“Teamwork makes the dream work,” is one of my favorite teamwork quotes. Seriously, I’ve said this quote in the office and on Zoom. I’ve even set it as my Slack status. Turns out John C. Maxwell said it in 2002.
It remains a popular quote today, in part because he was right: If you’re aiming high, a team helps you hit the mark.
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I love quotes. They take truths that we all know and boil them down into something memorable. I use quotes to keep me motivated and stay connected with my team. That’s why I love quotes that are connected to teamwork.
To help take teams to the next level, I’ve collected my favorite 99 quotes about collaboration, teamwork, and determination across the following categories:
- Quotes About Collaboration
- Teamwork Quotes to Inspire Collaboration
- Hard Work Quotes to Inspire Determination
- Short Teamwork Quotes
- Motivational Teamwork Quotes
- Teamwork Quotes From Iconic Business Leaders
- Communication Quotes to Inspire Teamwork
Quotes About Collaboration
- “Collaboration allows teachers to capture each other’s fund of collective intelligence.” — Mike Schmoker
- “The secret is to gang up on the problem, rather than each other.” — Thomas Stallkamp
- “Collaboration has no hierarchy. The Sun collaborates with soil to bring flowers on the earth.” — Amit Ray
- “To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless.” — Mike Krzyzewski
- “The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side.” — Margaret Carty
- “Contrary to popular belief, there most certainly is an ‘I’ in ‘team.’ It is the same ‘I’ that appears three times in ‘responsibility.’” — Amber Harding
- “Collaboration begins with mutual understanding and respect.” — Ron Garan
- “Collaboration is much like a birth. The painful process of delivery pales against the joy of seeing your baby take the first breath.” — Jim Tamm
- “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller
- “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” — Henry Ford
- “Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes
- “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” — Isaac Newton
- “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.” — H.E. Luccock
- “Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” — Andrew Carnegie
Teamwork Quotes to Inspire Collaboration
I’m the type of person who loves to work collaboratively. That’s why I love group projects that bring multiple great minds together. I can bounce ideas off my teammates and gain their insights.
If you’re looking for a bit of inspiration to get you psyched to work in a team, start with these quotes.
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15. “It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” — Charles Darwin (Click to Tweet.)
16. “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” — Henry Ford (Click to Tweet.)
17. “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” — Michael Jordan (Click to Tweet.)
18. “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” — Phil Jackson (Click to Tweet.)
19. “The best teamwork comes from men who are working independently toward one goal in unison.” — James Cash Penney (Click to Tweet.)
20. “Politeness is the poison of collaboration.” — Edwin Land (Click to Tweet.)
21. “Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” — Amy Poehler (Click to Tweet.)
22. “Effectively, change is almost impossible without industry-wide collaboration, cooperation, and consensus.” — Simon Mainwaring (Click to Tweet.)
23. “The team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.” — Mia Hamm
Want more? Check out these corporate team-building activities.
24. “Teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability.” — Patrick Lencioni (Click to Tweet.)
25. “You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins.” — Jim Stovall (Click to Tweet.)
26. “The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” — Babe Ruth (Click to Tweet.)
27. “There is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others.” — George Shinn (Click to Tweet.)
28. “It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” — Napoleon Hill (Click to Tweet.)
29. “The whole is other than the sum of the parts.” — Kurt Koffka (Click to Tweet.)
30. “A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of others.” — Norman Shidle (Click to Tweet.)
31. “The ratio of We’s to I’s is the best indicator of the development of a team.” — Lewis B. Ergen (Click to Tweet.)
32. “Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” — Vince Lombardi (Click to Tweet.)
33. “One piece of log creates a small fire, adequate to warm you up, add just a few more pieces to blast an immense bonfire, large enough to warm up your entire circle of friends; needless to say that individuality counts but teamwork dynamites.” — Jin Kwon (Click to Tweet.)
34. “No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.” — Reid Hoffman (Click to Tweet.)
35. “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” — Mark Twain (Click to Tweet.)
36. “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” — Booker T. Washington (Click to Tweet.)
37. “Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.” — Steve Jobs (Click to Tweet.)
38. “Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” — Ryunosuke Satoro (Click to Tweet.)
39. “Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there.” — Virginia Burden (Click to Tweet.)
40. “None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.” — Mother Teresa (Click to Tweet.)
41. “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” — Harry Truman (Click to Tweet.)
42. “It takes two flints to make a fire.” — Louisa May Alcott (Click to Tweet.)
43. “The way to achieve your own success is to be willing to help somebody else get it first.” — Iyanla Vanzant (Click to Tweet.)
44. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” — African Proverb (Click to Tweet.)
45. “Success is best when it's shared.” — Howard Schultz (Click to Tweet.)
Need help collaborating effectively? Take a look at 21 marketing collaboration tools to improve teamwork.
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Hard Work Quotes to Inspire Determination
We’ve all hit a rut. Trust me, I’ve been there too. Once the caffeine wears off or when I have competing priorities on my plate, I can get so stressed that I feel paralyzed.
A little bit of motivation can get me out of my head and back to the grind. These are my favorite quotes about hard work that keep me inspired.
46. “Hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard.” — Tim Notke (Click to Tweet.)
47. “We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in.” — Ariana Huffington (Click to Tweet.)
48. “When the ideas are coming, I don’t stop until the ideas stop because that train doesn’t come along all the time.” — Dr. Dre (Click to Tweet.)
49. “Someone once told me growth and comfort do not coexist. And I think it’s a really good thing to remember.” — Ginni Rometty (Click to Tweet.)
50. “Hard work keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit.” — Helena Rubinstein (Click to Tweet.)
51. “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment.” — Mahatma Gandhi (Click to Tweet.)
52. “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” — Thomas Jefferson (Click to Tweet.)
53. “Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.” — Malcolm Forbes (Click to Tweet.)
54. “The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.” — Vince Lombardi Jr. (Click to Tweet.)
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Short Teamwork Quotes
Sometimes, I don’t have the time or energy to read a full motivational speech. Even a paragraph-long pep talk can feel like a big lift. That’s when I turn to short quotes.
These short truisms boil the big ideas about teamwork into something simple and byte-sized.
55. “Teamwork makes the dream work.” — John C. Maxwell (Click to Tweet.)
56. “The bigger the dream, the more important the team.” — Robin Sharma (Click to Tweet.)
57. “None of us is as smart as all of us.” — Ken Blanchard (Click to Tweet.)
58. “If you take out the team in teamwork, it’s just work. Now who wants that?” — Matthew Woodring Stover (Click to Tweet.)
59. “Tough times don’t last. Tough teams do.” — Robert Schuller (Click to Tweet.)
60. “Together, ordinary people can achieve extraordinary results.” — Becka Schoettle (Click to Tweet.)
61. “Communication works for those who work at it.” — John Powell (Click to Tweet.)
62. “Effective teamwork begins and ends with communication.” — Mike Krzyzewski (Click to Tweet.)
63. “It’s better to have a great team than a team of greats.” — Simon Sinek (Click to Tweet.)
64. “Ego is the ultimate killer on a team.” — Patrick Lencioni (Click to Tweet.)
65. “Strategy is not a solo sport, even if you’re the CEO” — Max McKeown (Click to Tweet.)
66. “There is no such thing as a ‘one-man show’ in a winning team.” — Jose B. Cabajar (Click to Tweet.)
67. “Many candles can be kindled from one candle without diminishing it.” — Midrash (Click to Tweet.)
68. “We rise by lifting others.” — Robert Ingersoll (Click to Tweet.)
69. “In teamwork, silence isn’t golden. It’s deadly.” — Mark Sanborn (Click to Tweet.)
70. “A single leaf working alone provides no shade.” — Chuck Page
71. “A successful team is a group of many hands but of one mind.” — Bill Bethel
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Motivational Teamwork Quotes
Sometimes, I find the start of a team project to be overwhelming. There are so many things to do and the ball hasn’t even gotten rolling. These motivational teamwork quotes help me start projects on the right foot.
72. “When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes reality.” — Joe Paterno (Click to Tweet.)
73. “The power of one, if fearless and focused, is formidable, but the power of many working together is better.” — Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (Click to Tweet.)
74. “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” — Henry Ford (Click to Tweet.)
75. “When you hand good people possibility, they do great things.” — Biz Stone (Click to Tweet.)
76. “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” — Sun Tzu (Click to Tweet.)
77. “Our destiny is not written for us, it’s written by us.” — Barack Obama (Click to Tweet.)
78. “Every once in a while, you hear an expert that says team chemistry is overrated. You just write that person off.” — Tony La Russa (Click to Tweet.)
79. “Create an environment where people can take risks. If everything has to be brilliant from the word go, you’re never gonna get off the ground.” — Paul Hewson, a.k.a Bono (Click to Tweet.)
80. “Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prison of the past or a pioneer of the future.” — Deepak Chopra (Click to Tweet.)
81. “Decency is avoiding disrespect, not avoiding disagreement. Integrity is trying to get it right, not being right.” — Adam Grant (Click to Tweet.)
82. “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Click to Tweet.)
83. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead (Click to Tweet.)
84. “When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing.” — Bo Schembechler (Click to Tweet.)
85. “You are either supporting the vision or supporting division.” — Saji Ijiyemi (Click to Tweet.)
86. “Not finance, not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and rare.” — Patrick Lencioni (Click to Tweet.)
87. “Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” — Mattie Stepanek
88. “Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success.” — Stephen Covey
Teamwork Quotes From Iconic Business Leaders
Knowing that business behemoths like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and David Packard don’t just value teamwork but actively promote it inspires the heck out of me. Hopefully, these quotes will inspire you, too!
89. “I am a big believer in the power of a team. A good team can win a championship if they have the fundamentals and work together as one.” — Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks
90. “The best team is not the team with the best players, but the team that plays best together.” — Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase
91. “My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other, and the total was greater than the sum of the parts.” — Steve Jobs, Co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc.
92. “I invite everyone to choose forgiveness rather than division, teamwork over personal ambition.” — Jean-Francois Cope, CEO of Atos
93. “Teams should be able to act with the same unity of purpose and focus as a well-motivated individual.” — Bill Gates, Co-founder of Microsoft Corporation
94. “The five separate fingers are five independent units. Close them and the fist multiplies strength. This is organization.” — James Cash Penney, founder of J.C. Penney
95. “A group of people get together and exist as an institution we call a company so they are able to accomplish something collectively that they could not accomplish separately — they make a contribution to society.” — David Packard, Co-founder of Hewlett-Packard
Communication Quotes to Inspire Teamwork
I’m sure you’ve experienced this truth, too: Collaboration, cohesiveness, and teamwork can’t happen without effective communication. The following quotes are a reminder of the importance of communication in facilitating teamwork.
96. “The art of communication is the language of leadership.” — James Humes
97. “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” — Epictetus
98. “Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy, and mutual valuing.” — Rollo May
99. “Communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity.” — Nat Turner
Great quotes can help motivate teams, inspire them to innovate, and get them thinking big. But quotes are just the start. For teamwork to make the dream work, businesses need the right combination of people, processes, and technologies.
It’s this team trifecta that puts companies on the path to success.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
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