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Progress Quotes

Words on moving forward, one step at a time.

This page gathers quotes on progress in its widest sense - from the slow, hard-won steps of social reform to the ambitions of politicians who say they champion it. Some voices here are hopeful; others question whether it is happening at all. Readers who like this theme often check out Change as well.

Movement isn't progress.

Quotes by Thomas Leonard

Whenever an individual or a business decides that success has been attained, progress stops.

Quotes by Thomas J. Watson

Once an organization loses its spirit of pioneering and rests on its early work, its progress stops.

Quotes by Thomas J. Watson

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

Thomas Jefferson

We owe it to the American people to set aside the areas where our ideology may prevent progress and find common ground where there are plenty of opportunities to produce good results.

Quotes by Thom Tillis

When you have incidences like the Trayvon Martin verdict, the erosion of certain fundamental rights like voting, it just reminds us that we're always one Supreme Court justice vote away from losing the progress that has been made.

Quotes by Terri Sewell

We're all of us guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress.

Quotes by Tennessee Williams

All of us are guinea pigs in the laboratory of God. Humanity is just a work in progress.

Quotes by Tennessee Williams

Over the years, I have worked on programs in Africa and around the globe to combat malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV. I have been witness to incredible progress in these fights.

Quotes by Tedros Adhanom

During my tenure as Minister of Health of Ethiopia from 2005 to 2012, we achieved tremendous progress in tackling the many infectious diseases prevalent in resource-poor countries such as my own.

Quotes by Tedros Adhanom

Remember, social progress only happens when those in society's privileged classes choose to give up their status.

Quotes by Tammy Bruce

Spencer's god was Evolution, sometimes also called Progress.

Quotes by Talcott Parsons

Continued public and private sector partnership with multilateral and bilateral organizations to support policies that encourage the proliferation of broadband access is essential if Afghanistan is to see the kind of social and economic progress its people deserve.

Quotes by Tae Yoo

Progress to reduce hunger is being made by tackling both the cause and the consequences of extreme poverty and famine.

Quotes by Tae Yoo

The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality.

Quotes by T. S. Eliot

The greatest enemy of progress is not stagnation, but false progress.

Quotes by Sydney J. Harris

When I did my first media interviews after I was announced as a team principal, the first question was, what qualifies you for the job? The second question was, did your husband place you in the role? And the third...

Quotes by Susie Wolff

Modern invention has banished the spinning wheel, and the same law of progress makes the woman of today a different woman from her grandmother.

Quotes by Susan B. Anthony

The normal metric of measuring progress has actually been the rate of growth, OK? It’s not a wrong metric, but it’s not a full metric.

Quotes by Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

Here is the difference, nationalism has a certain connotation in Europe, which is not necessarily positive, but I think in Asia, nationalism is seen very much as a sort of natural corollary to economic progress, almost like you're independent, you...

Quotes by Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

Frequently Asked Questions

What do the "progress" quotes on this page focus on?
These quotes look at progress from several different angles - from a historical, high-cost view ("Every step of progress the world has made has been from scaffold to scaffold, and from stake to stake") to political ambition and personal belief. It's not one narrow theme; it spans history, national politics, and personal conviction.
Does the page include quotes about political progress?
Yes. One quote is a politician's personal reflection on their father, "one of the leaders of the Iraqi Democratic Party, who believed in progress." Another sample post shares a speaker's own critical assessment of how much progress was being made in Iraq at the time - that assessment is presented in the quote as the speaker's opinion, not as an established fact.
Is there a quote about bringing "progressive" issues to a national stage?
Yes, one sample quote comes from a speaker discussing progress and progressive issues they were tackling locally, in Miramar, with the stated ambition of taking those issues nationally - presented as that speaker's own political goal, not a neutral fact.
What's a well-known standalone line about progress from this collection?
One of the most quotable lines here is "Every step of progress the world has made has been from scaffold to scaffold, and from stake to stake" - a stark way of framing how much progress has often cost throughout history.
Where can I find more quotes related to progress and change?
If you enjoyed these, you may also like our Change and New quotes pages, which explore related ideas about moving forward and starting fresh.

Because progress means something different depending on who is speaking - a reformer, a candidate, or a skeptic watching a distant conflict unfold - this set stays broad rather than picking one definition. For related reading, browse Good or More.