When it comes to inspirational quotes, we have a lot of sources to choose from. Whether we are looking for wisdom in books or movies, whether we follow the advice of this world’s greatest scholars, whether we found motivation in a song, an ancient proverb or in the musings of immortal poets or philosophers, we can’t but agree with Michel de Montaigne: when we quote others we do so in order to express our own ideas more clearly.
Here on TenMania we already offered you a list of 10 inspirational quotes to regain emotional balance, and since you liked our choices, we decided to expand our vision and come up with another 100 inspirational quotes regarding life, love, happiness, success and many others. You can find similar listings on popular entertainment websites, dedicated anthologies and even long time established and best business websites in the world, such as Forbes Magazine for instance, which can only prove that finding inspiration in others and trying to apply in some degree their vision to our own life is a serious and important aspect of our personal development.
So, before we begin our journey searching for humanity’s shiniest pearls of wisdom, we will start with a quote from Amos Bronson Alcott who warns us that one must be a wise reader to quote wisely and well. Keeping this in mind, we invite you to take a look over 100 inspirational quotes you may choose to live by.
On life
1. Everything that happens to us leaves some trace behind; everything contributes imperceptibly to make us what we are.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet, novelist and philosopher, best known for poetic drama Faust
2. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind.
Henry Miller, American writer, literary innovator, best known for Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn
3. Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, lecturer, and poet, best known for his inspirational quotes as a champion of the Transcendentalist and Individualist movements
4.
Helen Keller, American author, political activist, and lecturer, the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
5. Change is not merely necessary to life, it is life.
Alvin Toffler, American writer and futurist, known for his works discussing the digital revolution
6. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.
Mark Twain, American author and humorist, known best for the novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the latter often called “the Great American Novel.”
7. There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.
Denis Waitley, American author, lecturer and consultant, founding member of the National Council for Self-Esteem
8. I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.
Audrey Hepburn, British actress, humanitarian and international beauty and fashion icon.
9.
Aristotle Onasis, Greek Argentine shipping mogul, known for his fabulous fortune and his marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy, widow of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
10. I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.
Steven Covey, American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker.
11. Think for yourself, face your fears, live your dreams, piss off some zombies!
Niall Doherty, one of our favorite travel bloggers in the world, best known for his book and manifest against rabblement.
12. Often we allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. We lose many irreplaceable hours brooding over grievances that, in a year’s time, will be forgotten by us and by everybody. No, let us devote our life to worthwhile actions and feelings, to great thoughts, real affections and enduring undertakings.
André Maurois, French writer, essayist and historian, best known for his novel Climates.
13. Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.
Jim Morrison, American singer-songwriter and poet, best remembered as the lead singer of Los Angeles rock band The Doors, whose early death is still reason for debate.
14.
Martin Luther, one of the most influential figures in Christian history when he began the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.
15. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.
Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to become a U.S. astronaut
16. The boundaries which divide life from death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where one ends, and the other begins?
Edgar Alan Poe, American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement, sometimes considered a mad genius and the inventor of the detective fiction genre.
17. Life isn’t a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, latte in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ‘Woo-hoo, WHAT A RIDE’!
Anonymous, Internet source
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19. 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.
John Lennon, English musician, singer and songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as a founder member of the Beatles, the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in the history of popular music and a man whose inspirational quotes will surely stand the test of time, becoming immortal.
20. Pain is temporary; quitting is forever.
Lance Armstrong, American former professional road racing cyclist, winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times between 1999 and 2005 before being disqualified from those races and banned from competitive cycling for life for doping offenses by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in 2012.