We all need a little push sometimes, something that lifts our spirits and reminds us why we started chasing our goals in the first place. Whether you’re working toward a big dream, building new habits, or simply trying to stay positive, the right words can make all the difference.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of 130 inspirational quotes for living a better life. These powerful words from leaders, writers, and thinkers are here to encourage you, fuel your motivation, and help you stay focused on the path ahead.
Inspirational Quotes to Motivate & Inspire You
1. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ― Thomas A. Edison
2. “First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you.” ― Nicholas Klein
3. “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” ― L.M. Montgomery
4. “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” ― Marilyn Monroe
5. “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” ― Oscar Wilde
6. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…” ― Dr. Seuss
7. “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!” ― Audrey Hepburn
8. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ― Margaret Mead
9. “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
10. “I can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.” ― Herbert Bayard Swope
11. “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” ― Lance Armstrong Sally Jenkins
12. “Take responsibility of your own happiness, never put it in other people’s hands.” ― Roy T. Bennett
13. “Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.” ― Roy T. Bennett
14. “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
15. “I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.” ― Maya Angelou
16. “Life is too short to waste your time on people who don’t respect, appreciate, and value you.” ― Roy T. Bennett
17. “It’s only after you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform.” ― Roy T. Bennett
18. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
19. “You cannot control the behavior of others, but you can always choose how you respond to it.” ― Roy T. Bennett
20. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson
21. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ― George Bernard Shaw
22. “None but ourselves can free our minds.” ― Bob Marley
23. “Pursue what catches your heart, not what catches your eyes.” ― Roy T. Bennett
24. “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” ― Walt Disney
25. “It isn’t where you came from. It’s where you’re going that counts.” — Ella Fitzgerald
26. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” — Robert H. Schuller
27. “You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script.” — Oprah Winfrey
28. “One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.” — Michelle Obama
29. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” — Zig Ziglar
30. “You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens.” — Mandy Hale
31. “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” ― John A. Shedd
32. “Remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” — Henry Ford
33. “Limit your ‘always’ and your ‘nevers.'” — Amy Poehler
34. “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” — Henry Ford
35. “Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
36. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt
37. “Do or do not. There is no try.” —Yoda
38. 1. “I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” — Stephen Covey
39. “It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” ― Lewis Carroll
40. “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” ― Haruki Murakami
41. “Once you face your fear, nothing is ever as hard as you think.” — Olivia Newton-John
42. “Whatever you are, be a good one.” ― Abraham Lincoln
43. “If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.” ― Rick Riordan
44. “Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” ― Roy T. Bennett
45. “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” ― Paulo Coelho
46. “What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” ― Maya Angelou
47. “You can’t live your life for other people. You’ve got to do what’s right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.” ― Nicholas Sparks
48. “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” ― Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
49. “Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine.” ― Roy T. Bennett
50. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” ― Oscar Wilde
51. “Attitude is the ‘little’ thing that makes a big difference.” — Winston Churchill
52. “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
53. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
54. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
55. “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” — Michael Jordan
56. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” — Mark Twain
57. “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” ― St. Francis Of Assisi
58. “Follow your heart, listen to your inner voice, stop caring about what others think.” ― Roy T. Bennett
59. “No amount of regretting can change the past, and no amount of worrying can change the future.” ― Roy T. Bennett
60. “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” ― H. Jackson Brown Jr.
61. “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs
62. “If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?” ― Rumi
63. “Though nobody can go back and make a new beginning… Anyone can start over and make a new ending.” ― Chico Xavier
64. “Do not fear failure but rather fear not trying.” ― Roy T. Bennett
65. “You see things; you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?” ― George Bernard Shaw
66. “When people don’t express themselves, they die one piece at a time.” ― Laurie Halse Anderson
67. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” ― Alice Walker
68. “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” ― Dalai Lama XIV
69. “Always do what you are afraid to do.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
70. “The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself.” ― C. JoyBell C.
71. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” ― Confucius
72. “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” ― Will Rogers
73. “Go on with what your heart tells you, or you will lose all.” ― Rick Riordan
74. 1. “Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.” ― Paulo Coelho, Brida
75. “Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.” ― Zig Ziglar
76. “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” ― Dalai Lama XIV
77. 1. “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” ― Abraham Lincoln
78. “Sometimes you have to lose all you have to find out who you truly are.” ― Roy T. Bennett
79. “To shine your brightest light is to be who you truly are.” ― Roy T. Bennett
80. “Let the improvement of yourself keep you so busy that you have no time to criticize others.” ― Roy T. Bennett
81. “We accept the love we think we deserve.” ― Stephen Chbosky
82. “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.” ― Marilyn Monroe
83. “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” ― Norman Vincent Peale
84. “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ― George Eliot
85. “Just because you fail once, doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don’t, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life’s a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.” ― Marilyn Monroe
86. “Everything you can imagine is real.” ― Pablo Picasso
87. “Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” ― Shel Silverstein
88. “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” ― Paulo Coelho
89. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ― Marianne Williamson
90. “Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.” ― Walt Whitman
91. “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
92. “Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.” ― Moliere
93. “Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself.” ― Roy T. Bennett
94. “Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it!” ― Maya Angelou
95. “The higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
96. “If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.” ― Nora Roberts
97. “I figured something out. The future is unpredictable.” ― John Green
98. “The best way out is always through” — Robert Frost
99. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life” — Steve Jobs
100. “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
101. “You never fail until you stop trying.” ― Albert Einstein
102. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” —William James
103. “Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” —Madam C.J. Walker
104. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” —Thomas Edison
105. “The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity.” —Amelia Earhart
106. “Don’t be afraid of your fears. They’re not there to scare you. They’re there to let you know that something is worth it.” ― C. JoyBell C.
107. “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” — Michael Altshuler
108. “It is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.” — Queen Elizabeth II
109. “If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you, you haven’t done much today.” —Mikhail Gorbachev
110. “If my mind can conceive it, if my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it.” — Muhammad Ali
111. “You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?” ― Rumi
112. “Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination” — Mae Jemison
113. “We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” — Ronald Reagan
114. “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” — Booker T. Washington
115. “Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.” — Maya Angelou
116. “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” — Carol Burnett
117. “All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them.” — Walt Disney
118. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” — Henry David Thoreau
119. “There is nothing impossible to they who will try.” — Alexander the Great
120. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
121. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ― Winston S. Churchill
122. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” — Billie Jean King
123. “Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.” — Oprah Winfrey
124. “I have learned not to allow rejection to move me.” — Cicely Tyson
125. “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
126. “Always work hard and have fun in what you do because I think that’s when you’re more successful. You have to choose to do it.” — Simone Biles
127. “You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” ― A.A. Milne
128. “Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.” ― Roy T. Bennett
129. “Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (…) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.” ― John Green
130. “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” — Esteé Lauder
131. “It’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” — Lewis Caroll
Success doesn’t happen overnight, it’s built through persistence, courage, and the belief that you can keep going even when things get tough. Whenever you feel stuck or discouraged, let these inspirational quotes remind you of your strength and potential.
Keep this list close, revisit it often, and let each quote push you one step closer to the success you’re working for. Sometimes, all it takes is a few powerful words to spark a big change.
Save these inspirational quotes and come back to them whenever you need a boost!
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