For when you need a mental boost to keep calm and carry on.
By Alison Cerri — Written on Oct 04, 2018
Sure, the end of summer means the coming of the holiday season. If you’re like me, you’ve been counting down the weeks until Halloween since August.
But the days are becoming shorter. And colder. No more long weekends down the shore (sorry, is my Jersey showing?), no more verdant branches and brilliant flowers swaying in a welcome breeze.
For those of us at work and in school, the grind until Thanksgiving feels like miles away; until Christmas, light years. Unless you’re spending a lot of time in department stores with merch for the next five holidays.
The Fall holiday season also calls for a perspective shift. Browning leaves are beautiful — but they’re also dying. That seems really heavy. Maybe it’s not that deep … I like to blame this thinking on Libra season, and the upcoming Scorpio season. Two long months until I come into my solar season, Sagittarius.
Regardless, fall is a time of conspicuous change, and the stars call for contemplation of this.
One of my favorite things about fall is the excuse to stay inside. Sometimes I’m on my own reading a book in a corner of Starbucks; other times I’m hosting a movie night with some friends huddled under a blanket.
No matter what I’m reading or watching, I like to take away something memorable from it. Usually, this is in the form of a quote. My favorites are the ones that make me think... like, really think.
Figures ranging from Nelson Mandela to Cardi B have recently made me stop with their words and consider things I leave behind in the hustle-and-bustle of the daily grind. They inspire me to keep thinking, keep going, keep moving forward.
So look to these 50 best inspirational quotes to help motivate you when life gets hard (or boring). Ones for every situation to make you stop, think, and continue with sure footing, even as life changes around you.
1. For a reminder that you’re your own badass self.
"But whatever came, she had resolved never again to belong to another than herself"—Kate Chopin
2. And you’re in control of your reactions.
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent"—Eleanor Roosevelt
3. That said, you’re not perfect, but you should strive for good.
"And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good"—John Steinbeck
4. Just keep working towards it.
"You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously"—Sophia Bush
5. For when you need a self-check.
"Work hard in silence. Let your success be your noise"—Frank Ocean
6. Or want to feel like a kid again.
"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream"—C.S. Lewis
7. Because being strange is a-okay.
"You have to be odd to be number one"—Dr. Seuss
8. For when you need to pick yourself from the bootstraps.
"But we cannot simply sit and stare at our wounds forever"—Haruki Murakami
9. Remember who you are.
"I am not what has happened to me. I am what I choose to become"—Carl Jung
10. And remember you are amazing as you are.
"You are most beautiful whenever you are most comfortable. Whenever you are most you"—Donte Collins
11. For the times haters try to bring you down.
"I don't care about anyone not liking me, you bitches barely like yourselves"—Cardi B
12. You should stay in your lane.
"For us, there is only trying. The rest is none of our business"—T.S. Eliot
13. Just move on.
"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow"—Audrey Hepburn
14. Don’t worry if you get frustrated.
"Just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it's nonsense"—Lemony Snicket
15. You can weather anything.
"Storms make trees take deeper roots"—Dolly Parton
16. It’s okay to be afraid sometimes.
"Courage is the resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear"—Mark Twain
17. But consider if what you’re doing is right.
"You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right"—Rosa Parks
18. It helps if you put love in what you do.
"What is done in love is done well"—Vincent Van Gogh
19. Your heart will keep beating no matter what.
"I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am"—Sylvia Plath
20. What have the strong women in your life told you?
"My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent"—Ruth Bader Ginsberg
21. Empowered women empower women.
"I am building a fire, and every day I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match"—Mia Hamm
22. Though sometimes you are your own best resource.
"If you don't find any reason to be free, invent it"—Clarice Lispector
23. It doesn’t hurt to help others.
"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle"—James Keller
24. Even the ones that hurt you can help you.
"True forgiveness is when you can say, 'Thank you for that experience'"—Oprah Winfrey
25. Try to surround yourself with people who will build you up.
"Sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people"—Nicholas Sparks
26. But also--be that builder-upper.
"Far too many people are looking for the right person, instead of trying to be the right person"—Gloria Steinem
27. For when you need a push to take a risk.
"In my moments of doubt, I've told myself firmly: if not me, who? If not now, when?"—Emma Watson
28. Along with a reason as to why you should take risks.
"I'd rather regret the risks that didn't work out than the chances I didn't take at all"—Simone Biles
29. Courage is required for seemingly simple things.
"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are"—E.E. Cummings
30. Endings can be scary, but they are new beginnings.
"If you're brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello"—Paulo Coelho
31. It’s okay if you stumble.
"Every day is an opportunity to change your life and be who you want to be"—Demi Lovato
32. In the scheme of things, you’ll be fine.
"When you consider things like the stars, our affairs don't seem to matter very much, do they?"—Virginia Woolf
33. At least do something.
"If you want to continue existing, do something. Learn to make clouds with only your breath. Build a house, even if every wall leans to the left. Love it anyway, just like a season. Just like a child. Love how you hate yourself sometimes, because goddamn, at least there's still something to hate"—Neil Hilborn
34. For when things seem chaotic.
"When nothing is sure, everything is possible"—Margaret Drabble
35. Remember all those times you got back up.
"Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again"—Nelson Mandela
36. If you break, you can still be beautiful.
"The idea behind a kaleidoscope is that it is a structure that's filled with broken bits and pieces, and somehow if you can look through them, you still see something beautiful. And I feel like we are all that way a little bit"—Sara Bareilles
37. You dictate how you see the world.
"The world only exists in your eyes. You can make it as big or as small as you want"—F. Scott Fitzgerald
38. And you need darkness in order to see light.
"You'll have bad times, but it'll all wake you up to the good stuff you were not paying attention to"—Good Will Hunting
39. It’s as simple as a perspective change.
"It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will"—L.M. Montgomery
40. For when you need a reminder about what life’s about.
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself"—George Bernard Shaw
41. It takes 21 days to make it a habit.
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit keeps you going"—Jim Ryun
42. You’ll have to change along the way.
"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves"—Victor Frankl
43. And you will fail.
"Don't be afraid of failure. This is the way to succeed"—Lebron James
44. But you will survive.
"I will survive my grief. Amen. I have run into the darkness and arrived in the morning still living. Amen. I have made my home anywhere I still have a name. Amen. I swear that they cannot kill us all. Amen"—Hanif Willis-Abdurraquib
45. Remember you have so much to offer the world.
"I will not let anyone scare me out of my full potential"—Nicki Minaj
46. Your first goal should be to love yourself.
"My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to find peace with exactly who and what I am. To take pride in my thoughts, my appearance, my talents, my flaws and to stop this incessant worrying that I can't be loved as I am"—Anaïs Nin
47. Self-love takes work.
"Self-love is self-taught"—Donte Collins
48. Love isn’t perfect, but you neither are you, and again, that’s okay.
"If everything is imperfect in this world, love is perfect in its imperfection"—The Seventh Seal
49. Sappho lived thousands of years ago and she’s still remembered.
"Someone will remember us, I say, even in another time"—Sappho (trans. Anne Carson)
50. So live your life to the fullest!
"Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary"—The Dead Poets Society