120 Famous Walt Disney Quotes to Inspire Greatness

Has your childhood been a magical adventure thanks to the work of Walt Disney and his company? If the movies have captured your imagination as a child, you will definitely like our list of famous Walt Disney quotes that make you dream big. And for even more, have a look at our huge list of magical Disney movie quotes.

Walter Elias Disney, who is better known as Walt Disney, was a pioneer of animated films and cartoons. He is best known for his famous cartoon character called Mickey Mouse, which became an instant sensation thanks to adding sound of music to the films. Along with his brother, Walt Disney founded the production studio that would become perhaps the most popular motion-picture production studio in the world.

“Here is the world of imagination, hopes, and dreams. In this timeless land of enchantment, the age of chivalry, magic and make-believe are reborn – and fairy tales come true. Fantasyland is dedicated to the young-in-heart, to those who that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.”
Walt Disney

Later on in his life, he would found the Disneyland theme parks, win eight Oscars with Snow White – his first full-length animation film – and would go on to win a total of 22 Academy Awards.

These Walt Disney quotes will inspire you to strive for greatness

Walt Disney and his company are known worldwide for quality entertainment and marvelous animation movies. What is not so well-known, however, is that Walt Disney was also quite an interesting person and had much wisdom to share.

120 Famous Walt Disney Quotes to Inspire Greatness

Despite being a rather shy person, Walt Disney was known as an outgoing and warm man. Aside from being a pioneer in the animation industry, he had interesting views on life, pursuing one’s dreams, and greatness. To help you save yourself a lot of time, we have dug up some of the most inspirational Walt Disney quotes that will motivate you to dream big. Some of these quotes show you the importance of the imagination, others encourage you to strive for greatness in life.

Enjoy reading this collection of inspirational Walt Disney quotes.

1.

“Some dream it, some do it, some do both.”
Walt Disney

2.

“Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it, they will want to come back and see you do it again, and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.”
Walt Disney

3.

“It’s fun to do the impossible”
Walt Disney

4.

“Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.”
Walt Disney

5.

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious,and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
Walt Disney

6.

“A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.”
Walt Disney

7.

“If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.”
Walt Disney

8.

“Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.”
Walt Disney

9.

“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”
Walt Disney

10.

“After the rain, the sun will reappear. There is life. After the pain, the joy will still be here.”
Walt Disney

11.

“The difference between winning and losing is most often not quitting.”
Walt Disney

12.

“Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy.”
Walt Disney

13.

“Animation offers a medium of story telling and visual entertainment which can bring pleasure and information to people of all ages everywhere in the world.”
Walt Disney

14.

“Our greatest national resource is the minds of our children.”
Walt Disney

15.

“You can be happy or you can be unhappy. It’s just according to the way you look at things.”
Walt Disney

16.

“Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.”
Walt Disney

17.

“The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it.”
Walt Disney

18.

“I am interested in entertaining people, in bringing pleasure, particularly laughter, to others, rather than being concerned with ‘expressing’ myself with obscure creative impressions.”
Walt Disney

19.

“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”
Walt Disney

20.

“The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique.”
Walt Disney

21.

“A good story can take you on a fantastic journey.”
Walt Disney

22.

“I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.”
Walt Disney

23.

“Good bye may seem forever. Farewell is like the end, but in my heart is the memory and there you will always be.”
Walt Disney

24.

“Somehow I can’t believe that there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.”
Walt Disney

25.

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
Walt Disney

26.

“Most things are good, and they are the strongest things; but there are evil things too, and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield him from reality. The important thing is to teach a child that good can always triumph over evil.”
Walt Disney

27.

“A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you’re fast asleep.”
Walt Disney

28.

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. „
Walt Disney

29.

“Sometimes I think of myself as a little bee. I go from one area of the studio to another and gather pollen and sort of stimulate everybody. I guess that’s the job I do.”
Walt Disney

30.

“Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating the talents of those who work for us and pointing them toward a certain goal.”
Walt Disney

31.

“We have created characters and animated them in the dimension of depth, revealing through them to our perturbed world that the things we have in common far outnumber and outweigh those that divide us.”
Walt Disney

32.

“Think, Believe, Dream, and Dare.”
Walt Disney

33.

“She [Cinderella] believed in dreams, all right, but she also believed in doing something about them. When Prince Charming didn’t come along, she went over to the palace and got him.”
Walt Disney

34.

“I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter. With the laugh comes the tears and in developing motion pictures or television shows, you must combine all the facts of life — drama, pathos and humor.”
Walt Disney

35.

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.”
Walt Disney

36.

“No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish will come true.”
Walt Disney

37.

“That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget.”
Walt Disney

38.

“Why do we have to grow up? I know more adults who have the children’s approach to life. They’re people who don’t give a hang what the Joneses do. You see them at Disneyland every time you go there. They are not afraid to be delighted with simple pleasures, and they have a degree of contentment with what life has brought – sometimes it isn’t much, either. °o°”
Walt Disney

39.

“I think it’s important to have a good hard failure when you’re young. I learned a lot out of that. Because it makes you kind of aware of what can happen to you. Because of it I’ve never had any fear in my whole life when we’ve been near collapse and all of that. I’ve never been afraid. I’ve never had the feeling I couldn’t walk out and get a job doing something.”
Walt Disney

40.

“Forever is a long long time and time has a way of changing things”
Walt Disney

41.

“When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.”
Walt Disney

42.

“First. think
Second. believe
Third. dream
Fourth. dare”
Walt Disney

43.

“Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.”
Walt Disney

44.

“Good bye may seem forever. Farewell is like the end, but in my heart is the memory and there you will always be.”
Walt Disney

45.

“You’ll be a poorer person all your life if you don’t know some of the great stories and great poems.”
Walt Disney

46.

“Everyone needs deadlines. Even the beavers. They loaf around all summer, but when they are faced with the winter deadline, they work like fury. If we didn’t have deadlines, we’d stagnate.”
Walt Disney

47.

“I do not like to repeat successes I like to go on to other things.”
Walt Disney

48.

“Fantasy, if it’s really convincing, can’t become dated, for the simple reason that it represents a flight into a dimension that lies beyond the reach of time.”
Walt Disney

49.

“I’ll be there someday, I can go the distance.
I will find my way, if I can be strong.
I know every mile, will be worth my while,
When I go the distance, I’ll be right where I belong. – Hercules”
Walt Disney

50.

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.”
Walt Disney

51.

“When I started on Disneyland, my wife used to say, ‘But why do you want to build an amusement park? They’re so dirty.’ I told her that was just the point – mine wouldn’t be.”
Walt Disney

52.

“Over at our place, we’re sure of just one thing: everybody in the world was once a child. So in planning a new picture, we don’t think of grown-ups, and we don’t think of children. But just of that fine, clean, unspoiled spot down deep in every one of us, that maybe the world has made us forget. „
Walt Disney

53.

“Get a good idea and stay with it. Dog it, and work at it until it’s done right. „
Walt Disney

54.

“You think the only people who are people, are the people who look and think like you. But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you’ll learn things you never knew you never knew.”
Walt Disney

55.

“Why worry? If you’ve done the very best you can, worrying won’t make it any better”
Walt Disney

56.

“I am a patient listener, but opinionated to the point of stubbornness when my mind is made up.”
Walt Dinsney

57.

“Laughter is America’s most important export.”
Walt Disney

58.

“But they say if you dream a thing more than once, it’s sure to come true.”
Walt Disney

59.

“I have no use for people who throw their weight around as celebrities, or for those who fawn over you just because you are famous.”
Walt Disney

60.

“Whatever we accomplish is due to the combined effort.”
Walt Disney

61.

“All you’ve got to do is own up to your ignorance honestly, and you’ll find people who are eager to fill your head with information.”
Walt Disney

62.

“Crowded classrooms and half-day sessions are a tragic waste of our greatest national resource – the minds of our children.”
Walt Disney

63.

“When will my reflection show who I am inside?”
Walt Disney

64.

“Remember, you’re the one who can fill the world with sunshine.”
Walt Disney

65.

“It‘s a mistake not to give people a chance to learn to depend on themselves while they are young.”
Walt Disney

66.

“I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained”
Walt Disney

67.

“I’d rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you.”
Walt Disney

68.

“If I ever do go back, there are only two subjects I would want to do. One of them is Beauty and the Beast. For the life of me, I can’t remember what the other one was.”
Walt Disney

69.

“I’m a damsel, I’m in distress, I can handle this. Have a nice day!”
Walt Disney

70.

“You’re dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway”
Walt Disney

71.

“I love the nostalgic myself. I hope we never lose some of the things of the past.”
Walt Disney

72.

“Here is the world of imagination, hopes, and dreams. In this timeless land of enchantment, the age of chivalry, magic and make-believe are reborn – and fairy tales come true. Fantasyland is dedicated to the young-in-heart, to those who that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.”
Walt Disney

73.

“I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse.”
Walt Disney

74.

“Adults are only kids grown up”
Walt Disney

75.

“I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known.”
Walt Disney

76.

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Walt Disney

77.

“But remember faint hearts never won fair lady.”
Walt Disney

78.

“I believe in being an innovator.”
Walt Disney

79.

“For every laugh, there should be a tear.”
Walt Disney

80.

“It is a curious thing that the more the world shrinks because of electronic communications, the more limitless becomes the province of the storytelling entertainer.”
Walt Disney

81.

“Children are people, and they should have to reach to learn about things, to understand things, just as adults have to reach if they want to grow in mental stature.”
Walt Disney

82.

“That’s what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.”
Walt Disney

83.

“Those who are clever, who have a brain, never understand anything.”
Walt Disney

84.

“To some people, I am kind of a Merlin who takes lots of crazy chances, but rarely makes mistakes. I’ve made some bad ones, but fortunately, the successes have come along fast enough to cover up the mistakes. When you go to bat as many times as I do, and continually improve upon your mistakes, you’re bound to get a good average.”
Walt Disney

85.

“Or heritage and ideals, our code and standards – the things we live by and teach our children – are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings.”
Walt Disney

86.

“Disneyland is like Alice stepping through the Looking Glass; to step through the portals of Disneyland will be like entering another world.”
Walt Disney

87.

“I just want to leave you with this thought, that it’s just been sort of a dress rehearsal, and we’re just getting started. So if any of you start resting on your laurels, I mean just forget it, because… we are just getting started.”
Walt Disney

88.

“Recession doesn’t deserve the right to exist. There are just too many things to be done in science and engineering to be bogged down by temporary economic dislocations.”
Walt Disney

89.

“Tomorrow will be better for as long as America keeps alive the ideals of freedom and a better life”
Walter Disney

90.

“Direct and easy communications—freedom of speech in all forms and its broadest sense—has become vital to the very survival of a civilized humanity.”
Walt Disney

91.

“I am not an economist, but things are not as bad as they seem. I have a great deal of confidence in our future.”
Walt Elias Disney

92.

“Deeds, rather than words, express my concept of the part religion should play in everyday life. I have watched constantly that in our movie work the highest moral and spiritual standards are upheld, whether it deals with fable or with stories of living action.”
Walt Disney

93.

“Americans are a responsive people and the ideas, the knowledge and the emotions that come through the television screen in our living rooms will most certainly shape the course of the future for ourselves and our children.”
Walt Disney

94.

“Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows.”
Walt Disney

95.

“‘Freedom’ is the most precious word to culture. Freedom to believe what you choose and read, think and say and be with what you choose. In America, we are guaranteed these freedoms.”
Walt Elias Disney

96.

“Summer Magic’… two words that go well together, because summer always means a certain kind of magic to most of us. In fact, I think almost everybody looking back remembers summer times more often than the other seasons.”
Walter Disney

97.

“To all that come to this happy place, welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America… with hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”
Walt Disney

98.

“Don’t just fly, soar.”
Walt Disney

99.

“I don’t want the public to see the world they live in while they’re in the Park. I want them to feel they’re in another world.”
Walt Disney

100.

“Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive. This facility makes it the most versatile and explicit means of communication yet devised for quick mass appreciation.”
Walt Disney

101.

“That’s the real trouble with the world. Too many people grow up.”
Walt Disney

102.

“I’m doing this because I want to do it better”
Walt Disney

103.

“Every child is born blessed with a vivid imagination.”
Walt Disney

104.

“We are not trying to entertain the critics. I’ll take my chances with the public.”
Walt Disney

105.

“It’s because I like you, I don’t want to be with you. It’s a complicated emotion”
Walt Disney

106.

“Inspiration for what we produce comes from reading, observing the world of humans around us and also the animal kingdom”
Walt Disney

107.

“In this timeless land of enchantment, the age of chivalry, magic and make-believe are reborn and fairy tales come true.”
Walt Disney

108.

“We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.”
Walt Disney

109.

“A man should never neglect his family for business.”
Walt Disney

110.

“We have always tried to be guided by the basic idea that, in the discovery of knowledge, there is great entertainment – as, conversely, in all good entertainment, there is always some grain of wisdom, humanity, or enlightenment to be gained.”
Walt Disney

111.

“I believe in being a motivator!”
Walt Disney

112.

“A whole new world is a dazzling place”
Walt Disney

113.

“Girls bored me – they still do. I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I’ve ever known”
Walt Disney

114.

“How could this earth of ours, which is only a speck in the heavens, have so much variety of life, so many curious and exciting creatures?”
Walt Disney

115.

“I can never stand still. I must explore and experiment. I am never satisfied with my work. I resent the limitations of my own imagination.”
Walt Disney

116.

“Let your heart guide you…it whispers so listen closely.”
Walt Disney

117.

“The film can never be the book. But what it can be—if we work hard—is what the book makes us feel. It can be those moments in the book that are everything to us, those characters that are everything to us. We can bring them to the screen with the same feelings and know and accept that we’re doing an adaptation.”
Walt Disney

118.

“Why would I want to be President of the United States? I’m the King of Disneyland.”
Walt Disney

119.

“The most important thing I said to myself was, ‘This is a film.’ I’m not just trying to put the book on screen. I couldn’t do that—I couldn’t do it justice.”
Walt Disney

120.

“The fairy tale of film—created with the magic of animation—is the modern equivalent of the great parables of the Middle Ages. Creation is the word. Not adaptation. We can translate the ancient fairy tale into its modern equivalent without losing the lovely patina and savor of its once-upon-a-time quality. We have proved that age-old kind of entertainment based on the classic fairy tale recognizes no young, no old.”
Walt Disney

I hope you enjoyed this collection of famous Walt Disney quotes. What is your favorite Disney movie? Let us know in the comment section below.

Stay victorious!