However strong we may be, we still need to find inspiration from outside sources, and one of the best ways to do that is to find the right quote for your state of mind. These quotes can help you reframe the situation you are in.
They have common themes of perseverance, self-respect, and putting mind over matter. In times when our lives get us down with stress and busy schedules, they can help us see things more clearly. Read on for 30 great inspirational quotes.
Be Who You Are and Say What You Feel, Because Those Who Mind Don’t Matter and Those Who Matter Don’t Mind. - Dr. Seuss
Sometimes it takes a wordsmith such as Dr. Seuss to get at the heart of an issue. We worry so much about how people will judge us, but the truth is that those who judge us are not the people we want in our lives in the first place.
Those that are truly close to us will accept us as we are. Let’s stop worrying about what people will think of us and start focusing on our real friends and loved ones.
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. Persistence and Determination Alone Are Omnipotent. - Calvin Coolidge
This humbling quote from the 30th president of the United States is a reminder that no amount of talent can make up for the lack of hard work. You may be brilliant, but opportunities are not given to you on a plate, and you must put the effort in.
A genius who does not work hard will always accomplish less than an ordinary person who is always willing to do better. Don’t assume success will be given to you, you must work for it.
Keep Away From People Who Try to Belittle Your Ambitions. Small People Always Do That, but the Really Great Make You Feel That You, Too, Can Become Great. - Mark Twain
Be wary when you tell someone your dreams only to have them try to tear them down. It is easy to tell somebody that their goals are impractical and unrealistic, and sadly it is even easier to take those words to heart.
Know that these are not the people you want to have around, and the people in your life who care about you won't' try to bring you down. Instead, they will always be there to lift you up.
When People Hurt You Over and Over, Think of Them Like Sandpaper. They May Scratch and Hurt You a Bit, but in the End, You End up Polished and They End up Useless.
This quote reminds you that when people try to hurt you, they just end up hurting themselves and making you stronger in the process. Don’t get bent out of shape by what they say.
They will get what is coming to them, and their negative words only reveal their true character. The best defense is to ignore them and show that you are better than those who get caught up in petty dramas. Your own success will show them their own failure.
The Secret of Health for Both Mind and Body Is Not to Mourn for the Past, Not to Worry About the Future, but to Live in the Present Moment Wisely and Earnestly. - Buddha
Buddhist philosophy is full of great wisdom, and those about how to live in the moment are ones we should all take lessons from.
We can always pine for the past, and we can always stress about the future, but in doing so we neglect the present, and the present moment is where we should be striving for happiness. By failing to do so, our lives go by without us appreciating them in the way that we should.
Your Mind Is A Garden, Your Thoughts Are The Seeds. You Can Grow Flowers Or You Can Grow Weeds.
Life is what we make of it, and that all happens within our heads. It is up to us if we are going to be negative or positive, if we are going to spread love and happiness and be there for people or if we are going to bring people down and cause them pain out of our own petty issues.
We should seek to choose the higher road, as that is best for everyone. You will find that positivity is contagious.
The People Who Get on in This World Are the People Who Get up and Look for Circumstances They Want and If They Can’t Find Them, Make Them. - George Bernard Shaw
Success does not come to those who sit and wait for it to come to them. Rather, success needs to be found and, to find it, you need to search for it.
Opportunities have to be sought out and grasped at, and when they slip out of your reach, you must keep searching and keep grasping. If you keep waiting for things to come to you, you will find life has passed you by, and the opportunities are no longer there.
I Have Been Impressed With the Urgency of Doing. Knowing Is Not Enough; We Must Apply. Being Willing Is Not Enough; We Must Do. - Leonardo Da Vinci
You can know everything there is to know, but the knowledge you have is worthless if you do not put it toward anything. Knowledge for knowledge’s sake is unimportant.
It is the application of that knowledge into a greater good that makes the knowledge worth having in the first place. Da Vinci’s brilliance was not merely in what he knew, it was in how he used what he knew, and he recommended we follow in his footsteps.
Success Is Not Final, Failure Is Not Fatal; It Is the Courage to Continue That Counts - Winston Churchill
Success and failure are not absolute ends. We never truly reach either, and any success is just one high point on our journey, and failure one low point.
In both cases, there is a long road ahead of us, and it is one we must always continue to take, whether we think we have achieved what we want or we have hit rock bottom and wish to quit. It is on that road that we will find our meaning.
Life Is Not Measured by the Number of Breaths We Take, but by the Moments That Take Our Breath Away. - Maya Angelou
We all want to live long, healthy lives, and that is something to strive for, but the life in our years is more important than the years in our lives.
The amount of time we have is less important than how we spend it, and whether we have ten, fifty, or a hundred years still ahead of us, we should still try to make the most of every moment. Always appreciate what you have, and never take life for granted.
To Be Yourself in a World That Is Constantly Trying to Make You Something Else Is the Greatest Accomplishment. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Everyone knows who they are on the inside, and who the world expects them to be and tries to turn them into. It is hard for individuals to maintain their true selves when their careers and the media as well as social systems all try to put them in a box.
It is up to us to resist the world’s pressure and stay true to ourselves all along. Being ourselves is more of a challenge than it should be, but the reward of it is worth the effort.
It Does Not Matter How Slowly You Go as Long as You Do Not Stop. - Confucius
Confucius understood why the tortoise won in the race against the hare. Though we can all be eager to move quickly, being slow and steady is what makes us win the race. Any success requires patience, and rushing ahead may just leave you to burnout in the long run.
Don’t be afraid to slow down. What is essential is that you always keep moving forward, without looking back and without stopping. If you can do that, everything will fall into place.
All That We Are Is the Result of What We Have Thought. the Mind Is Everything. What We Think We Become. - Buddha
The material world is less important than what goes on in your head. What you deem to be success or failure, happiness or sadness, pleasure, or pain, it is all the result of how your brain interprets the world.
If you think positive, that will flow through your brain and you will interpret the world through a positive lens. Negative thoughts will do the opposite, so be mindful of them bubbling up in your head.
Our Greatest Glory Is Not in Never Falling, but in Rising Every Time We Fall. - Confucius
When you look at success, you don’t see the many failures behind it. However, the path to success is paved in failure, and failing is nothing to be ashamed of. What is important is that we get back up from those failures.
Failure will help you learn and grow, and you will come back stronger, smarter, and more experienced, so embrace it and apply the lessons you have learned to the opportunities ahead.
Our Truest Life Is When We Are in Dreams Awake. - Henry David Thoreau
In our lives, we have many needs and desires which can conflict and pull us in different directions as we strive for different things. It is when we are dreaming that we come into our true selves.
Dreaming while we are awake is when we are most aware of our true selves, free from the practicalities of the world and the judgments of others. It is in those moments that we can find ourselves, and know what it is we really want.
Life’s Battles Don’t Always Go to the Stronger or Faster Man. but Sooner or Later the Man Who Wins Is the Man Who Thinks He Can. - Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee is known for his wisdom and philosophy as much as he is for his incredible strength and martial arts and this quote shows why.
While Lee was the fastest and strongest of them all, he suggests that those traits only go so far, and it is the will to win that truly separates those who are victorious from the rest of the crowd. Believe in yourself, believe that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to, and you will go far.
In the Middle of Every Difficulty Lies Opportunity - Albert Einstein
Einstein knows the power of a good challenge, and he tells us that we should not shy away from difficult situations. Instead, we should embrace them.
It is in those difficult situations where we will see ourselves thrive, and difficulty should be looked at as an opportunity to be our best selves. It is through difficulty that we will use everything that we have learned, challenge ourselves to be greater, and end up more accomplished at the other end.
Out of Suffering Have Emerged the Strongest Souls; The Most Massive Characters Are Seared With Scars. - Khalil Gibran
In our most difficult moments, we wish we did not have to be inflicted with such pain and anguish. However, as we weather the storm, we will grow stronger. We may become scarred, but those scars will be a source of strength and courage in the future.
The experiences we go through will shape us, and in the dark hours ahead of us, we will not cower, but face them knowing that we have the armor to get through them.
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. - Marianne Williamson
We are all more powerful than we are often able to admit. It is our ambition that can burn so brightly inside of us, but we try to turn it down for the sake of others.
Out of fear of appearing full of ourselves, we can make ourselves look small, and that diminishes the flame that is within us. Keep the flame bright, and don’t be afraid to let its fire out in the world. You may help others light their own fires in the process.
Before You Diagnose Yourself With Depression or Low Self-Esteem, First Make Sure That You Are Not, in Fact, Just Surrounded by Idiots. - Sigmund Freud
There is nothing wrong with recognizing our own personal issues, but we should also know when issues are not necessarily our own, but rather are a problem with the people around us.
Whether they are people who doubt us, people who criticize us, or people who don’t care about understanding us, many times a low sense of self that we have can be changed just by finding a better group of people to be around.
Education Is Not the Filling of a Pail, but the Lighting of a Fire. - William Butler Yeats
We might think of education as being a slow accumulation of knowledge, but the building up of information over the years is less vital than an education that inspires you.
You want to learn in a way that sparks your passion, that makes you want to learn more and act on that learning. It should not just be about information, but about building your character and putting you on a path of lifelong learning and creation.
Light Tomorrow With Today - Elizabeth Barrett Browning
You can sit around looking back on your past and worrying about the future, or you can take matters in your own hands and focus on the present. Too often, when we are thinking of the future, we forget that it starts now, and we need to take it by the horns.
If you spend your time stressing, nothing will work out, but spend your time planning, remain hard at work, and your future will be how you want it to be.
Happiness Is Like a Butterfly. the More You Chase It, the More It Eludes You. but If You Turn Your Attention to Other Things, It Will Come and Sit Softly on Your Shoulder. - Henry David Thoreau
We talk about the pursuit of happiness as if happiness is a goal that can be reached with a certain amount of planning and work. However, happiness is not a goal, but a byproduct, and you cannot seek happiness for its own sake.
You must follow your own path and stay focused on your work, your loved ones, and all of the other things in your life that are meaningful to you. In the process, happiness will emerge on its own.
Pleasure in the Job Puts Perfection in the Work. - Aristotle
If we focus too much on the things we love, we might lose track of the hard work that is necessary to achieve what we want. On the other hand, though, if we focus too much on working hard, we can lose track of what we love.
It is when the two meet that we find our true passion, and when you put your work and what you love together, you will find yourself achieving greater things than you would have otherwise.
You Are Never a Loser Until You Quit Trying - Mike Ditka
You can fail a thousand times, but as long as you keep going, you are never lost. It is only those who quit who become losers. Hard work leads to success, even if you feel you are a lost cause. Put those negative thoughts aside and keep your motivation at work.
Success will always be in your reach, and it is only a matter of time until it lands right in your hand. All you have to do is not give up.
You Are Not a Drop in the Ocean. You Are the Entire Ocean in one Drop. - Rumi
Sometimes to humble ourselves, we remember that, in the vastness of the universe, we are mere specks. It is good to stay grounded and not be narcissistic, but what if there is more to us than just a speck?
While it is true that we may be small when we pull back to the big picture, we are important to the people around us, and our actions carry great weight in the lives of many. Let’s not forget just how important we really are.
Great Minds Discuss Ideas; Average Minds Discuss Events; Small Minds Discuss People. - Eleanor Roosevelt
Avoid people who spend most of their time talking about other people. There are always more important things to do than gossip or relay basic information about the lives of others.
A better conversation is one about things that are going on, but even talking about the news is not the conversational ideal. The best conversations are about ideas. They are the ones in which you truly express yourself. Try to have those kinds of conversations more often.
If You Want to Make a Permanent Change, Stop Focusing on the Size of Your Problems and Start Focusing on the Size of You. - T. Harv Eker
Problems we have can be discouraging. We sometimes indulge in the negativity that our problems cause and use that as an excuse to stay where we are rather than try to improve our lives. However, this is something that we need to get over.
Instead of focusing on our problems, we should devote attention to ourselves. By doing so, we can push our problems aside and work to create our best selves. We will see our problems diminish in the process.
