I still remember standing in that musty middle school auditorium, wearing a cap that kept sliding off my head, watching my classmates attempt to look mature while secretly still carrying Pokemon cards in their pockets. The whole thing felt like playing dress-up in my mom’s heels – exciting but also terrifying.
Middle school graduation hits different. You’re caught between wanting to be taken seriously as an almost-high-schooler and still laughing at the word “assignment.” It’s awkward, emotional, and honestly? Pretty hilarious when you look back on it.
That’s why I’ve collected 75 funny and inspirational 8th grade graduation quotes that actually capture this weird, wonderful milestone. Some made me laugh until I snorted (very mature, I know). Others had me texting my middle school bestie at 2 AM with “DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN…”
These aren’t just random quotes – they’re the ones that get what you’re going through. The excitement, the fear, the “wait, am I supposed to know what I want to do with my life now?” panic. Plus some genuinely wise stuff that’ll make you sound way more put-together than you feel.
Growing Up Is Weird: Quotes About Growth and Change
Let’s start with the big feelings. Because honestly? Graduating 8th grade is like being handed the keys to a car you’re not sure you’re ready to drive.
Quote #1: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
This one always makes me think about those career day presentations where half the class wanted to be YouTubers. Dreams change, but believing in them? That’s the magic.
Quote #2: “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln
Basically, Lincoln was saying “stop scrolling TikTok and do something.” Wise man.
Quote #3: “Byby 8th-grade. Hello, high school.”
Quote #4: “8th-grade graduation is an exciting move from childhood to adolescence.”
Can we talk about how accurate this is? You literally wake up one day and you’re expected to have opinions about your future. Yesterday I was worried about who to sit with at lunch.
Quote #5: “Change is the driving force of lives and the key to unlocking growth.” – Jane Goodall
Quote #6: “Today is the first day of the rest of your life, and it’s starting now.”
Quote #7: “The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” – Oprah Winfrey
Quote #8: “Education is the key to unlock the world, a passport to freedom.” – Omar Bongo
Quote #9: “The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.” – Mark Caine
Quote #10: “The view from the top is nice, but the climb is where the real adventure lies.”
Growing up isn’t about having it all figured out. It’s about being brave enough to figure it out as you go.
Being Brave When Everything Feels Scary
Here’s the thing about 8th grade – suddenly everyone expects you to be brave about stuff that genuinely terrifies you. Like choosing electives that might determine your entire future (spoiler: they won’t, but it feels that way).
Quote #11: “If it seems scary, you must try it.”
This quote is basically my therapist in seven words. Still working on actually following this advice, but we’re getting there.
Quote #12: “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch
Quote #13: “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar
Quote #14: “Be courageous and bold to be your best.”
Quote #15: “It doesn’t matter how slow you go as long as you don’t stop.” – Confucius
Confucius would’ve loved motivational Instagram posts. This is basically ancient wisdom for anxious perfectionists.
Quote #16: “No force can stop you if you are focused on your path.”
Quote #17: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” – Ambrose Redmoon
Quote #18: “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela
Quote #19: “You can succeed when you are either determined or destined.”
Quote #20: “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
The courage thing gets easier, I promise. Not easy, just easier. Like learning to parallel park but for your entire life.
Friends Who Get Your Weird
Can we take a moment for middle school friendships? These are the people who witnessed your awkward phase and somehow still chose to hang out with you. That’s true love right there.
Quote #21: “The memories you made here will make you smile and cry at the same time.”
This hits so hard. I still get emotional thinking about lunch table conversations that felt like the most important discussions in human history.
Quote #22: “Crying because it’s over. Smiling because it happened.”
Quote #23: “School friends are the best because they know you from the inside out.”
Quote #24: “Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.” – Woodrow Wilson
Quote #25: “A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.”
I have a friend from 8th grade who still sends me memes that make zero sense to anyone else. She remembers my humor from when it was even weirder than it is now. That’s friendship.
Quote #26: “School pictures are everything.”
Quote #27: “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” – Victor Borge
Quote #28: “True friends are the ones who never leave your side even when you act like a fool.”
Quote #29: “The best time to make friends is before you need them.” – Ethel Barrymore
Quote #30: “Some people make your life better by being in it.”
The friends who survive your middle school phase? Keep them. They’ve seen you at your most chaotic and still think you’re worth their time.
When Everything Is Hilarious (Even When It’s Not)
Middle school humor is its own special category. Everything is either the funniest thing ever or completely devastating. Sometimes both at once. This reminds me of some of the will ferrell movie quotes funny moments that capture that same energy.
Quote #31: “I never knew snakes could talk until I came to this school.”
The shade! The drama! This is the kind of humor that makes yearbook committees clutch their pearls.
Quote #32: “Why fall in love when you can fall asleep?”
Honestly, this is still my life philosophy. Sleep is underrated.
Quote #33: “Middle school is kind of like Middle-earth. It’s a magical journey filled with elves, dwarves, hobbits, queens, kings, and a few corrupt wizards.” – Kimberly Dana
This quote made me literally laugh out loud in a coffee shop. The accuracy is unmatched.
Quote #34: “We all learn by experience but some of us have to go to summer school.” – Peter De Vries
Quote #35: “First day of school Wake up Come on. First day of school.” – Nemo from Finding Nemo
Quote #36: “I hear everything.”
The person who put this in their yearbook definitely sat in the back of the class and knew everyone’s business. Respect.
Quote #37: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” – Dr. Seuss
Leave it to Dr. Seuss to make profound life advice sound like a children’s book. (Which, let’s be honest, we probably still needed at that age.)
Quote #38: “Everything is funny, as long as it’s happening to somebody else.” – Will Ferrell
Quote #39: “When life gives you lemons, make some lemonade. Then, try to find someone whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.” – Ron White
Quote #40: “Sometimes you have to look reality in the eye and deny it.” – Garrison Keillor
Middle school taught us that humor makes everything bearable. Even the truly unbearable stuff becomes a good story eventually.
Dream Big (But Also Take Naps)
The pressure to have your life figured out at 14 is wild. These quotes remind us that inspiration doesn’t have to be scary – it can be exciting.
Quote #41: “Education never ends until you stop learning.”
Quote #42: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
Hockey wisdom that applies to literally everything. Want to join drama club? Take the shot. Want to ask someone to the dance? Take the shot. Want to try the weird lunch mystery meat? Maybe don’t take that shot.
Quote #43: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
Quote #44: “Spread joy and chase your dreams ruthlessly.”
I love the combination of “spread joy” and “ruthlessly.” Be kind but fierce. That’s the energy we need.
Quote #45: “It’s time to shine because it’s graduation!”
Quote #46: “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
Ancient Roman emperor dropping wisdom that would fit perfectly in a self-help Instagram post. Some things never change.
Quote #47: “Everything is possible for a man who believes in himself.” – Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum
Quote #48: “The best is yet to come.”
Quote #49: “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible!'” – Audrey Hepburn
Quote #50: “What if you fly?”
This is the question that changed everything for me. Not “what if you fall?” but “what if you fly?”
Wisdom That Actually Makes Sense
Sometimes 8th graders drop the most profound truths without even realizing it. These quotes capture those moments of unexpected depth.
Quote #51: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein
This should be printed on every report card. We’re all good at different things, and that’s exactly how it should be.
Quote #52: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Quote #53: “Growing up is a continuous process. Graduation can never stop it.”
Quote #54: “The biggest risk is not taking any risk…” – Mark Zuckerberg
Quote #55: “Don’t wait for delayed perfection. Continuous improvement is far better than it.”
This is basically the antidote to perfectionism. Progress over perfection, always.
Quote #56: “If there are no obstacles on the path, it will probably lead you nowhere.”
Quote #57: “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll
Quote #58: “The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say, ‘The children are now working as if I did not exist.'” – Maria Montessori
Quote #59: “A lot to be grateful for.”
Sometimes the simplest quotes hit the hardest.
Quote #60: “Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than trying to solve them.” – Henry Ford
Middle school problems felt huge because they were the biggest things we’d faced yet. But we learned to solve them, not just avoid them.
You’re Already Enough (But Keep Growing Anyway)
The confidence struggle is real in 8th grade. One day you feel like you could conquer the world, the next day you’re hiding in the bathroom because someone laughed when you answered a question wrong. These quotes are for those hard days.
Quote #61: “No one can help you if you don’t want to learn. Similarly, no one can stop you if you are determined and passionate.”
Quote #62: “You may have listened that nobody is perfect. But here is a perfect 8th-grade graduate.”
The sass! The confidence! This is the energy we all need.
Quote #63: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde
Quote #64: “Believe in yourself and you are halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Quote #65: “The best revenge is massive success.” – Frank Sinatra
For everyone who got picked on in middle school – Frank Sinatra gets it.
Quote #66: “You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anyone.” – Maya Angelou
Quote #67: “We can move mountains with strong determination.”
Quote #68: “I think we were born to conquer the world. Happy graduation!”
Quote #69: “The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. And the biggest risk is not taking any risk.” – Oprah Winfrey and Mark Zuckerberg
Quote #70: “Chase your passion, not your pension.” – Denis Waitley
At 14, most of us don’t even know what a pension is, but the message still hits. Do what you love.
Looking Back With Love
The final stretch of quotes is all about appreciation – for where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going.
Quote #71: “I am getting butterflies thinking of my bright future.”
This captures that perfect mix of excitement and anxiety that comes with any big change.
Quote #72: “One more step closer to my bright future.”
Quote #73: “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in realizing how far you’ve come.”
Quote #74: “You spent so many years of your life only on this piece of paper and a handshake.”
The humor in this one gets me every time. All that stress, all those late nights doing homework, and it comes down to walking across a stage for thirty seconds. But somehow, that thirty seconds matters enormously.
Quote #75: “Life is precious, and it’s a gift. Let’s make the most of it and cherish every moment.”
And there it is – quote number 75. The reminder that even middle school, with all its awkwardness and drama, was part of the gift.
Your Turn to Shine
Looking back at these quotes, I’m reminded of something my 8th grade English teacher wrote in my yearbook: “The best chapters are still being written.” She was right. Everything that felt so final and important in middle school was really just the beginning.
Whether you’re picking quotes for your own yearbook, helping someone else celebrate their graduation, or just need a reminder that growing up is both hilarious and beautiful – I hope these 75 quotes gave you what you needed. Some made you laugh (like that Middle-earth comparison – still brilliant). Others probably hit a little deeper than expected.
Here’s what actually matters: This moment, this milestone, this weird and wonderful passage from being a kid to becoming whoever you’re meant to be next. It’s worth celebrating. It’s worth remembering. And it’s definitely worth a few good laughs.
The quotes that stick with us are often the ones that capture how we really felt, not just how we thought we were supposed to feel. Middle school is messy and beautiful and completely ridiculous. Just like the rest of life, honestly.
So whether you’re the graduate or the proud family member cheering from the audience, take a moment to appreciate how far you’ve come. And if you need more reasons to laugh at life’s beautiful chaos, check out some of these talking behind my back funny quotes that capture the same spirit of finding humor in the hard stuff. Or dive into some senator john kennedy funny quotes for more proof that wisdom and humor make the perfect pair.
The next chapter is waiting to be written. And honestly? I can’t wait to see what happens next.
