191+ Motivational Dave Ramsey Quotes

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Updated: August 3rd, 2021

Dave Ramsey is a personal finance personality, American author, and popular radio show host.

He hosts a radio show on his name called "The Ramsey Show."

He is the author of many books, which also include The New York Times bestseller The Total Money Makeover, and also hosted a TV show on Fox Business for 3 years.

We've put together an incredible collection of Dave Ramsey quotes to read.

Here they are:

List of Inspiring Dave Ramsey Quotes

“If you don’t own the goal and it doesn’t come from your dream, then you won’t have the toughness to persevere when the going gets tough. And I will promise you that the going will get tough. There is never an exception—everyone who wins must push through obstacles, lots of them. You simply will not get up at dawn for your three-mile run because your wife wants you thinner. Big goals require big backbone—wimps need not apply.” – Dave Ramsey

“Parents who let teens run around with unearned adult freedoms are naive and stupid.” – Dave Ramsey

“The paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice.” – Dave Ramsey

“To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing.” – Dave Ramsey

“The German root word for ‘debt’ is the same as for ‘guilt.’” – Dave Ramsey

“Nothing happens without focus. Don’t try to do everything at once. Take it one step at a time.” – Dave Ramsey

“Fun can be bought with money, but happiness cannot.” – Dave Ramsey

“We learned early on that if we help enough people, the money will come.” – Dave Ramsey

“The enemy of “the best” is not “the worst.” The enemy of “the best” is “just fine.” – Dave Ramsey

“It is human nature to want it and want it now; it is also a sign of immaturity. Being willing to delay pleasure for a greater result is a sign of maturity.” – Dave Ramsey

“There is nothing wrong with having nice things, but when you are trying to buy nice things to be happy, you are going to hurt.” – Dave Ramsey

“Financial peace isn’t the acquisition of stuff. It’s learning to live on less than you make, so you can give money back and have money to invest. You can’t win until you do this.” – Dave Ramsey

“No one wins the superbowl accidentally. Be intentional, be passionate, don’t mail it in! You got this!” – Dave Ramsey

“Hitting bottom and hitting it hard was the worst thing that ever happened to me and the best thing that ever happened to me.” – Dave Ramsey

“Those who never make mistakes work for those of us who do.” – Dave Ramsey

“Just keep taking the next step and keep having excellence in the ordinary.” – Dave Ramsey

“Work—get paid; don’t work—don’t get paid. Everybody is on commission.” – Dave Ramsey

“The good thing about principles is that they make life easy. I have heard it said that when someone bases his life on principle, 99 percent of his decisions are already made.”— Dave Ramsey

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” – Dave Ramsey

“You must walk to the beat of a different drummer. The same beat that the wealthy hear. If the beat sounds normal, evacuate the dance floor immediately! The goal is to not be normal, because as my radio listeners know, normal is broke.” – Dave Ramsey

“I think the lie we’ve told people in the marketplace is that a degree gets you a job. A degree doesn’t get you a job. What gets you a job is the ability to carry yourself into that room and shake a hand and look someone in the eye and have people skills. These are the things that cause people to become successful.” – Dave Ramsey

“Hope is steel covered in velvet. It can seem soft and cuddly, but hope is at the core of what makes people become what God designed them to be. Hope and its sister, faith, always create action.” – Dave Ramsey

“The goal is to not be normal, because as my radio listeners know, normal is broke.” – Dave Ramsey

“People who change their values, their ethics, are not trustworthy and should be avoided.” – Dave Ramsey

“Repetition, volume, and longevity will twist and turn a myth, a lie, into a commonly accepted way of doing things.” – Dave Ramsey

“There’s a great place to go when you’re broke—to work!” – Dave Ramsey

“A lower interest rate doesn’t make a debt go away.” – Dave Ramsey

“Stupid is no illegal.” – Dave Ramsey

“It’s never too late to turn things around. You are the only obstacle.” – Dave Ramsey

“Seth Godin says, “Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” – Dave Ramsey

“Stupid is not illegal.” – Dave Ramsey

“That stupid saying ‘What you don’t know can’t hurt you’ is ridiculous. What you don’t know can kill you. If you don’t know that tractor trailer trucks hurt when hitting you, then you can play in the middle of the interstate with no fear—but that doesn’t mean you won’t get killed.” – Dave Ramsey

“True leadership is servanthood. Put the interests of others at the center of your decisions.” – Dave Ramsey

“For your own good, for the good of your family and your future, grow a backbone. When something is wrong, stand up and say it is wrong, and don't back down.” – Dave Ramsey

“A typical millionaire lives in a middle-class home, drives a two-year-old or older paid-for car, and buys blue jeans at Wal-Mart.” – Dave Ramsey

“Investing is important, but get debt-free first. That’s what frees up your income so you can win.” – Dave Ramsey

“Goals are visions and dreams with work clothes on.” – Dave Ramsey

“We want it all, and we can borrow to get it all before we can afford it all.” – Dave Ramsey

“Debt gives you the ability to look like you’re winning when you’re not.” – Dave Ramsey

“Someone who never invests money will never have any.” – Dave Ramsey

“Study the habits of the people you want to be like and then imitate them. If they are succeeding, they must be doing something right.” – Dave Ramsey

“Broke people giving financial advice is like a shop teacher with missing fingers.” – Dave Ramsey

“There is tremendous satisfaction in working your tail off to hit a goal, then winning. It is worth the work.” – Dave Ramsey

“A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” – Dave Ramsey

“Without a mission statement, you may get to the top of the ladder and then realize it was leaning against the wrong building.” – Dave Ramsey

“Pray like it all depends on God, but work like it all depends on you.” – Dave Ramsey

“Someone who never has fun with money misses the point.” – Dave Ramsey

“I believe that through knowledge and discipline, financial peace is possible for all of us.” – Dave Ramsey

“Twist and wring out the budget, work extra hours, sell something, or have a garage sale, but quickly get your $1,000. Most of you should hit this step in less than a month. If it looks as though it is going to take longer, do something radical. Deliver pizzas, work part-time, or sell something else. Get crazy. You are way too close to the edge of falling over a major money cliff here. Remember, if the Joneses (all the broke people) think you are cool, you are heading the wrong way. If they think you are crazy, you are probably on track.” – Dave Ramsey

“‘We are scaling down’ is a painful statement to make to friends or family.” – Dave Ramsey

“Measure your wealth not by the things you have, but by the things for which you would not take money.” – Dave Ramsey

“For your own good, for the good of your family and your future, grow a backbone. When something is wrong, stand up and say it is wrong and don’t back down.” – Dave Ramsey

“Children are sponges – they are going to absorb whatever is around them, so we need to be intentional about what surrounds them.” – Dave Ramsey

“If you invest $464 in a good mutual fund every month from age thirty to age seventy, you’ll end up with more than $5 million.” – Dave Ramsey

“Earning a lot of money is not the key to prosperity. How you handle it is.” – Dave Ramsey

“Get rich quick doesn’t work. Crock pot mentality always defeats microwave mentality!” – Dave Ramsey

“Debt is normal. Be weird.” – Dave Ramsey

“If you will do the things others won’t do, then some day, you will have the life others won’t have.” – Dave Ramsey

“Remember, there’s ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that’s to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.” – Dave Ramsey

“If you wouldn’t want your mother to buy the item or service then don’t sell it.” – Dave Ramsey

“You will either learn to manage money, or the lack of it will manage you.” – Dave Ramsey

“Your priorities, passions, goals, and fears are shown clearly in the flow of your money.” – Dave Ramsey

“MYTH: Car payments are a way of life; you’ll always have one. TRUTH: Staying away from car payments by driving reliable used cars is what the average millionaire does; that is how he or she became a millionaire.” – Dave Ramsey

“You must walk to the beat of a different drummer. The same beat that the wealthy hear. If the beat sounds normal, evacuate the dance floor immediately!” – Dave Ramsey

“At the end of the day we are not selling, we are serving.” – Dave Ramsey

“Humpty Dumpty is hard to put back together—and so is trust.” – Dave Ramsey

“Work is doing it. Discipline is doing it every day. Diligence is doing it well every day.” – Dave Ramsey

“We are being taught by everything around us to have dessert before dinner. Now we are paying for our lack of knowledge and discipline.” – Dave Ramsey

“Those who don’t manage their money will always work for those who do.” – Dave Ramsey

“The first step in taking control of your money is to stop borrowing money. Start using cash today.” – Dave Ramsey

“Work – get paid; don’t work – don’t get paid. Everybody is on commission.” – Dave Ramsey

“Act your wage.” – Dave Ramsey

“Someone who never has fun with money misses the point. Someone who never invests money will never have any. Someone who never gives is a monkey with his hand in a bottle.” – Dave Ramsey

“You should always be dreaming. Dreaming is a sign you have hope.” – Dave Ramsey

“You must plan your work and then work your plan.” – Dave Ramsey

“Typical millionaire lives in a middle-class home, drives a two-year-old or older paid-for car, and buys blue jeans at Wal-Mart.” – Dave Ramsey

“That stupid saying "What you don't know can't hurt you" is ridiculous. What you don't know can kill you. If you don't know that tractor trailer trucks hurt when hitting you, then you can play in the middle of the interstate with no fear - but that doesn't mean you won't get killed.” – Dave Ramsey

“Money is like a beautiful thoroughbred horse-—very powerful and always in action. But unless this horse is trained when very young, it will be an out-of-control and dangerous animal when it grows to maturity.” – Dave Ramsey

“The HSA (Health Savings Account) is a great way to save on premiums. The high deductible creates a much lower premium, and this plan allows you to save for medical expenses in a tax-free savings account.” – Dave Ramsey

“I like the way I’ve built wealth better than the way you haven’t.” – Dave Ramsey

“Work is a surefire money-making scheme.” – Dave Ramsey

“I do recommend that most people sell the car with the most debt on it. A good rule of thumb on items (except the house) is this: if you can’t be debt-free on it (not counting the home) in eighteen to twenty months, sell it. If you have a car or a boat that you can’t pay off in eighteen to twenty months, sell it. It is just a car; dynamite the logjam! I used to love my car, too, but I found keeping that huge debt while trying to get out of debt was like running a race wearing ankle weights. Get a Total Money Makeover, so later you can drive anything you want and pay cash for it. When it comes to that debt-ridden item, you may have to make the decision to live like no one else; but remember, later you will be living, or driving, like no one else.” – Dave Ramsey

“When I do something stupid with money and lose it, I call that Stupid Tax. I have paid so much Stupid Tax that I am expert.” – Dave Ramsey

“The number one problem that causes student loan debt? Parents that suck.” – Dave Ramsey

“Don’t buy things you can’t afford, with money you don’t have, to impress people you don’t like.” – Dave Ramsey

“Contentment may be the most powerful Financial Principle. You can give more, avoid debt, and live better.” – Dave Ramsey

“Money is 80% behavior, 20% head knowledge. It’s what you do, not what you know.” – Dave Ramsey

“That stupid saying “What you don’t know can’t hurt you” is ridiculous. What you don’t know can kill you. If you don’t know that tractor trailer trucks hurt when hitting you, then you can play in the middle of the interstate with no fear – but that doesn’t mean you won’t get killed.” – Dave Ramsey

“The enemy of “the best” is not “the worst.” The enemy of “the best” is “just fine.” – Dave Ramsey

“You can get anywhere if you simply go one step at a time.” – Dave Ramsey

“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.” – Dave Ramsey

“Humpty Dumpty is hard to put back together, and so is trust.” – Dave Ramsey

“A natural saver is great until he never spends and is tight-fisted with giving. A natural spending is great until she finds herself deeply in debt and unable to give. A natural giver is great until there are no savings when a problem arises and there is no personal enjoyment of money.” – Dave Ramsey

“You don’t build wealth with credit card rewards and airline miles. You can’t beat the credit card companies at their own game.” – Dave Ramsey

“I learned early on that work creates discipline, and when you have discipline in your life, you are a healthier person.” – Dave Ramsey

“Parents who let teens run around with unlearned adult freedoms are naïve and stupid.” – Dave Ramsey

“We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't .” – Dave Ramsey

“Good things that cannot be calculated or quantified are set in motion in your life and in your finances when you give.” – Dave Ramsey

“The weird thing is that the more efficient, on task, on goal you are with your time, the more energy you have. Working with no traction, or for that matter simply wasting a day, does not relax you, it drains you.” – Dave Ramsey

“People will not buy from you if they don’t trust you, your product, and your company.” – Dave Ramsey

“Broke is normal. Why be normal?” – Dave Ramsey

“I suggest a Money Market account with no penalties and full check-writing privileges for your emergency fund.” – Dave Ramsey

“Having children doesn’t make you a good parent, it means you had sex. That’s all.” – Dave Ramsey

“No one got rich on a government program. Do not choose to be a common man. You can be uncommon.” – Dave Ramsey

“The enemy of ‘the best’ is not ‘the worst.’ The enemy of ‘the best’ is ‘just fine.’” – Dave Ramsey

“Fear is the enemy of hope.” – Dave Ramsey

“Save 3-6 months of expenses in a Rainy Day fund. Know why? Cause it is going to rain, and you aren’t the exception.” – Dave Ramsey

“If hard work, integrity, thrift, and perseverance have caused you to succeed, then you don’t owe anyone an apology for winning.” – Dave Ramsey

“We have a retirement crisis in America today not from a lack of money, but from a lack of vision.” – Dave Ramsey

“What to do isn’t the problem; doing it is. Most of us know what to do, but we just don’t do it. If I can control the guy in the mirror, I can be skinny and rich.” – Dave Ramsey “Life is not a snapshot, it’s a filmstrip.” – Dave Ramsey

“Knock out a small debt first so you get a quick win. Momentum is key.” – Dave Ramsey

“Being willing to delay pleasure for a greater result is a sign of maturity.” – Dave Ramsey

“You can’t work three hours a week and make $100,000.” – Dave Ramsey

“If you wouldn’t want your mother to buy the item or the service then don’t sell it.” – Dave Ramsey

“You have the clean canvas of a whole week before you. Paint well.” – Dave Ramsey

“Debt is dumb. Cash is king.” – Dave Ramsey

“Children are sponges—they are going to absorb whatever is around them, so we need to be intentional about what surrounds them.” – Dave Ramsey

“Dreaming is a sign you have hope.” – Dave Ramsey

“I tell everyone never to take more than a fifteen-year fixed rate loan and never have a payment of over 25 percent of your home pay. That is the most you should ever borrow.” – Dave Ramsey

“If you’re married, agree on the budget with your spouse. This one sentence requires a stand-alone book to describe how, but the bottom line is this: if you aren’t working together, it is almost impossible to win. Once the budget is agreed on and is in writing, pinky-swear and spit-shake that you will never do anything with money that is not on that paper. The paper is the boss of the money, and you are the boss of what goes on the paper, but you have to stick to the budget, or it’s just an elaborate theory.” – Dave Ramsey

“Savings without a mission is garbage. Your money needs to work for you, not lie around you.” – Dave Ramsey

“Adults devise a plan and follow it, children do what feels good.” – Dave Ramsey

“One reason people make bad decisions is they don’t have a good decision as one of their options.” – Dave Ramsey

“The good thing about principles is that they make life easy. I have heard it said that when someone bases his life on principle, 99 percent of his decisions are already made.” – Dave Ramsey

“Disability insurance protects you and your family if you are unable to work by providing income which will help pay your bills and take care of your family. It’s just as important as life insurance.” – Dave Ramsey

“A budget is people telling their money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” – Dave Ramsey

“If you will do the things others won’t do then some day you will have the life others won’t have.” – Dave Ramsey

“You have to reach the point that what people think is not your primary motivator. Reaching the goal is the motivator.” – Dave Ramsey

“You can’t be in debt and win. It doesn’t work.” – Dave Ramsey

“Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else.” – Dave Ramsey

“Humpty Dumpty is hard to put back together – and so is trust.” – Dave Ramsey

“There's a whole generation growing up thinking...the government exists to care for them.” – Dave Ramsey

“Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds.” – Dave Ramsey

“Winning at money is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge.” – Dave Ramsey

“I would not pre-pay. I would invest instead and let the investments cover it.” – Dave Ramsey

“There’s not a party, a congressman, a senator, etc. elected that will fix your life. YOU have to fix YOUR life.” – Dave Ramsey

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” – Dave Ramsey

“You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you.” – Dave Ramsey

“You will only sacrifice when you passionately believe in the outcome.” – Dave Ramsey

“Where you are today is the sum of every choice you’ve ever made. If you don’t like where you are, start making different choices!” – Dave Ramsey

“We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.” – Dave Ramsey

“What you don’t know can kill you. If you don’t know that tractor trailer trucks hurt when hitting you, then you can play in the middle of the interstate with no fear – but that doesn’t mean you won’t get killed.” – Dave Ramsey

“Change is painful. Few people have the courage to seek out change. Most people won’t change until the pain of where they are exceeds the pain of change.” – Dave Ramsey

“Without a mission statement, you may get to the top of the ladder and then realize it was leaning against the wrong building!” – Dave Ramsey

“There’s a great place to go when you’re broke – to work!” – Dave Ramsey

“Live no else today, so you can live no else tomorrow.” – Dave Ramsey

“Credit is an ‘I love debt’ score.” – Dave Ramsey

“If you will make the sacrifices now that most people aren’t willing to make, later on you will be able to live as those folks will never be able to live.” – Dave Ramsey

“We live in a culture full of hares; but the tortoise always wins.” – Dave Ramsey

“Don’t medicate dysfunction with spending. No amount of stuff will get rid of guilt.” – Dave Ramsey

“I suggest a Money Market account with no penalties and full check-writing privileges for your emergency fund. — Dave Ramsey

“If you help enough people, you don’t have to worry about money.”— Dave Ramsey

“A little bit of controlled pain when you’re six will change your life when you’re thirty-six.” – Dave Ramsey

“You must walk to the bear of a different drummer. The same bear that the wealthy hear. If the beat sounds normal, evacuate the dance floor immediately! The goal is to not be normal, because as my radio listeners know, normal is broke.” – Dave Ramsey

“There are no shortcuts when it comes to getting out of debt.” – Dave Ramsey

“Debt is not a tool; it is a method to make banks wealthy, not you. The borrower truly is slave to the lender.” – Dave Ramsey

“Debt is normal! So why be normal?” – Dave Ramsey

“Doing a budget means learning an ancient and powerful word: NO.” – Dave Ramsey

“The love of money, not money, is root of all evil.” – Dave Ramsey

“The average millionaire can’t tell you who got thrown off the island last night.” – Dave Ramsey

“No one wins the Super Bowl accidentally. Be intentional. Be Passionate. Don’t mail it in! You got this!” – Dave Ramsey

“If I loan money to a friend or relative, the relationship will be strained or destroyed. The only relationship that would be enhanced is the kind resulting from one party being the master and the other party a servant.” – Dave Ramsey

“You must sell benefits, not products.” – Dave Ramsey

“If you will live no one else, later you can live no one else.” – Dave Ramsey

“One definition of maturity is learning to delay pleasure.” – Dave Ramsey

“As you will it, so shall it be.” – Dave Ramsey

“Rich isn’t an amount of money, it’s a mindset about how you live. If you believe you can win, you can.” – Dave Ramsey

“Your money needs to work for you, not lie around you.” – Dave Ramsey

“Pray it all depends on God, but work it all depends on you.” – Dave Ramsey

“A year of intense exercise and watching what you eat will ly change the trajectory of your life physically. You will melt away fat, tone up muscle, feel better, and change your habits, ly for life. But only ten days of that exercise program won’t move the needle on the scale. To create big-time success you have to stay focused and stay intense over an extended period of time.” – Dave Ramsey

“Winning at money is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge. What to do isn’t the problem; doing it is. Most of us know what to do, but we just don’t do it. If I can control the guy in the mirror, I can be skinny and rich.” – Dave Ramsey

“The lottery is a tax on poor people and on people who can’t do math. Rich people and smart people would be in the line if the lottery were a real wealth-building tool, but the truth is that the lottery is a rip-off instituted by our government. This is not a moral position; it is a mathematical, statistical fact. Studies show that the zip codes that spend four times what anyone else does on lottery tickets are those in lower-income parts of town. The lottery, or gambling of any kind, offers false hope, not a ticket out.” – Dave Ramsey “Savings without a mission is garbage.” – Dave Ramsey

“Delegation requires the willingness to pay for short term failures in order to gain long term competency.” – Dave Ramsey

“The accountability of a group environment causes people to change their behaviors.” – Dave Ramsey

“Your greatest asset is your paycheck.” – Dave Ramsey

“I tell everyone never to take more than a fifteen-year fixed-rate loan, and never have a payment of over 25 percent of your take-home pay. That is the most you should ever borrow.” – Dave Ramsey

“Every person falls down at some point. Successful people choose to get back up!” – Dave Ramsey

“I finally realized that results are generated by activities. If I manage my activities then the results I want occur.” – Dave Ramsey

“Aristotle once said, “To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing.” – Dave Ramsey

“Bosses push, Leaders pull. Real leadership is servant leadership.” – Dave Ramsey

“Success is a pile of failure that you are standing on.” – Dave Ramsey

“When getting help with money, whether it is insurance, real estate or investments you should always look for a person with the heart of a teacher, not the heart of a salesman.” – Dave Ramsey

“Without a mission statement, you may get to the top of the ladder and then realize it was leaning against the wrong building! > “- Dave Ramsey

“Requiring nothing of a child gives them no opportunity for failure or success.” – Dave Ramsey

“For your own good, for the good of your family and your future, grow a backbone. When something is wrong, stand up and say it is wrong, and don’t back down.” – Dave Ramsey

“Money is not good or evil. It has no morals or intentions on its own. Money reflects the character of the user.” – Dave Ramsey

“If you keep doing the same things, you will keep getting the same results. You are where you are now financially as a sum total of the decisions you’ve made to this point.” – Dave Ramsey

“Making mistakes and learning from them is crucial to winning.” – Dave Ramsey

“So content people may not have the best of everything, but they make the best of everything. That is who you want your children to be.” – Dave Ramsey

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Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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