Life is short! But so are these inspiring quotes.
By Izzy Casey — Written on Sep 12, 2020
As 2020 has proven, a lot can change over the course of a year. Many of us may feel a little lost — and when that happens, positive quotes will help get your mind back on the right track.
Our core beliefs are absorbed through a process of repetition. In fact, a 2015 study found that repetitive speech, such as a word or mantra, has a calming effect on your brain.
Need a new motto to nourish your brain? Look no further.
100 Positive Quotes
1. "The real mission you have in life is to make yourself happy, and in order to be happy, you have to look at what you believe, the way you judge yourself, the way you victimize yourself." ― Don Miguel Ruiz
2. “Erase the world 'failure' from your vocabulary. No case is ever truly closed, and no challenge is ever over.” — Mary Lou Retton
3. “Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential.” — Liane Cardes
4. “Once you give them the power to tell you you’re great, you’ve also given them the power to tell you you’re unworthy. Once you start caring about people’s opinions of you, you give up control.” — Ronda Rousey
5. “The potential for greatness lives within each of us.” — Wilma Rudolph
6. "There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time." — Malcolm X
7. “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” ― Nelson Mandela
8. “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” ― Toni Morrison
9. "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." — George Bernard Shaw
10. "Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action." — Benjamin Disraeli
11. "Don’t follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail. When you start a new trail equipped with courage, strength and conviction, the only thing that can stop you is you!" — Ruby Bridges
12. “If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow.” — Beyoncé
13. “I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow; if I fail, or if I succeed at least I did as I believe.” — Whitney Houston
14. "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." — James Baldwin
15. "A lot of us don’t get a sense of our personal power. I know the vast difference that one person can make in changing things." — Boots Riley
16. "I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept." — Angela Y. Davis
17. "The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." — Dolly Parton
18. The problems we face, did not come down from the heavens. They are made, they are made by bad human decisions, and good human decisions can change them. ― Bernie Sanders
19. "The more that you read, the more things you will know, the more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” — Dr. Seuss
20. "Change your thoughts and you change your world." — Norman Vincent Peale
21. "Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning." — Gloria Steinem
22. "There is no need to ever not feel beautiful or glamorous. There should be nothing that gets in your way." — Jameela Jamil
23. “If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” Vincent Van Gogh
24. "Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine." — Mario Fernández
25. “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” — B.B. King
26. “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” — A.A Milne
27. “Do the things you believe in, in the name of love. And know that, you aren’t alone. We all have doubts and fear.” — Carole King
28. “Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” — Ella Fitzgerald
29. "Life is very interesting... in the end, some of your greatest pains, become your greatest strengths." — Drew Barrymore
30.“You build on failure. Use it as a stepping stone and close the door on the past. Don’t try to forget the mistakes, but don’t dwell on it.” — Johnny Cash
31. “Make mistakes, make mistakes, make mistakes. Just make sure they’re your mistakes.” — Fiona Apple
32. “Embrace what makes you unique, even if it makes others uncomfortable. I didn’t have to become perfect because I’ve learned throughout my journey that perfection is the enemy of greatness.” — Janelle Monáe
33. "Until you’re ready to look foolish, you’ll never have the possibility of being great.” — Cher
34. "I’ve learned there’s power deep down inside yourself, and you can find it when you don’t give up on yourself and when you ask for help." — Selena Gomez
35. "Without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund." — Anthony Bourdain
36. “Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for.” — Jennifer Lopez
37. “Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. There is no yesterday, no tomorrow, it’s all the same day.” — Janis Joplin
38. “Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” ― Nora Ephron
39. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi
40. "One friend with whom you have a lot in common is better than three with whom you struggle to find things to talk about." — Mindy Kaling
41. “Fill your mind with knowledge—it’s the only kind of power no one can take away from you.” ― Min Jin Lee, Pachinko
42. "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." — C.S. Lewis
43. "Try to be a rainbow in someone else's cloud." — Maya Angelou
44. “You have to dream before your dreams can come true.” — A. P. J. Abudl Kalam
45. "Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful." — Hazrat Inayat Khan
46. "With the right kind of coaching and determination, you can accomplish anything." — Reese Witherspoon
47. "A champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall." — Serena Williams
48. "A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." — Roald Dahl
49. "Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." — Thich Nhat Hanh
50. “Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart, and success will come to you.” — Oprah Winfrey
51. "We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained." — Marie Curie
52. “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” — Langston Hughes
53. "At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can." — Frida Kahlo
54. “Only do what your heart tells you.” — Princess Diana
55. "You have to know that as long as you love who you are — your morals, your values, that type of stuff, you’re OK." — Nicki Minaj
56. “At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” — Lao Tzu
57. "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." — Wayne Gretzky
58. “Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay.” — Simone de Beauvoir
59. "A winner is a dreamer who never gives up." — Nelson Mandela
60. "I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed." — Michael Jordan
61. "It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up." — Babe Ruth
62. “Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” — Jamie Paolinetti
63. “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” —Anatole France
64. "Be yourself, the world will adjust." — Manabi Bandyopadhyay
65. "A failure is not always a mistake. It may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying." —B.F. Skinner
66. "Remember this, whoever you are, however you are, you are equally valid, equally justified, and equally beautiful." — Juno Dawson
67. "Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success." — Dale Carnegie
68. "All of us are put in boxes by our family, by our religion, by our society, our moment in history, even our own bodies. Some people have the courage to break free." — Geena Rocero
69. "A winner is just a loser who tried one more time." — George M. Moore Jr.
70. "When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you … never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn." — Harriet Beecher Stowe
71. "If I wait for someone else to validate my existence, it will mean that I’m shortchanging myself." — Zanele Muholi
72. "Now that I knew fear, I also knew it was not permanent. As powerful as it was, its grip on me would loosen. It would pass." ― Louise Erdrich, The Round House
73. "Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." — Harvey Fierstein
74. "The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." — Confucius
75. "Dreams and reality are opposites. Action synthesizes them." ― Assata Shakur
76. "Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached." — Swami Vivekananda
77. "Even though you’re fed up, you gotta keep your head up." — Tupac Shakur
78. "Every strike brings me closer to the next home run." — Babe Ruth
79. "Remember: Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up." — Rocky Balboa
80. "There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments." ― Wangari Maathai
81. "Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." — Rabindranath Tagore
82. "Your positivity can become a castle around you which will protect you from the arrow of negativity." Gurudev Shree Chitrabhanu
83. "There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for." — J.R.R. Tolkien
84. "A big part of being a well-adjusted person is accepting that you can’t be good at everything." — Kelly Williams Brown
85. "Never dull your shine for somebody else." — Tyra Banks
86. "You always pass failure on the way to success. "— Mickey Rooney
87. "If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one." — Dolly Parton
88. “Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.” — Sarah Dessen
89. “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” — Mahatma Gandhi
90. “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” — Louisa May Alcott
91. “Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.” — Muhammad Ali
92. ”Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.” — Richard Branson
93. "The most important thing you wear is your personality." — America Ferrera
94. "I may be crazy, but that don't make me wrong." — Marsha P. Johnson
95. "If you believe in yourself anything is possible." — Miley Cyrus
96. "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." ― Mahatma Gandhi
97. “You can do anything as long as you don't stop believing. When it is meant to be, it will be. You just have to follow your heart.” — Keke Palmer
98. “A life lived in fear... is a life half-lived.” — Baz Lurman
99. "Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats." ― Voltaire
100. "Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are." ― Marilyn Monroe
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Izzy Casey’s work is published in or forthcoming from Corriere della Sera, The Iowa Review, Bennington Review, Gulf Coast, Black Warrior Review, BOAAT, NY Tyrant, and elsewhere. She received her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.