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86 Inspirational Quotes to Keep You Motivated Today and Every Day

Look to these inspirational quotes the next time you need a little push.

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Carrie Weisman
By Carrie WeismanMar 16, 2023
Carrie Weisman
Lifestyle Writer & Contributor
Carrie Weisman is a seasoned journalist who has a deep love of words and helping the widest audience possible. Her ...
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Inspirational quotes may not provide an immediate fix, but they can help steer you toward a better place. Whether you're feeling insecure about work, unsettled about events in your personal life, or just a general lack of motivation, words have a way of providing a much-needed reset. Below, we've collected some of the most powerful messages provided over the years. Whether you're looking for advice on how to succeed, how to show yourself more love, or how to embrace change, we've got you covered. Read on to get started!

READ THIS NEXT: 70+ Amazing Life Quotes That Will Instantly Inspire You.

What Does It Mean to Feel Inspired?

woman sitting on the ground holding a cup of coffee surrounded by papers containing inspirational quotesShutterstock / G-Stock Studio

Inspiration looks different on everyone. For some, it means maintaining the drive needed to go after your goals. For others, it means drumming up new motivation for other, alternative pursuits. Interpretations will vary, but the impacts are pretty well defined.

What we know is this: Those who report feelings of inspiration have an easier time expressing creativity over time. They also tend to set more ambitious goals for themselves. Maybe most importantly, these individuals possess higher levels of well-being than those who remain uninspired.

Of course, different positions in life can make it easier to achieve this kind of mentality. While we can't always do much to change our circumstances, we can extract the strength needed to at least change the way we approach them. And sure, for some folks, that process takes on more of a literary form.

Inspiring Quotes About Loving Yourself and Others

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  1. “It is only when we take chances when our lives improve. The initial and the most difficult risk that we need to take is to become honest." — Walter Anderson

  2. "The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

  3. "Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." — Franklin P. Jones

  4. “If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.” — Charles Bukowski

  5. “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” — Marilyn Monroe

  6. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle

  7. “Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.” — James Baldwin

  8. “Learn to light a candle in the darkest moments of someone’s life. Be the light that helps others see; it is what gives life its deepest significance.”― Roy T. Bennett

  9. “When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.” — Paulo Coelho

  10. “The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.” — Swati Sharma

  11. “How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you.” — Rupi Kaur

  12. “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”— George R.R. Martin

  13. “You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, love like you’ll never be hurt, sing like there’s nobody listening, and live like it's heaven on earth.” — William W. Purkey

  14. “You alone are enough, you have nothing to prove to anybody.” — Maya Angelou

  15. “Believe in yourself. Stay in your own lane. There’s only one you.” — Queen Latifah

    16. READ THIS NEXT: Good Morning Messages for Friends Who Mean the Most.

    Short Inspirational Quotes

    woman wearing headphones while reading inspirational quotes out of a bookShutterstock / George Rudy

    1. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” — Mahatma Gandhi

    2. “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” — Michael Jordan

    3. “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” — Vince Lombardi

    4. “Everything you can imagine is real.”― Pablo Picasso

    5. “Whatever you are, be a good one.” ― Abraham Lincoln

    6. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” — Babe Ruth

    7. "When you have a dream, you've got to grab it and never let go." — Carol Burnett

    8. “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” — Henry Ford

    9. “People’s passion and desire for authenticity is strong.” — Constance Wu

    10. “You do not find the happy life. You make it.”— Camilla Eyring Kimball

    11. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” — Mark Twain

    12. “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” — Walt Disney

    13. “Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions.” — Dalai Lama

    14. “That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.” — Henry David Thoreau

    15. “The best revenge is massive success.” — Frank Sinatra

    16. "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." — Michael Altshuler

    17. “Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

    18. “Hatred is never ended by hatred but by love” — Buddha

    19. “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” — Suzy Kassem

    20. “A negative mind will never give you a positive life.” — Unknown

    21. “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” — Albert Einstein

    22. “Happiness is not by chance, but by choice.” — Jim Rohn

      23. Motivational Quotes About Change

      Close-up of a man with carton boxes moving into new homeShutterstock / Drazen Zigic

      1. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

      2. “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” — Neil Gaiman

      3. “Waiting insistently in front of a tightly closed door is unfair to all of the open doors. Give a chance to the open doors.” — Mehmet Murat İldan

      4. “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.” — Helen Keller

      5. “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” ― Rumi

      6. “Your mind is powerful. When you fill it with positive thoughts your whole world will change.” ― Unknown

      7. “It’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” — Lewis Carroll

      8. “Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future.” — John F. Kennedy

      9. “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” — Winston Churchill

      10. "Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world." — Harriet Tubman

      11. “Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.” ― Thomas Edison

      12. "The measure of intelligence is the ability to change." — Albert Einstein

      13. “No one changes the world who isn’t obsessed.” — Billie Jean King

      14. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” — Nelson Mandela

      15. "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." — Anne Frank

      16. “Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the errors that counts.” — Nikki Giovanni

        17. READ THIS NEXT: 102 Sad Quotes on Love, Life, and Loneliness.

        Powerful Quotes About Success

        man sitting on his bed putting his shoes on while getting ready for workShutterstock / Monkey Business Images

        1. “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” — Steve Jobs

        2. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six 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

        3. “You learn more from failure than from success. Don’t let it stop you. Failure builds character.” — Unknown

        4. “Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, stupid people already have all the answers.” — Socrates

        5. “We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes―understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” ― Arianna Huffington

        6. “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

        7. “It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.” — William James

        8. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” ― Chinese Proverb

        9. “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” ― Lou Holtz

        10. “If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.” ― Simon Sinek

        11. “Stay true to yourself, yet always be open to learn. Work hard, and never give up on your dreams, even when nobody else believes they can come true but you. These are not cliches but real tools you need no matter what you do in life to stay focused on your path.” ― Phillip Sweet

        12. “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” ― Mark Twain

        13. “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

        14. “If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” — Steve Jobs

        15. “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” — Dale Carnegie

        16. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” ― Confucius

          17. Inspirational Quotes for Women

          Woman buttoning her shirt, isolated on a gray backgroundShutterstock / Medvid.com

          1. “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” — Oprah Winfrey

          2. “A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.” — Melinda French Gates

          3. “Women are like teabags. We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

          4. “Some women choose to follow men, and some choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn’t love you anymore.” — Lady Gaga

          5. “Women have discovered that they cannot rely on men's chivalry to give them justice." — Helen Keller

          6. “I am thankful for my struggle because, without it, I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength." — Alex Elle

          7. “Be messy and complicated and afraid and show up anyways.” — Glennon Doyle

          8. “Everyone has inside of her a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be, how much you can love, what you can accomplish, and what your potential is.” — Anne Frank

          9. “It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent." — Madeleine Albright

          10. “If you can dance and be free and not be embarrassed, you can rule the world.”— Amy Poehler

          11. “You can be gorgeous at thirty, charming at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life.” — Coco Chanel

          12. "Women belong in all places where decisions are being made... It shouldn't be that women are the exception." — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

          13. “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman." — Margaret Thatcher

          14. "Justice is about making sure that being polite is not the same thing as being quiet. In fact, oftentimes, the most righteous thing you can do is shake the table." — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

          15. "Women challenge the status quo because we are never it.” — Cindy Gallop

          16. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker

          17. “Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you.” — Hillary Clinton

            18. READ THIS NEXT: 104 Friendship Quotes to Celebrate Your Number One.

            How You Can Use Positive Quotes in Everyday Life

            Listed below are a few tips for replicating these messages in real life.

            Adult woman in beige suit walks down street carrying eco friendly cotton bag filled with lemonsShutterstock / Kolpakova Daria

            Surround Yourself With Positive People

            Say what you will about the positive population, but they do tend to rub off on you. They'll always be there to offer encouragement when you feel a lack of motivation creeping up. Sometimes, that means extending a little extra support. Other times, it means holding you accountable for your own goals.

            Seek Out New Experiences

            New experiences provide new perspectives, and that's an important part of staying inspired, especially over long stretches of time. They can also help ignite new ideas–the kinds of things you would have never uncovered without stepping outside of your comfort zone, and that you walk away from feeling inspired and proud.

            Create the Right Kind of Environment

            Set yourself up for success. An organized environment will help minimize distractions and promote productivity. It can also reduce stress, which leaves more room for creative thought.

            Celebrate the Small Stuff

            Celebrating even your more minor victories is an important way to show yourself some appreciation. Besides, we all need a win now and then. Without them, we probably wouldn't have the kind of confidence needed to keep going.

            Wrapping Up

            That's it for our list of inspirational quotes, but be sure to check back in with us soon for more inspiring words! You can also sign up for our newsletter to enjoy hit pieces on health, entertainment, and travel.

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