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Exam Quotes

On tests, results, and the relief of being done.

These quotes capture the exam experience, from the relief of finishing a final exam to the unusual memory of receiving school exam results while cleaning out a pigsty. Students preparing for a test may also want our Wishes for exams.

My sense is that the wonderful technology that we have to visualize the inside of the body often leaves physicians feeling that the exam is a waste of time and so they may shortchange the ritual.

Quotes by Abraham Verghese

I've been in continuing education programs since taking my dance master's exam at age 21.

Quotes by Abby Lee Miller

So, being a good man is not an exam or a qualification, it changes, and it incorporates being a good friend, a good father, a good employee, a good boss, a good neighbour and a good citizen.

Quotes by A. A. Gill

You know that feeling when you finish a final exam and you think, 'I never want to do that again'? Well I have the same feeling when I finish a novel. Each time I say, 'I think I may retire...

Quotes by Wilbur Smith

Encouraging Quotes

From exam grading to health education to professional training to democratic participation, paths towards self-realization and success in the world are often daunting and obscure: journeys only the privileged feel confident setting off along.

Quotes by Tom Chatfield

I have always had dense, cyst-prone breasts, so I didn't think much of it when my OB/GYN discovered a lump on a routine physical exam in August of 2006. 'It's a cyst,' she assured me, and I believed her. Several...

Quotes by Susan McBride

As an overly confident college freshman, the first time I received a below-average score on an exam was a needed wake-up call.

Quotes by Stephanie Coontz

I passed the 11-plus, but it was decided that I should take the Common Entrance exam to Monmouth School, the nearest independent. I was never entirely comfortable there, as they didn't have girls, and they played rugby instead of football.

Quotes by Saul David

When I was growing up, the exam system didn't allow you to write fiction, so you never did.

Quotes by Roddy Doyle

Examination Quotes

Math was a two-part exam and I once didn't go for the second part. I knew I'd done so badly on the first it was hopeless. I re-took it about four or five times. I think I eventually got it...

Quotes by Rob Brydon

I am a 10th class pass in Hindi. From 7th grade to 12th grade, I was in Delhi; before that, I was abroad. I came in not knowing a word of Hindi in 7th grade and learned Hindi and passed...

Quotes by Raghuram Rajan

My recollection of the higher school certificate, which involved a practical exam in physics, was being confronted with an experiment involving a sort of barometer arrangement, wondering why I couldn't make it work.

Quotes by Peter Higgs

I was cleaning out the pigsty at a farm in Wales, where my mother had rented a room, when the results of my final school exam were handed to me by the postman, along with the news that I had...

Quotes by Nina Bawden

Education means teaching kids how to do stuff and how to think about stuff. Education is a pretty simple concept with a very clear way to measure results: you give some kind of an exam - maybe it's one of...

Quotes by Mike Gallagher

Examining Quotes

At eight or nine I passed the exam for Notting Hill and Ealing High, a private school. I had an assisted place; I was always the one who, for financial reasons, didn't go on the skiing trip or whatever.

Quotes by Konnie Huq

Schools are not exam factories for the rat race.

Quotes by Johann Lamont

I was told when I went for a life-insurance exam when I was 18 that I was not likely to live past 50, so I refused to pay the premium.

Quotes by Jeffrey Tate

There are lots of things going on for teenagers, with exam stress, changing friendship groups, becoming independent, and all those hormone changes affecting you.

Quotes by Emma Healey

I know that if I'd had to go and take an exam for acting, I wouldn't have got anywhere. You don't take exams for acting, you take your courage.

Quotes by Edith Evans

Example Quotes

I didn't pass the scholarship exam for Oxford because of poor mathematics.

Quotes by Derek Walcott

Frequently Asked Questions

What is this exam quotes page about?
It gathers quotes about the exam experience, from the relief of finishing a final exam to reflections on how exams fit into education and self-realization.
Why do people search for exam quotes?
Students and parents often look for exam quotes around test season for reassurance, motivation, or a relatable way to describe exam stress and relief.
What does the quote comparing finishing an exam to finishing a novel mean?
It compares the relief felt after a demanding final exam to the relief a writer feels after finishing a novel, both marking the end of a long, draining effort.
What is the story behind the exam results delivered by postman?
It recalls receiving school exam results while doing farm chores, an ordinary, unglamorous setting for what turned out to be a significant life moment. See our Status quotes for more on tracking outcomes.
What does the quote about exams as a simple measure of education mean?
It frames education as teaching people how to think and do things, with an exam offered as one clear, if imperfect, way to measure whether that learning happened.

Other quotes take a broader view, linking exams to education and self-realization, and comparing the measurable clarity of an exam to messier real-world tests of learning. Browse our Status quotes for more on tracking exam outcomes.