45 Accountability Partner Quotes to Boost your Spirits

So you have a goal you're passionate about—you've mapped all the details out and decided which path you're going to take to achieve it. You're full of energy and start working on it but unexpected hurdles pop up and disrupt your momentum. That's when you begin to feel stuck and making progress seems like a struggle. How can you keep forging ahead? How can you ensure that you do the work you need to, week in and week out, without losing focus and enthusiasm or getting discouraged by lack of substantial progress? The answer lies in making yourself accountable, both to yourself and to others who can drive you towards success.

Taking the decision to be held accountable for your actions is not easy, and you may find many reasons to evade it. But what you should always remember are the benefits of getting accountability partners--support, motivation, seeking lessons from your mistakes and ultimately achieving all your goals. If you're still hesitant, remind yourself that all those successful people you've heard of accept accountability and encourage others to do it too!

To inspire some confidence, let's see what leaders, mentors, and experts around the world say about the need for accountability.

Quotes about Accountability

On the Need for Accountability Partnerships

"A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody."--Thomas Paine

"On good teams coaches hold players accountable, on great teams players hold players accountable."--Joe Dumars

"Good men are bound by conscience and liberated by accountability."--Wes Fessler

"Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable."--Umar ibn al–Khattab

“When people feel accountable and included, it is more fun.”--Alan Mulally

"On one side of accountability is courage, on the other is freedom.”--Jean Hamilton

"A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last."--Joseph Fort Newton

“When it comes to privacy and accountability, people always demand the former for themselves and the latter for everyone else.”--David Brin

“Accountability is the glue that bonds commitment to results.”--Will Craig

On Learning to Accept Responsibility

"It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of one's acts."--Mahatma Gandhi

"Accountability breeds response-ability."--Stephen R. Covey

"Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility."--Sigmund Freud

"Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off."--General Colin Powell

"Responsibility equals accountability equals ownership. And a sense of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or organization can have."--Pat Summitt

"When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his fingers are pointing at himself."--Louis Nizer

“Big pay and little responsibility are circumstances seldom found together.”--Napoleon Hill

“Accountability means to say what you do, do what you say.”--Pearl Zhu

”Leaders inspire accountability through their ability to accept responsibility before they place blame.”--Courtney Lynch

"Where there is no accountability, there will also be no responsibility."--Sunday Adelaja

"The price of greatness is responsibility."--Winston Churchill

“You can’t escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”--Abraham Lincoln

On Taking Steps towards Success

"Ninety-nine percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses."--George Washington Carver

“The first step toward success is taking responsibility for your actions.” – Mark Cuban

“You're going to mess up. So instead of trying to be perfect, learn how to be accountable."--Whitney Goodman

“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”--Moliere

“At the end of the day we are accountable to ourselves – our success is a result of what we do.”--Catherine Pulsifer

“The time is always right to do what’s right.”--Martin Luther King, Jr.

“My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”--Oprah Winfrey

"Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility . . . In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility.”--Michael Korda

“Take responsibility for your own greatness, no one can take that courage walk for you.”--January Donovan

“If you take responsibility for yourself, you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams.”--Les Brown

On Accepting Consequences

"Wisdom stems from personal accountability. We all make mistakes; own them... learn from them. Don't throw away the lesson by blaming others."--Steve Maraboli

"You can't change what you don't acknowledge."--Dr Phil McGraw

"Intentions do not insulate us from the consequences of our actions."--Jon D Harrison

"It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities."--Sir Josiah Stamp

“Accountability is about ownership, not blame.”--Simon Sinek

“Blame is the coward’s solution to his fear of accountability.”--Craig D. Lounsbrough

"Forgiving yourself, not guilt, increases personal accountability.”--David D. Burns

"The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it."--Lou Holtz

"If you can't stand the heat, you'd better get out of the kitchen."--Harry S. Truman

"Blaming, whining, deflecting accountability, risk aversion, and resistance to change are but a handful of symptoms of the adversity-beaten individual and organization."--Paul G. Stoltz

"There is only one real failure in life that is possible, and that is, not to be true to the best one knows."--Farrar

“Personal accountability requires mindfulness, acceptance, honesty and courage.”--Shelby Martin

“You fail all the time, but you aren’t a failure until you start blaming someone else.”--Bum Phillips

“When you think everything is someone else’s fault, you suffer a lot. When you realize everything springs only from yourself, you will learn both peace and joy.”--Dalai Lama

Final thoughts

Accountability is the secret of successful people. Find inspiration from their words to keep moving past the obstacles that keep you from manifesting your dreams.

Want to learn more about accountability? Check out some of our other posts:

How to Be An Accountability Partner

Why You Need an ADHD Accountability Buddy – And How to Find One

Why You Need An Accountability Partner App & How to Find One that Works for You