You know that feeling when everything in life feels like it’s falling apart? Like you’re one minor inconvenience away from throwing your phone out the window and moving to a cabin in the woods?
Yeah, same.
Life has a sneaky way of testing us right when we’re on the verge of something great. That’s when you need a little extra kick—something to keep you going when all you want to do is quit.
When I’m on the verge of tossing in the towel, I don’t wait around for some magical moment of motivation to show up. I go looking for it. And more often than not, it’s a few powerful words from someone who’s been through the grind that get me back on track.
That’s why I’ve put together this list of 89 self-motivation quotes—the kind of wisdom that’ll remind you why you started in the first place.
Being Resilience
- “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
- “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
- “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean
- “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
- “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
- “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
- “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
- “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
- “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
- “You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth
- “The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.” – George Washington
- “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll
- “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
- “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” – H.G. Wells
- “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” – Robert H. Schuller
To Spark Action
- “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
- “The future depends on what you do today.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali
- “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
- “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb
- “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney
- “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis
- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
- “Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso
- “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela
- “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb
- “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” – Ralph Marston
- “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu
- “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller
- “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar
To Challenge You
- “Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine
- “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” – George S. Patton
- “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
- “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 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
- “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan
- “Difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter.” – Dan Reeves
- “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” – Carol Burnett
- “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” – Mary Kay Ash
- “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lou Holtz
- “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “Great things never come from comfort zones.” – Roy T. Bennett
- “Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.” – Aisha Tyler
- “Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” – Rikki Rogers
- “When life gives you Monday, dip it in glitter and sparkle all day.” – Ella Woodward
To Inspire Hope & Faith
- “Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman
- “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln
- “Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise.” – Victor Hugo
- “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” – Christopher Reeve
- “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” – Desmond Tutu
- “Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” – Christian D. Larson
- “Don’t stop until you’re proud.” – Anonymous
- “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.” – Emily Dickinson
- “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” – John Lennon
- “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, ‘I’m possible!’” – Audrey Hepburn
- “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair
- “Hope is a waking dream.” – Aristotle
- “What we think, we become.” – Buddha
To Perseverance In Difficult Times
- “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” – Walter Elliot
- “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” – C.S. Lewis
- “I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey
- “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
- “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.” – Julie Andrews
- “The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” – Colin R. Davis
- “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda
- “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” – William Feather
- “Perseverance is the secret of all triumphs.” – Victor Hugo
- “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison
- “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela
- “Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.” – Louis Pasteur
- “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” – Mary Anne Radmacher
- “Keep going. Everything you need will come to you at the perfect time.” – Anonymous
- “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing.” – Pelé
To Push You to Dream Bigger
- “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” – Henry David Thoreau
- “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “Dream big and dare to fail.” – Norman Vaughan
- “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
- “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
- “Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis
- “Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” – Gloria Steinem
- “If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney
- “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” – Langston Hughes
- “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” – Michael Phelps
- “The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “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
- “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” – John Wooden
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