Welcome to our collection of Showing Up quotes, where we explore the profound wisdom encapsulated in the simple act of showing up. In life, success often hinges not just on talent or luck, but on our willingness to be present, to engage, and to participate fully in the moments that matter. Whether it’s showing up for ourselves, for others, or for a cause we believe in, the act of showing up speaks volumes about our character, commitment, and resilience.
Showing up isn’t merely about physical presence; it’s about being mentally and emotionally present, ready to embrace whatever challenges or opportunities come our way. It’s about summoning the courage to step out of our comfort zones, to confront our fears, and to be authentically ourselves in every situation. Each instance of showing up adds to the tapestry of our lives, shaping who we are and leaving an indelible mark on the world around us. As we navigate the complexities of life, these quotes serve as reminders of the power and significance of showing up, in both big moments and small. Now, without further ado, let’s dive into the wisdom captured in the quotes below.
It’s not easy not getting playing time, but you have to keep showing up and working your tail off to be ready. Kelley O’Hara
More and more, companies are realizing the value of their female consumers, and that’s showing up in the female-specific products they’re making, their marketing strategies, and even the feel of their companies internally. Gretchen Bleiler
Be a warrior when it comes to delivering on your ambitions. And a saint when it comes to treating people with respect, modeling generosity, and showing up with outright love. Robin S. Sharma
Major labels didn’t start showing up really until they smelled money, and that’s all they’re ever going to be attracted to is money-that’s the business they’re in- making money. Ian MacKaye
Seventy percent of success in life is showing up. Woody Allen
Showing up is like 90 percent of the battle, and just make sure your hair is really cute. Willam Belli
Acting is really about showing up that day and telling the writers what you feel like saying. Tina Fey
All I wanted to do when I was a teenager was get dropped off at a radio station – one of the ones I listened to – and watch how the shows worked. After a point it was about showing up and driving people crazy, driving the van to promotions and sneaking on the air. Ryan Seacrest
To me, self-care isn’t really shallow. Showing up for yourself, putting on a little moisturizer, can inspire so many different parts of your life. Jonathan Van Ness
I’m unfinished. I’m unfixed. And the reality is that’s where God meets me is in the mess of my life, in the unfixedness, in the brokenness. I thought he did the opposite, he got rid of all that stuff. But if you read the Bible, if you look at it at all, constantly he was showing up in people’s lives at the worst possible time of their life. Mike Yaconelli
I don’t have many people showing up at my door. Very few people come out. When they do, I get a little suspicious. I live way up on a hill, way, way back in the country. Robert Duvall
People are salaried for the work they do, not the specific hours they sit at their desks. When you ding salaried employees for showing up five minutes late even though they routinely stay late and put in time on the weekend, you send the message that policies take precedence over performance. Travis Bradberry
It is scary for me to do a film by directly showing up on the sets without any preparation. Kirti Kulhari
Once a teen has been identified as part of the ‘target market,’ he knows he’s done for. The object of the game is to confound the marketers, and keep one’s own, authentic culture from showing up at the shopping mall as a prepackaged corporate product. Douglas Rushkoff
I’ve tried open-ended jobs and found myself incredibly unhappy. I don’t like the monomania of showing up every day and doing the same thing. I don’t know where my next cheque is coming from, I don’t know where my next job is coming from, I have really sketchy health insurance, but I need variety in my life. Julie Klausner
I’m not worried about my WrestleMania dream. Trust me. I’m showing up at WrestleMania, and when I do, it’s going to be a problem for everybody. Samoa Joe
What I do miss is foreign travel, because there really is no substitute for showing up somewhere and representing the United States. Ben Rhodes
Nothing is better than showing up twice a week, acting like a 12 year-old for two hours, and then going home. Reid Scott
Success doesn’t motivate me as much as integrity does. Everyone loses. I enjoy the pressure of showing up every single day, being focused, putting forth my best effort, getting the best out of my teammates, and enjoying the journey. Becky Sauerbrunn
Most of life is showing up. You do the best you can, which varies from day to day. Regina Brett
Directing your first film is like showing up to the field trip in seventh grade, getting on the bus, and making an announcement, ‘So today I’m driving the bus.’ And everybody’s like, ‘What?’ And you’re like, ‘I’m gonna drive the bus.’ And they’re like, ‘But you don’t know how to drive the bus.’ Mike Birbiglia
A lot of people think it takes millions of dollars to give back or inspire, but just you showing up means a lot. Kyle Kuzma
This industry isn’t fair. It doesn’t owe anybody a career. It’s just about luck, determination, and showing up and being professional. The rest is out of your hands. Samuel Barnett
I couldn’t get that same feeling during the day, with my hands in dirty dish water and the hard sun showing up the dirtiness on the roof tops. And after a time, even at night, the feeling of God didn’t last. Frances Farmer
The first thing that came to mind when I met Tom Brady was intimidation. I’m showing up in 2005 with a guy who just came off his third Super Bowl win. So, it’s a little intimidating walking in the room with Tom Brady for the first time. Matt Cassel
In 2005, the Iraq war was entering its third year and no one believed that we were going to find WMDs any more. The prewar claims of their certain existence were becoming an embarrassing joke, a big present we’d been offered that was getting ever later in showing up. Jesse Armstrong
In showbiz sometimes, we’re a little disgruntled our budgets are low, sometimes our buildings aren’t that great and the sets aren’t so cool, and all of a sudden you have these security teams showing up poking around on set and you’re on high alert. Yannick Bisson
When you’re working on a film, it’s not theater; you don’t have a few weeks of rehearsal. A lot of times you are showing up on set, and you’ve never been to the place; you’ve never met the other actors you’re working with. Ben Schnetzer
I was always the new kid in school, I’m the kid from a broken family, I’m the kid who had no dad showing up at the father-son stuff, I’m the kid that was using food stamps at the grocery store. Dave Mustaine
Things will only improve when the people – all of us – say to authorities, ‘I will hold you responsible.’ We should all be showing up at city council meetings, lighting up every community with activism and mobilization. Erin Brockovich
If the baby is sick, you won’t find me showing up to play my gigs. If I have a contract, there is going to be a clause in that contract saying that if the baby is sick I will not appear. Phoebe Snow
I never went to high school. I never really finished eighth grade. I was kicked out of seventh grade once and eighth grade twice. Mainly for not showing up and not doing it. Then I went to an alternative high school for part of what would have been ninth grade and part of what would have been 10th grade. Chris Cornell
In Denmark, we’re making 20 films a year. If I’m showing up in even two of those, people will get tired of me really fast. Mads Mikkelsen
‘Be in’ is all about passion. Life is short. There are so many interesting things we can do in our life, and I feel like if someone is just kind of showing up, it’s not worth it for them or for us. Brad Garlinghouse
Showing up in the lives of children is everything. Greg Boyle
Racing is a funny industry. One week you can be going terrible and the next week you’re on top of the world. So you just keep showing up: I keep working harder to get more opportunities, but what do you do – that’s life. Michelle Payne
‘Justice League’ takes place in the past, and Aquaman has a lot more to prove. He’s just starting out. The perception is already beginning, and all these super humans are just showing up, and here’s Aquaman. The perception is, ‘What’s next? Now we’ve got a guy talking to fish. What can be next?’ Geoff Johns
With independent film, as an actor, you have more involvement – it’s very much more connected. It’s not just like I’m showing up and there’s another actor on the call sheet; you’re very attached to it. Alia Shawkat
Sometimes there’s a day where I don’t feel good being out in the world, and I feel unsafe in the world in general. And an anxiety about just showing up in the world. It’s kind of irrational, but people do say things to me out in the street about how I’m dressed. Ezra Furman
You can’t go around chasing your own plays and showing up every time somebody does one somewhere. You just cross your fingers and hope that they’re OK. Tom Stoppard
If you’ve worked in Australia, you can’t get away with bad behaviour like showing up late. We take our work ethic very seriously. Margot Robbie
Whether you like me or you don’t, I still dig showing up for work. John Cena
Eighty percent of success is showing up. Woody Allen
Being on a board is not just about showing up for the meetings. A board member needs to materially contribute to the success of the business. Scott Weiss
Any image I have, it’s just what I do, but it comes off as being very pretentious. When you’re a bit in the public astigmatism, anything you do seems like you did it so somebody would see you do it, like showing up at the right parties. Tom Waits
To be given the reins of creativity is a beautiful thing when you’re used to just showing up to a casting and standing there having clothes put on you. Erin Wasson
As you stop trying to forcibly manage the thoughts, beliefs and actions that arise from your mind and ask instead to be guided by a source greater than yourself, you will find a world of support showing up in surprising ways. Debbie Ford
People still struggle with this notion of gifted writers somehow being in touch with a higher power, but it’s all about showing up and doing the job, meeting deadlines, working hard. Laura Lippman
I remember how inspiring it was to meet players like Bobby Charlton or Bryan Robson when I was a kid. I still remember Clive Allen showing up when I received a trophy for my Sunday league team. David Beckham
The dirty little secret of foreign correspondents is that 90 per cent of it is showing up. If you can find a way to get there, the story, the reporting, it’s the easiest you’ll ever do. ‘Cause the drama’s everywhere. Geraldine Brooks
When I was on Broadway, people would really just recognize me around the theater. When you’re showing up on commercials and posters, the scope of people recognizing you gets a little wider. Dan Fogler
Vulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It’s tough to do that when we’re terrified about what people might see or think. Brene Brown
I organise jam sessions every month. We have an open session, so everyone knows about it, and we can get as many as 30 people showing up at the house. Somebody will play a tune, and everyone will pick up on it. My best friends are all musicians. Tess Gerritsen
Showing up at school already able to read is like showing up at the undertaker’s already embalmed: people start worrying about being put out of their jobs. Florence King
We’d just signed with Arista, the record company. Arista was freaking about the phenomenon of tapers showing up at our shows. They were insisting that we put an end to this. And we just didn’t want to do that. Bob Weir
I’m cynical by nature, but I am also very hopeful because I see people from the Left and the Right showing up to these tea parties. You have people, bikers, union members and guys in three-piece suits showing up to these things. Joe Wurzelbacher
To stay on the map you’ve got to keep showing up. Peter Gallagher
I sold a bunch of stuff. I sold Omaha Steaks, vacation packages… the worst, though, was Time Life Books, because no one wants Time Life Books. No one wants an ‘Encyclopedia Brittanica’ showing up at their house. Adam DeVine
I had many moments of disappointment, despondency, and exhaustion, but I always found that by reading the literature and showing up at my lab looking at the data as they emerged day by day and discussing them with my students and postdoctoral fellows, I would gain a notion of what to do next. Eric Kandel
Clearly, there are things a runner does, intentionally or not, that disrupt team cohesion. And there are also things a runner doesn’t do that can cause problems: not trying, showing up late, skipping team-building activities, and ignoring the coach’s instructions. Don Kardong
When it comes to scaring the bourgeoisie into showing up at the polls, nothing works better than negative advertising. Tucker Carlson
And there are so many people in the third world suffering so horribly right now, and we are so focused on ourselves and our culture that a lot of things are showing up in our culture that are making it impossible for us to focus on others. We’re so self-focused. Martin Sheen
I’m all about showing up for my friends, especially when they need me the most. Marsai Martin
I’ve made choices that work with my family. I want to work and I want to be with my family so I just walk the tight-rope of showing up for both those things. Helen Hunt
People have always painted me like a pessimist, like somebody who sees the glass half-empty. But I think the fact that I keep showing up and saying, ‘No, there must be a way for me to live in this world,’ that shows I’m an eternal optimist. John Grant
There’s obviously a group who enjoys what Tyler Perry is putting out there. And why fault them? And there’s a group that loves the things that Spike does. So they should enjoy that, too. Is it my taste? Maybe not, but I’m not going to fault anybody for doing what they’re doing as long as people are showing up. Wanda Sykes
When I’m hired just to be an actress, I don’t have to worry about anything else but showing up on set, making sure I know my lines and making sure I know what I’m bringing to the character. When I’m a creator and executive producer, I have to worry about the whole thing. Paula Garces
I worked at a hot dog place, a bagel place, the Jersey Store and the hottest fashion joint around. I was getting too famous to work there anymore. I was almost showing up as a joke. I made $2,000 on my show the previous night and I’m going to go shopping during my five-hour shift. Wale
My wife was born and raised in Italy until she was about 9, and then she came to America, and her mom was a great cook, and they have great recipes, and whenever her mom would come into town, we would have all these friends just randomly showing up at our house, and eventually we figured out why. They wanted Mama’s cooking. Bill Rancic
My version of a stress dream is, really, showing up on a concert stage with a drum set and not knowing the chart. Damien Chazelle
I really love showing up at work at 10 A.M., trying to make it funny until 3 P.M., and then going home. It’s like comedy bankers’ hours. Chris Eigeman
On reading the first part of Anthony Powell’s four-part masterpiece, ‘A Dance to the Music of Time,’ I was struck by one of the characters – an irritating peripheral character- who keeps showing up in the main protagonist’s life. Rebecca Pidgeon
There are some actors who are very good at developing things, who have… ‘things in the pipeline.’ I am abysmal at that kind of thing, loathe it, and am a terrible planner. Unless I’m showing up on the set and acting, I prefer to have nothing to do with the actual business of being an actor. James Spader
What’s wrong with trying hard and showing up and being good at your job? We really need to look at ourselves and say we need to reevaluate this. We need to reevaluate that women who ask for a pay raise or ask for a promotion – it’s actually an okay thing. It’s okay to be ambitious; it’s okay to be over-prepared. Jessica Chastain
I am continually pleasantly surprised by how many people are showing up at shows and are younger than our first record. Isaac Hanson
Perfectionism and procrastination have such a fine line. You say, ‘Well, I want it to be good. I want it to be perfect.’ But what you’re really doing is not doing your work. You’re putting off showing up and being visible because then you’re going to be judged, and it might suck. Jen Sincero
In poor countries, we still need better ways to measure the effectiveness of the many government workers providing health services. They are the crucial link bringing tools such as vaccines and education to the people who need them most. How well trained are they? Are they showing up to work? Bill Gates
It’s too bad that there aren’t as many light comedies around in the movies as there were when I was making pictures like ‘The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.’ The boys are just not writing them. Many writers are more serious now than they used to be, and that’s showing up in all phases of entertainment. Rudy Vallee
Musicians make up for the copies of their songs that get pirated by performing live. I don’t think there will be as many people showing up to hear me read as to hear Beyonce sing. We need to make sure piracy is dealt with effectively. Scott Turow
Lost In Space fans are going to get organized, because we’ll see them showing up in all the theatres. Mark Goddard
When I was a kid, I did dial the 900 numbers out of curiosity, but I was such a goodie-two-shoes that I immediately hung up because I didn’t want it showing up on the bill. Ari Graynor
I’ve never held out. I’m a first-class guy in any relationship. The first way of getting better is showing up, so I’m always going to show up and do my part and be ready to go. Antonio Brown
For many years, taking care of myself consisted of showering and showing up to work on time. Sleeping and eating were inconveniences at best. Jenna Wortham
If you talk in a way that is too dissimilar to the character, when people are showing up to see you talk about the show, often it seems like it’s jarring to them. Zach Woods
Those first big concerts we played as ‘Throwing Copper’ started to really reach people worldwide – I think we played our first big arena show at the George Estate basketball arena down in Atlanta. I remember showing up and standing on stage and just being like, ‘I can’t believe this is going to be full of people. This is huge.’ Ed Kowalczyk
I have a very strict regimen of showing up at my desk at a certain hour with my cup of green tea. It is very quiet. I don’t like having a lot of atmosphere around. Melissa Rosenberg
It’s extremely difficult and very challenging to be a woman in film and television. Just showing up in this business forces you to know yourself. But I learned how to deal with rejection and get tough when I was working as a model – it taught me how to put myself out there. In a way, my time modelling was a preparation for life. Carrie-Anne Moss
I’m 100% proud of the TV work I achieved. The work I did on shows on insects and Great White sharks… stuff that’s in school curriculums in England. Now they are showing up on Discovery Channel. John Lydon
I’ve got to keep showing up every day and putting in work. Julio Jones
There are amazing acne treatments and creams out there, but sometimes we’re just hormonal, and there is nothing we can do about our ‘friends’ showing up out of nowhere. Peyton List
I struggled with being in the public eye, losing my anonymity when my star rose quickly in the late 90’s. But I need the challenge of showing up and getting up there to spill my guts and connect with my loyal folks. Paula Cole
The issue is, you’re not going to have a lot of inflation showing up when you have no velocity. Rick Santelli
I was showing up at the studio all the time with no bag, being like, ‘I don’t want to have a backpack. I’ve had backpacks my whole life, and I’m a grown man now. I should have something better.’ Mike D
Look at my track record for showing up to fights. Look at my track record of finishing fights. Look at my track record of getting fight night bonuses. Ask yourself if you think that if the UFC decided to truly put marketing dollars behind me that they couldn’t sell me or my fights. Demetrious Johnson
Showing up is not all of life – but it counts for a lot. Hillary Clinton
When I was on the practice squad, it felt like I was just a guy who came in off the street three days a week to help actual NFL players get better. It was unsettling, unfulfilling and there were a few times when I wondered whether I would get my shot. But I kept showing up and kept competing. I was too stubborn to stop believing in myself. Danny Amendola
I just showed up at the Comedy Store. You keep showing up, and you keep showing up, and eventually, somebody notices. Joey Diaz
Physically, it’s getting impossible for me to travel that much. I want to support my artists by showing up at their openings, but I can’t always be in Hong Kong one minute and Geneva the next. Larry Gagosian
Culture is important. Wars are fought over culture. It’s not just about folks showing up and being hoity-toity. Culture is about definition. Irvin Mayfield
It has become an accepted tenet that kids will rarely listen to their parents but seldom fail to imitate them. Communicating the message has never been a good substitute for ‘showing up’ and embodying the message. Greg Boyle
