35 Online Learning Quotes to Inspire (2024)

Good online education quotes can inspire and enlighten; they can brighten your day and show you the way.

A memorable virtual learning quote can say something you’ve wanted to say but couldn’t quite put into words.

The best quotes can serve as a reminder or reinforcement; it can point to where you should be going.

But the problem with online learning quotes is that there are too many of them – for every nugget you find, you have to read ten tired clichés.

To save you time, we’ve hunted down 35 of the best-ever quotations for trainers,, instructional designers, and HR pros for every situation. And yes, you can quote us on that!

Quotes on Just-in-Time Learning

1) “You can’t teach people everything they need to know. The best you can do is position them where they can find what they need to know when they need to know it.” – Seymour Papert, MIT Mathematician, and Educator (Source)

2) “People will only want to engage if it is relevant to their needs or helps them solve problems.” – Jane Hart (Source)

3) “The students of the future will demand the learning support that is appropriate for their situation or context. Nothing more, nothing less. And they want it at the moment the need arises.Not sooner, not later. Mobile devices will be a key technology for providing that learning support.” – Dr. Marcus Specht, Professor of Advanced Learning Technologies, Open University of Netherlands. (Source)

4) “Instructional designers need to run, not walk, away from classroom-based thinking and get to the point of providing short, quick business-focused learning points that are easily accessible when and where our learners need them. This means leveraging new technologies to deliver non-traditional instruction.” – Karl M. Kapp, Professor of Instructional Technology, Bloomsburg University. (Source)

5) “If learning material is designed to be highly relevant and delivered in context, then it is likely to be useful.” – Charles Jennings (Source)

Quotes on the Importance of Engaging Learners

6) “If you want people to have fun, give them the day off. If you want them to learn, engage them with the content.” – Karl Kapp (Source)

7) “The number one factor in engagement is relevance because relevance drives out resistance.” – Clive Shepherd (Source)

8) “Boring e-learning fails to engage the learner’s mind, and without that basic motivation and action, nothing can happen even when the learner goes through all the required motions.” – Ethan Edwards, Chief Instructional Strategist, Allen Interactions (Source)

9) “When training is done well, doors open, skills development, and performance excellence yields personal and organizational rewards. People grow in ability, confidence, motivation and happiness.” – Michael Allen, Chairman & CEO, Allen Interactions (Source)

10) “Gamification aims to inspire deeper, more engaged relationships and to change behavior, but it needs to be implemented thoughtfully. Most attempts at gamification currently miss the mark, but successful and sustainable gamification can convert customers into fans, turn work into fun, or make learning a joy. The potential is enormous.” – Brian Burke, Gartner Group VP of Research (Source)

11) “Where my reason, imagination, or interest were not engaged, I would not or I could not learn.” – Winston Churchill (Source)

12) “The basic DNA of good learning experiences is trying to do something and getting feedback.” – Julie Dirksen (Source)

13) “The most profound words will remain unread unless you can keep the learner engaged. You can’t see their eyes to know if they got it so … say it, show it, write it, demo it, and link it to an activity.” – James Bates (Source)

Quotes on Self-Directed Learning

14) “Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.” – Leonardo da Vinci (Source)

15) “We complain that learners want to be spoon-fed, but then we won’t let them hold the spoon.” – Jane Bozarth, eLearning Coordinator for the North Carolina, Office of State Personnel (Source)

16) “In order to create an engaging learning experience, the role of instructor is optional, but the role of learner is essential.” – Bernard Bull, VP, Continuing and Distance Education, Concordia University (Source)

17) “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” – Xun Kuang, Chinese Confucian philosopher (Source)

18) “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” – Aristotle (Source)

19) “Stop thinking the answer to everything is to develop a course.” (Source) Jane Bozarth, eLearning Coordinator for the North Carolina, Office of State Personnel

Quotes on Lifelong Learning & Continuous Learning

20) “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” – Alvin Toffler (Source)

21) “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi (Source)

22) “The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.” – B.B. King (Source)

23) “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss (Source)

24) “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of thelifelong attemptto acquire it.” – Albert Einstein (Source)

25) “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo (Source)

26) “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X (Source)

Quotes on Leveraging Technology & Online Learning

27) “We need to bring learning to people instead of people to learning.” – Elliot Masie, Masie Center (Source)

28) “Training developers need to integrate technology seamlessly into the curriculum instead of viewing it as an add-on, an after-thought, or an event.” – Heidi Hayes Jacobs, Executive Director of the Curriculum Mapping Institute (Source)

29) “The Global CorporateLearning Management System (LMS) Market will grow by USD $12.48 Billion during 2020-2024.” – Technavio research (Source)

30) “In times where small instructor-led classrooms tend to be the exception, electronic learning solutions can offer more collaboration andinteraction with experts and peers, as well as a higher success rate than the live alternative.” – Keith Bachman, Corporate eLearning Executive, W.R. Hambrecht and Associates (Source)

31) “If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.” – R. Buckminster Fuller, author, and futurist (Source)

32) “There can be infinite uses of the computer and of new technology [in training], but if the instructors themselves are not able to bring it to the learners and make it work, then it fails.”- U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum (Source)

Quotes on the Importance of Employee Training for Business

33) “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.” – Zig Ziglar, Motivational Speaker (Source)

34) “Online learning is rapidly becoming one of the most cost-effective ways to educate the world’s rapidly expanding workforce.” – Jack Messman, former CEO at Novell, Cambridge Technology Partners (Source)

35) “An organization’s ability to learn and translate that learning into action is the ultimate competitive advantage.” – Jack Welch, Former CEO, General Electric (Source)

There you have it – 35 quotes about online learning, for your reading pleasure! If you have a good virtual learning quote to add to the list, be sure to share it with us.

In the meantime, if these eLearning quotes inspire you to learn more about how an LMS can supercharge your employee training, World Manager LMS is here to assist you. Some of the most respected companies in the world trust World Manager LMS.

Book a demoto learn how the World Manager LMS can streamline how your organization delivers employee training.