46 Inspirational Mentor Quotes to Get You Ready For Mentoring

According to a report from HR Review, employee turnover rates are expected to hit 36.5% during 2023. Which feels like a good time to remind everyone that mentoring positively impacts employee retention.  

So much so that many companies are using to mentoring programs to ensure each employee has a positive experience, where they receive ongoing support to develop their skills and grow. In fact, 84% of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programs. 

But that’s not all. People have been reaping the rewards of mentoring since the days of Plato and Aristotle. Its benefits are felt from people across industries, job roles and time periods.

That’s because great mentors know how to help people work towards their individual goals and inspire you to keep walking the path that gets you there. 

So, if you’re in need of a little inspiration to start or join a mentoring program, we’ve got what you need with these 46 mentoring quotes. Bookmark, share and enjoy! 

What is a mentor?

First up, if you need a refresher on what a mentor is, check out our article on just that!

In short, mentors offer support, advice and guidance to another person – also known as a mentee. Businesses use them to onboard new team members and ensure current employees receive the right opportunities and training for their needs. 

As mentors bring lots of experience, they can provide constructive feedback to mentees and support them through all areas of their professional life. Whether sharing past experiences, opening up new opportunities to mentees or helping them build their skills, mentors are role models. 

So, now you know what a mentor does, it’s time to look at some great quotes to inspire you on your journey. 

46 inspirational mentoring quotes 

1. “A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” Oprah Winfrey – Host, Producer, Author & Philanthropist
   
2. “Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.” John C. Crosby – Former US Representative 
3. “If you cannot see where you are going, ask someone who has been there before.” J Loren Norris – Keynote Speaker 
4.  “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 – Author
   
5. “My mistakes have been my greatest mentors.” Steve Maraboli – Author 
6. “Tell me, and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me, and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin – Former US President 
7.  “Mentoring is a two-way street. You get out what you put in.” Steve Washington – Musical Artist 
8. “The best way a mentor can prepare another leader is to expose him or her to other great people.” John C. Maxwell – Author & Pastor 
9. “If I hadn’t had mentors, I wouldn’t be here today. I’m a product of great mentoring, great coaching. Coaches or mentors are very important. They could be anyone–your husband, other family members, or your boss.” Indra Nooyi – Business Executive 
10. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou – Civil Rights Activist, Memoirist & Poet
    

    

11. “My mentor said, ‘Let’s go do it,’ not ‘You go do it.’ How powerful when someone says, ‘Let’s!'” Jim Rohn – Entrepreneur 
12. “The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” Steven Spielberg – Movie Director 
13. “Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.” Samuel Taylor – Poet 
14. “You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself.” Diana Ross – Famous Singer 
15. “I have always been a huge believer in the inestimable value good mentoring can contribute to any nascent business.” Richard Branson – Entrepreneur
    
    
16. “Mentoring can have a profound impact on your personal growth, but you have to be open to change.” Lois Zachary – Author 
17.  “Small business, you can give them capital, but when they often need as much is mentoring, advice, and help with their business plan.” Karen Mills – Senior Fellow at Harvard Business School 
18.  “What the great mentor is always looking for is a person who is willing to tap his genius, to put it through the refiner’s fire, to do the hard work to develop it. Indeed, mentoring is the mediaeval art of alchemy-turning plain old human steel into hearts and minds of gold.” Oliver DeMille – Author 
19. “I encourage all of you to seek out teachers and mentors that challenge you to think for yourself and guide you to find your own voice.” Renee Olstead – Actress 
20. “Mentors are all around us. Who makes you feel confident, inspired, focused, and is willing to share their experience?” Anna Letitia Cook – Career Coach 
21. “Teaching is calling too. And I’ve always thought that teachers in their way holy – angels leading their flocks out of the darkness.” Jeannette Walls – Author 
22. “We must find time to stop and thank those the people who make a difference in our lives.” John F Kennedy – Former US President 
23. “Are you my mentor? If someone has to ask this question, the answer is probably no. When someone finds the right mentor, it is obvious.” Sheryl Sandberg – Tech Executive & Author 
24. “Every kid needs a mentor; every human needs a mentor.” Donovan Bailey – Olympic Athlete 
25. “You have to see failure as the beginning and the middle, but never entertain it as the end.” Jessica Herrin – Founder & CEO of Stella & Dot 
26. “Mentoring is a two-way street. The mentor gets wiser while mentoring, and the mentee gains knowledge through his/her mentor.” Marisol Gonzalez – TV Personality 
27. “If you cannot see where you are going, ask someone who has been there before.” J Loren Norris – Author 
28. “One of the most exciting things about coaching is the buzz you get when you push out of your comfort zone, come up with a plan and put it into action! Life takes on a whole new meaning as you re-create your life or career the way you want it.” Emma-Louise Elsey – Coach 
29. “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 Cagneey – Motivational Writer 
30. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Mahatma Gandhi – Indian Lawyer & Activist 
31. That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life but in a new way.” Doris Lessing – Novelist 
32. “The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.” B.B. King – Singer 
33. “Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.” Leonardo da Vinci – Artist 
34. “He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.” Confucius – Chinese Philosopher 
35. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Malcolm X – Minister & Human Rights Activist 
36. “Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardour and attended with diligence.” Abigail Adams – Wife of John Adams 
37. “Colleagues are a wonderful thing – but mentors, that’s where the real work gets done.” Junot Diaz, Creative Writing Professor
    
38. “Sponsorship is sometimes about people behind the scenes who are sitting in rooms determining your assignments and your next career step, and you don’t even know who they are.” Cathy Engelbert – WNBA Commissioner 
39. “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” Mohammed Ali – Boxer 
40. “No one has ever become poor by giving.” Anne Frank – Diarist 
41. “It is only in the giving of oneself to others that we truly live.” Ethel Percy Andrus – California’s First Female High-School Principal 
42. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Luther King – American Minister & Activist 
43. “As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” Audrey Hepburn – Famous Actress 
44. “Life is an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others.” Helen Keller – Author & Advocate 
45. “Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference.” Kathy Calvin – CEO of United Nations Foundation 
46. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Barack Obama – Former US President 

Interested in starting a mentoring program?

Mentoring programs can boost employee retention rates and foster a proactive and productive workforce. If you’re new to mentoring, knowing what you need to do can be challenging, but there are plenty of available solutions. 

For example, utilising mentoring software such as ours, can help you focus on other areas of the program, and once your mentors are thoroughly trained, they’ll know how to support others. 

Find out more about Guider by booking a demo with our team today!