Managing Expectations: Wisdom Unveiled in 70+ Quotes About Expectations

Quotes about expectations serve as valuable reminders that expectations are the emotions we attach to ourselves and others, sometimes knowingly and other times unknowingly. It’s part of being human to have these hopes and anticipations.

However, it’s crucial to recognize that not all expectations are attainable or realistic. Pursuing goals or desires that are beyond reach can lead to disappointment and drain your motivation.

Life is a journey filled with a mixture of both joyful and challenging experiences, and it’s essential to understand that not every expectation can be fulfilled.

Our collection of expectation quotes offers wisdom and insight into how to approach life from a more realistic perspective.

Best Quotes About Expectations

#1

“High expectations are the key to everything.” ~Sam Walton

#2

“I don’t try to live up to nobody’s expectations. I just try to be me, be the best version of myself that I can be.” ~ Zion Williamson

#3

“There is no joy involved in following others’ expectations of yourself.” ~ Miriam Toews

#4

“Be the person your dog thinks you are.”

#5

“Lower your expectations of earth. This isn’t heaven, so don’t expect it to be.” ~ Max Lucado

#6

“Fate is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention.” ~ Amy Tan

#7

“There were two ways to be happy: improve your reality or lower your expectations.” ~ Jodi Picoult

#8

“Planting the trees of positive expectancy in your mind is the best way to reap a positive harvest in the future.” ~ Shivan Singh

#9

“Our limitations and success will be based, most often, on your own expectations for ourselves. What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon.” ~ Denis Waitley

#10

“If you align expectations with reality, you will never be disappointed.” ~ Terrell

#11

“Our expectation in ourselves must be higher than our expectation in others. ” ~ Victor Manuel Rivera

#12

“You can learn from a dummy. You can watch a dummy and learn what not to do. I’ve always been an observant individual.”

#13

“In order to win, you must expect to win.” – Richard Bach

#14

“We can’t appreciate good things without an awareness of bad.”

#15

“Our children can achieve great things when we set high expectations for them.” ~ Jeb Bush

#16

“Expectations are the root of all manner of disappointments as we know them.” ~ Samuel Zulu

#17

“Meeting expectations is good. Exceeding expectations is better.” ~ Ron Kaufman

#18

“If you paint in your mind a picture of bright and happy expectations, you put yourself into a condition conducive to your goal.” Norman Vincent Peale

#19

“I don’t have high expectations anymore. Maybe they’ve just been beaten out of me.” ~ Elisabeth Shue

#20

“When you learn to accept instead of expect, you’ll have fewer disappointments.“

#21

“You cannot hang out with negative people and expect to live a positive life.”

#22

“I am not in this world to live up to other people’s expectations, nor do I feel that the world must live up to mine.” Fritz Perls

#23

“People like to set the bar high. I like to put the bar on the ground and barely step over it. I like to keep the expectations really low.” ~ Kevin Smith

#24

“The secret to happiness is letting every situation be what it is, instead of what you think it should be.“

#25

“Don’t join an easy crowd; you won’t grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform are high.” ~Jim Rohn

#26

“Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations.” Leo Buscaglia

#27

“When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.” ~ Stephen Hawking

#28

“To live your life without expectation-without the need for specific results- that is freedom, that is Godliness.” ~ Neale Donald Walsch

#29

“If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed.” ~ Sylvia Plath

#30

“The quality of your life is a direct reflection of the expectations of your peer group. Choose your peers wisely.” ~ Tony Robbins

#31

“Expectations are a form of first-class truth: If people believe it, it’s true.” Bill Gate

#32

“To succeed in life and achieve results, you must understand and master three mighty forces— desire, belief, and expectation.” ~ A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

#33

“I’ve never lived my life by the expectations society puts on you. When something doesn’t feel right or isn’t going the way it should, I listen to my instincts and change it.” ~ Fatima Robinson

#34

“Negative expectations can never give you positive life.”

#35

“Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.” ~ Edward de Bono

#36

“If you’re going to say what you want to say, you’re going to hear what you don’t want to hear.” ~ Roberto Bolaño

#37

“The quality of our expectations determines the quality of our action.” ~ A. Godin

#38

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale

#39

“There’s a victory in letting go of your expectations.” Mike White

#40

“Show people how to have success and then you can push their expectations up.” ~ Lenny Wilkens

#41

“Expectations were like fine pottery. The harder you held them, the more likely they were to crack.” ~ Brandon Sanderson

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Quotes About Great Expectations

#42

“I hope you do not let anyone else’s expectations direct the course of your life.” ~ Julianne Donaldson

#43

“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but non about his or her own.” ~ Paulo Coelho

#44

“I always love to be careful with my expectations so that life has pleasant surprises for me.” ~ Sebastian Thrun

#45

“What makes earth feel like hell is our expectation that it should feel like heaven.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk.

#46

“Life was easier when you stopped caring, when you stopped expecting things to get better.” ~ Cora Carmack

#47

“We become what we believe.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

#48

“It takes courage to violate expectations but sometimes the reward is a new level of success.” ~ Donald Maass

#49

“What I have since realized is that if people expect you to be brave, sometimes you pretend that you are, even when you are frightened down to your very bones.” ~ Sharon Creech

#50

“Expect everything so that nothing comes unexpected.” ~ Norton Juster

#51

“Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event.” ~ Brian Tracy

#52

“Life’s under no obligation to give us what we expect.” ~ Margaret Mitchell

#53

“I’d rather be pleasantly surprised than fatally disappointed.” ~Julia Glass

#54

“It is easier to make our wishes conform to our means than to make our means conform to our wishes.” ~ Robert E. Lee

#55

“Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.” ~ Stephen Covey

#56

“Expectations determine outcome, always.” ~ Deepak Chopra

#57

“Expectations are dangerous when they are both too high and unformed.” ~ Lionel Shrive

#58

“Be realistic with your expectations. I’d like to cuddle a unicorn, but it ain’t going to happen.” ~ India Knight

#59

“The measure of a great life is whether it matches your dream.” ~ Marie Forleo

Quotes About Expect The Unexpected

#60

“If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn’t eat him.”

#61

“To expect to be kissed having bad breath is the secret of a fool.” ~ Dejan Stojanovic

#62

“The key in letting go is practice. Each time we let go, we disentangle ourselves from our expectations and begin to experience things as they are.” ~ Sharon Salzberg

#63

“Whatever you accept is exactly what you’ll get out of life.” ~ Ed Mylett

#64

“I suffer because my interactions with others do not meet the expectations I did not know I had.” ~ Jim McDonald

#65

“The trouble you’re expecting never happens; it’s always something that sneaks up the other way.” George R. Stewar

#66

“If you were easier on yourself, you wouldn’t be so tough on everyone else.” ~ Kate McGahan

#67

“You might not always get what you want, but you always get what you expect.” ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

#68

“What screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it’s supposed to be.“

#69

“If you expect great things of yourself and demand little of others, you’ll keep resentment far away.” ~ Confucius

#70

“It’s a funny thing about life: if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.” ~ W. Somerset Maugham

#71

There’s no straighter road to success than exceeding expectations on day at a time.” ~ Robin Crow

#72

“You cannot set clear expectations if the outcome is still unclear to you.“

#73

“I had found that taking risks, being true to myself, and making decisions with good intentions can exceed even my own expectations.” ~ Jennifer Lopez

#74

“When you have clarity of intention, the universe conspires with you to make it happen.” ~ Fabienne Fredrickson

#75

“One of the biggest killers of success is expecting to succeed… rather than working toward it.” ~ G. Boston

#76

“Raise the expectations and you continue to raise the results.” ~ Mike Ferry

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These quotes about expectations remind us that it’s okay to have hopes and dreams, but it’s equally important to be realistic in our outlook. Life can be full of surprises, both good and challenging, and it’s essential to adapt and stay positive.

By keeping our expectations in check, we can find greater happiness, reduce disappointment, and appreciate the beauty of life’s unpredictability.

So, remember these wise words as you navigate your journey, and may they guide you towards a more fulfilling and contented life.