. Expect that you are the best candidate and that you will achieve your goals.” - Lorii Myers

59. “There is no greater symphony of self-destruction than the beautifully poisonous melody found in our excuses.” - Steve Maraboli

60. “Excuses, criticisms, and superstitions are vitamins for haters, but poison for the successful. Rise above!” - Steve Maraboli