Can you motive students?

From Dear Auntie Siobhan at change.org:

In Quebec's high school system, like many others, it's very difficult for a student to fail a course, even if he doesn't fulfill all the requirements. So if there are no real consequences to doing what one likes instead of doing what the teacher asks, and if the benefits of doing what the teacher asks are not otherwise obvious, why would a student do what the teacher asks?...We can do everything we can to engage students: we can talk to them about what would help them individually, and try to meet them where they are. We can try to speak to their interests, to make learning "fun," and otherwise try to give immediate gratification to grab their attention. But there's no way to appeal to everyone all the time. Some students, sometimes, are not going to do the work. It's possible that years from now they'll look back and regret that they didn't try harder. It's possible that they'll look back and will see that they did in fact get something out of your course, although they didn't know it at the time. And it's also possible that they'll never think of your course again and will never believe that anything useful came of it. As teachers, we need to accept this. We do our best. We care about our students, we try to reach them where they live, and we try to help them in every way we can. In the end, though, we can't make their choices for them, and we can't take their choices personally. If our professional satisfaction is based on things we can't, ultimately, control, then sooner or later, we're going to have to leave the classroom.