Career Advice from Movies


Movies are not only fun to watch but also they can teach you something. They are great at showing other people’s successes and failures in certain situations and help you learn from these.
  Therefore, as a working professional, whenever you need a break or some motivation, think about the below quotes and inspire yourself.

  1. “It isn’t what it costs; it’s what it brings you back.” (The Palm Beach Story, 1942)
  2. “Never do nothing you wouldn’t want printed on the front page of The New York Times.” (Born Yesterday, 1950)
  3. “The world is a market in which you buy what you want, not just with money but with your time. It’s an exchange – you give something and you get something.” (The Snows of Kilimanjaro, 1952)
  4. “Do or do not. There is no try.” (Star Wars, 1980)
  5. “Money is not the prime commodity in our lives, time is.” (Wall Street, 1987)
  6. “No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.” (Dead Poet’s Society, 1989)
  7. “It’s not about the paycheck, it’s about respect, it’s about looking in the mirror and knowing that you’ve done something valuable with your day.” (Dave, 1993)
  8. “If they can’t start a meeting without you, well, that’s a meeting worth going to, isn’t it? And that’s the only kind of meeting you should ever concern yourselves with.” (Swimming with Sharks, 1994)
  9. “Without struggle there is no progress.” (Higher Learning, 1995)
  10. “I cannot make these days longer, so I strive to make them better.” (Election, 1999)
  11. “You got to dress for the job you want, not the job you got.” (Head of State, 2003)
  12. “Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something”. (The Pursuit of Happiness, 2006)
  13. “The only thing to invest in is the future.” (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, 2007)
  14. “My number one rule is, ‘Hope for the best, plan for the worst.’ ” (The Bourne Ultimatum, 2007)
  15. “You know it’s not about luck, it’s about preparation.” (Leap Year, 2010)
  16. “Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.” (Jobs, 2013)

Are there any other quotes that you can think of? Let me know in the comment section below.

Picture of Ceren Cubukcu

Ceren Cubukcu

Ceren Cubukcu is a top 5 bestselling author of Make Your American Dream A Reality: How to Find a Job as an International Student in the United States. She recently founded her consulting business to help more international students find jobs in the US in addition to her self-service digital event ticketing platform, Etkinlik Fabrikam (My Event Factory), to offer her webinars. 

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