Inspirational quotes have the power to motivate, uplift, and provide perspective on life’s challenges and joys.
Here is a collection of 101 thought-provoking quotes about life, curated to inspire and encourage.
These words of wisdom come from a diverse range of sources, including philosophers, writers, leaders, and thinkers from various walks of life.
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
“Get busy living or get busy dying.”
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”
“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”
“Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there.”
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
“Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.”
“If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.”
“The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.”
“In order to write about life first you must live it.”
“The big lesson in life is never be scared of anyone or anything.”
“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.”
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
“Turn your wounds into wisdom.”
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
“Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as you can.”
“Don’t settle for what life gives you; make life better and build something.”
“Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet.”
“Life is a long lesson in humility.”
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”
“Love the life you live. Live the life you love.”
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
“Life is made of ever so many partings welded together.”
“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
“Life is trying things to see if they work.”
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.”
“The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well.”
“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”
“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
“I never dreamed about success, I worked for it.”
“Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.”
“Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember–the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you.”
“I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.”
“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really: Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you will find success.”
“I don’t go by the rule book… I lead from the heart, not the head.”
“People who succeed have momentum. The more they succeed, the more they want to succeed, and the more they find a way to succeed. Similarly, when someone is failing, the tendency is to get on a downward spiral that can even become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
“The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”
“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”
“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”
“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
“If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.”
“The real opportunity for success lies within the person and not in the job.”
“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”
“The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.”
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”
“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.”
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
“I find that when you have a real interest in life and a curious life, that sleep is not the most important thing.”
“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.”
“There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed.”
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
“Success isn’t just about what you accomplish in your life; it’s about what you inspire others to do.”
“Fall seven times and stand up eight.”
“Some people dream of success while others wake up and work.”
“If you can dream it, you can do it.”
“Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.”
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
“Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.”
“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.”
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
“Whatever you are, be a good one.”
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”
“You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.”
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
“The best revenge is massive success.”
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.”
“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
“Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.”
“Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart.”
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.”
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
“Teach thy tongue to say, ‘I do not know,’ and thous shalt progress.”
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
“Fall seven times and stand up eight.”
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see it.”
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
“Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions.”
“If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.”
“First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.”
“If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.”
“You can’t fall if you don’t climb. But there’s no joy in living your whole life on the ground.”
“We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.”
“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.”
“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”
“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”
“You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.”
“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.”
“I didn’t fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
“The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.”
“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
“Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.”
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me.”
“Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.”
“Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart.”
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.”
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
“Teach thy tongue to say, ‘I do not know,’ and thou shalt progress.”
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
“Fall seven times and stand up eight.”
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see it.”
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”
“Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions.”
“If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.”
“First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.”
“If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.”
“You can’t fall if you don’t climb. But there’s no joy in living your whole life on the ground.”
“We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.”
“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.”
“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
“I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”
“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.”
“You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.”
“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.”
“I didn’t fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.”
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
“The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.”