Inspirational quotes have a way of capturing in one line what we sometimes struggle to express. They’re popular for a reason: they actually work.
So if you’re looking for inspirational quotes to lift your mood, get you back on track or help you feel a little more grounded today, you’re in the right place.
These 280 inspirational quotes are here to gently push you in the right direction. Just scroll, pause when something feels right, and let the words do what they’re meant to do — remind you of what matters. Save the rest for later, because we all have those days where we need a little extra.
Inspirational Quotes by Nigerians
Inspirational quotes by Nigerians hit differently, maybe it’s the honesty, the hustle, or just how deeply they reflect our day-to-day lives. Like this collection of Afrobeats quotes or street quotes that’ll fuel your hustle spirit, one truth we all know too well, quotes by Nigerians come with grit and wisdom.
1. “One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.” – Chinua Achebe
2. “The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.” – Wole Soyinka
3. “At the end of the day, everything you chase will run.” – Burna Boy
4. “The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.” – Ben Okri
5. “I’m thankful because all the hard work and sacrifices were worth it in the end.” – WizKid
6. “Allah says in the Qur’an not to despise one another. So the criterion in Islam is not color or social status. It’s who is most righteous. If I go to a mosque – and I’m a basketball player with money and prestige – if I go to a mosque and see an imam, I feel inferior. He’s better than me. It’s about knowledge.” – Hakeem Olajuwon
7. “When you start to think of revenge, you start to think of hate. I don’t believe in hating people. It’s a retrogressive thing.” – Fela Kuti
8. “Being a ‘good man’ is something you do, not something you are.” – Luvvie Ajayi
9. “In my early days in school, I had no shoes, no school bags. There were days I had only one meal… I walked miles and crossed rivers to school every day. Didn’t have power, didn’t have generators, studied with lanterns, but I never despaired.” – Goodluck Jonathan
10. “I pray a lot and it has helped me throughout my whole career to stay calm and focused.” – Jay-Jay Okocha
11. “Life is really good.” – Alex Iwobi
12. “The hardships that I encountered in the past will help me succeed in the future.” – Philip Emeagwali
13. “It’s kind of a language I’ve developed over time that’s basically breaking up the face into components and planes. Inside each plane, I draw gradation marks, and when planes come together, they form sinews, a hairlike weave that’s like a landscape of the face.” – Toyin Odutola
14. “When I had a full-time job, I would write dialogue and sketch characters on my commute and during meetings. Now, I forsake showers and regular meals and stay at my desk for hours, taking breaks to drink tea and eat something sweet, usually cake.” – Ayobami Adebayo
15. “Trophies are good, but saving somebody who could die, giving them hope of a life, that means a lot to me.” – Nwankwo Kanu
16. “I go to the ocean to calm down, to reconnect with the creator, to just be happy.” – Nnedi Okorafor
17. “Way I see it, everyone plays their own role in the world, and no role is more important than the other.” – Burna Boy
18. “I never went to a university, and I am proud to say so because I don’t think I have done too badly.” – Folorunsho Alakija
19. “Once a song’s out there, it’s no longer mine. And that’s the whole purpose of music: to belong to people.” – Sade Adu
20. “When a tradition gathers enough strength to go on for centuries, you don’t just turn it off one day.” – Chinua Achebe
21. “Magic becomes art when it has nothing to hide.” – Ben Okri
22. “My brothers and sisters, we are all winners. In this context there is no victor and no vanquished. We have demonstrated, even in our diversity, the progress of Nigeria remains paramount for all.” – Goodluck Jonathan
23. “I have a saying: Nigerians don’t fit in second place. Everything we do we go hard.” – Yvonne Orji
24. “I don’t need to be someone famous or George Clooney. I don’t need to be any of these people to get involved in my community or reach out to one nationally.” – Gbenga Akinnagbe
25. “Home can be the friend you have been searching for all your life or the person you met once very briefly.” – Ben Okri
26. “I am called a legend, and people see me as one, but because of that, I don’t think I should have to hide at home and only go on holidays, drink champagne, and watch TV. I am somebody that wants to impact onto people’s lives.” – Luvvie Ajayi
27. “Doubt has purpose sometimes. If we don’t think our work is good enough, we strive to do better and be better. Which then makes us better because practice does just that.” – Luvvie Ajayi
28. “My faith comes before anything. It has also taught me to respect and admire people for what they are and who they are.” – Jay-Jay Okocha
29. “I’m always hungry and eager to represent my country and make them proud.” – Alex Iwobi
ALSO READ: Memorable Independence Day Quotes by Nigerian Leaders
Inspirational Quotes About Life and Struggles
Inspirational quotes about life and struggles aren’t just nice words, sometimes, they’re exactly what we need to hear when things aren’t going the way we hoped. Life has a way of throwing curveballs and in moments like that, a single sentence can shift your perspective, even if just a little.
1. “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” – Buddha
2. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw
3. “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” – Rabindranath Tagore
4. “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” – Jackie Robinson
5. “The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.” – Eminem
6. “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them, that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu
7. “What do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other?” – George Eliot
8. “This life, which had been the tomb of his virtue and of his honour, is but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” – William Shakespeare
9. “The person lives twice who lives the first life well.” – Robert Herrick
10. “Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life.” – John F. Kennedy
11. “What is important in life is life, and not the result of life.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
12. “The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings.” – Henri Frederic Amiel
13. “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” – Marcus Aurelius
14. “I have inspiration and feelings of being alive most every day I live.” – Judy Collins
15. “Who cares about great marks left behind? We have one life… just one. Our life. We have nothing else.” – Ugo Betti
16. “I am all for the short and merry life.” – Edward Fitzgerald
17. “The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” – Dalai Lama
18. “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” – Henry David Thoreau
19. “The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.” – Carl Jung
20. “Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.” – George Bernard Shaw
21. “Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it.” – Samuel Smiles
22. “Kindness, I’ve discovered, is everything in life.” – Isaac Bashevis Singer
23. “The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.” – William James
24. “Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me.” – Carl Sandburg
25. “Life is so fresh, life is every day so new if we are fighting, only for the best. Sometimes I think the only real satisfaction in life is failure, failure in your endeavor to do your best.” – Maude Adams
26. “Only an artist can interpret the meaning of life.” – Novalis
27. “Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. What has puzzled us before seems less mysterious, and the crooked paths look straighter as we approach the end.” – Jean Paul
28. “People living deeply have no fear of death.” – Anais Nin
29. “That it will never come again is what makes life sweet.” – Emily Dickinson
30. “No man is a failure who is enjoying life.” – William Feather
31. “There are three constants in life… change, choice and principles.” – Stephen Covey
32. “Life’s more amusing than we thought.” – Andrew Lang
33. “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” – Victor Hugo
34. “It is not length of life, but depth of life.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
35. “Why should we think upon things that are lovely? Because thinking determines life. It is a common habit to blame life upon the environment. Environment modifies life but does not govern life. The soul is stronger than its surroundings.” – William James
36. “The greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection.” – Henri Nouwen
37. “Life is like dancing. If we have a big floor, many people will dance. Some will get angry when the rhythm changes. But life is changing all the time.” – Don Miguel Ruiz
38. “While we are postponing, life speeds by.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
39. “I think I’ve discovered the secret of life, you just hang around until you get used to it.” – Charles M. Schulz
40. “An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
41. “You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.” – Oliver Goldsmith
42. “Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you’re alive, it isn’t.” – Richard Bach
Positive Inspirational Quotes
Positive inspirational quotes are like small reminders that things can shift, maybe not instantly, but eventually. This section is filled with quotes that focus on hope, perspective, and everyday joy.
1. “If my mind can conceive it, if my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it.” – Muhammad Ali
2. “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne
3. “I think we always need to see the positive.” – Charles Leclerc
4. “No matter what you’re going through, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it may seem hard to get to it but you can do it and just keep working towards it and you’ll find the positive side of things.” – Demi Lovato
5. “Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination” – Mae Jemison, American engineer
6. “I think that life is difficult. People have challenges. Family members get sick, people get older, you don’t always get the job or the promotion that you want. You have conflicts in your life. And really, life is about your resilience and your ability to go through your life and all of the ups and downs with a positive attitude.” – Jennifer Hyman
7.“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” – Colin Powell
8. “My father taught my siblings and me the importance of positive values and a strong ethical compass. He showed us how to be resilient, how to deal with challenges, and how to strive for excellence in all that we do. He taught us that there’s nothing that we cannot accomplish if we marry vision and passion with an enduring work ethic.” – Ivanka Trump
9. “You can’t dwell on disappointment. You’ve got to take the positives and keep looking ahead.” – AJ Tracey
10. “When your dreams are bigger than the places you find yourself in, sometimes you need to seek out your own reminders that there is more. And there is always more waiting for you on the other side of fear.” – Elaine Welteroth
11. “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!'” – Audrey Hepburn
12. “I’m a very positive person. My grandmother taught me that happiness is both a skill and a decision, and you are responsible for the outcome.” – Helen McCrory
13. “Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful.” – Hazrat Inayat Khan
14. “It takes hard work, dedication, discipline and a positive attitude to get to the top – in business or in sports.” – George Blanda
15. “The Sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” – Charles Dickens
16. “Once you face your fear, nothing is ever as hard as you think.” – Olivia Newton-John, British-Australian singer and actress
17. “The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.” – Kobe Bryant
18. “Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.” – Joseph Campbell
19. “Every day brings new choices.” – Martha Beck
20. “Positive energy knows no boundaries. If everyone were to spread positive energy on the Internet, the world would be a much better place.” – Lu Wei
21. “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
22. “Instead of drifting along like a leaf in a river, understand who you are and how you come across to people and what kind of an impact you have on the people around you and the community around you and the world, so that when you go out, you can feel you have made a positive difference.” – Jane Fonda
23. “Work hard for what you want because it won’t come to you without a fight. You have to be strong and courageous and know that you can do anything you put your mind to. If somebody puts you down or criticizes you, just keep on believing in yourself and turn it into something positive.” – Leah LaBelle
Inspirational Quotes for Women
Inspirational quotes for women hit differently when they speak to the quiet power women carry every day. Whether you need encouragement, clarity, or a simple reminder that you’re doing okay, you’ll find something here that speaks to you.
1. “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” – Margaret Thatcher
2. “A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
3. “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” – Oprah Winfrey
4. “A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.” – Coco Chanel
5. “Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him.” – Groucho Marx
6. “Women hold up half the sky.” – Mao Zedong
7. “Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away.” – Barbara De Angelis
8. “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.” – B. R. Ambedkar
9. “As usual, there is a great woman behind every idiot.” – John Lennon
10. “Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
11. “The age of a woman doesn’t mean a thing. The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
12. “In our society, the women who break down barriers are those who ignore limits.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
13. “Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.” – Charlotte Whitton
14. “Any time women come together with a collective intention, it’s a powerful thing. Whether it’s sitting down making a quilt, in a kitchen preparing a meal, in a club reading the same book, or around the table playing cards, or planning a birthday party, when women come together with a collective intention, magic happens.” – Phylicia Rashad
15. “Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men.” – Joseph Conrad
16. “The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet.” – Adrienne Rich
17. “Women don’t realize how powerful they are.” – Judith Light
18. “I think God made a woman to be strong and not to be trampled under the feet of men. I’ve always felt this way because my mother was a very strong woman, without a husband.” – Little Richard
19. “Women have always been the strong ones of the world. The men are always seeking from women a little pillow to put their heads down on. They are always longing for the mother who held them as infants.” – Coco Chanel
20. “When women go wrong, men go right after them.” – Mae West
21. “A woman has two smiles that an angel might envy, the smile that accepts a lover before words are uttered, and the smile that lights on the first born babe, and assures it of a mother’s love.” – Thomas Chandler Haliburton
22. “Of course I am not worried about intimidating men. The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
23. “After all those years as a woman hearing ‘not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not this enough, not that enough,’ almost overnight I woke up one morning and thought, ‘I’m enough.'” – Anna Quindlen
24. “Women, you can have it all – a loving man, devoted husband, loving children, a fabulous career.” – Jada Pinkett Smith
25. “I’ll always prefer to play with women and hang out with women, and I’ll always be a feminist.” – Courtney Love
26. “Women have always been courageous. They are always fearless when protecting their children and in the last century they have been fearless in the fight for their rights.” – Isabel Allende
27. “Some people ask, ‘Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights, or something like that?’ Because that would be dishonest. Feminism is, of course, part of human rights in general – but to choose to use the vague expression ‘human rights’ is to deny the specific and particular problem of gender.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
28. There is a part of ‘Wonder Woman’ inside me and inside every woman, kind of that secret self that women share. We are all caretakers, giving birth, caring for our children and companions and loved ones. — Lynda Carter
Inspirational Quotes for Work
Inspirational quotes for work aren’t just for Monday mornings or vision boards, they’re for the long days, the quiet wins, the team efforts, and the personal goals that keep you going. Whether you’re building something big or just trying to stay motivated through the routine, the right words can make a real difference.
1. “I’ve missed more than 9000 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
2. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie
3. “Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.” – Napoleon Hill
4. “Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.” – Thomas A. Edison
5. “Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career.” – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
6. “I would say to always follow your dream. And dream big because my whole career, including any of the things that I’ve accomplished, I never thought in a million years that I would be here. So it just proves that once you believe in yourself, and you put your mind to something, you can do it.” – Simone Biles
7. “Details create the big picture.” – Sanford I. Weill
8. “Our work is the presentation of our capabilities.” – Edward Gibbon
9. “It’s not what you achieve, it’s what you overcome. That’s what defines your career.” – Carlton Fisk
10. “I think there’s no higher calling in terms of a career than public service, which is a chance to make a difference in people’s lives and improve the world.” – Jack Lew
11. “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.” – Adam Smith
12. “Unless a man believes in himself and makes a total commitment to his career and puts everything he has into it – his mind, his body, his heart – what’s life worth to him?” – Vince Lombardi
13. “If I went by all the rejection I’ve had in my career, I should have given up a long time ago.” – Mike Myers
14. “The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.” – Confucius
15. “The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.” – Aristotle Onassis
16. “As your career grows, the list of things that makes you happy should not become smaller, it should become bigger.” – Taylor Swift
17. “Work hard. And have patience. Because no matter who you are, you’re going to get hurt in your career and you have to be patient to get through the injuries.” – Randy Johnson
18. “Throughout my career, the pounding in my heart, the fright, has been ever-present, but I never turned back. Fear can be a highly motivational part of the journey.” – Nina Tassler
19. “If you want something, work hard for it, go after it. I can’t worry about all the ‘no’s, because I believe there’s a yes, and I’ve been very fortunate to find those in my career and made the most of those opportunities.” – Mara Brock Akil
20. “Careers, like rockets, don’t always take off on time. The trick is to always keep the engine running.” – Gary Sinise
21. “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” – Rumi
22. “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” – Theodore Roosevelt
23. “The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.” – Elbert Hubbard
24. “Nothing will work unless you do.” – Maya Angelou
25. “All things are difficult before they are easy.” – Thomas Fuller
26. “The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.” – Jonas Salk
27. “Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.” – Ray Kroc
28. “Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it.” – Stephen Hawking
29. “Let us realize that: the privilege to work is a gift, the power to work is a blessing, the love of work is success!” – David O. McKay
30. “Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” – Paul Tournier
31. “An organization, no matter how well designed, is only as good as the people who live and work in it.” – Dee Hock
32. “The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.” – Harry Golden
33. “Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.” – Booker T. Washington
Inspirational Quotes for Men
Inspirational quotes for men don’t need to be loud to be powerful. Whether you’re leading, providing, healing, building, or simply trying to stay grounded in the chaos, this section is for you.
1. “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” – Marcus Aurelius
2. “The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.” – Leonardo da Vinci
3. “There are only two forces that unite men: fear and interest.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
4. “Honor is simply the morality of superior men.” – H. L. Mencken
5. “It’s at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.” – Emil Zatopek
6. “Men are born to succeed, not to fail.” – Henry David Thoreau
7. “The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
8. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Genius will not. Education will not. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Calvin Coolidge
9. “All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes to make them possible.” – T. E. Lawrence
10. “Live as brave men, and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
11. “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” – Plato
12. “By nature all men are equal in liberty, but not in other endowments.” – Thomas Aquinas
13. “It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.” – Niccolò Machiavelli
14. “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” – William Arthur Ward
15. “One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.” – Elbert Hubbard
16. “There are no extraordinary men… just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with.” – William Halsey
17. “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” – Henry David Thoreau
18. “Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.” – Miyamoto Musashi
Inspirational Quotes for Success
Inspirational quotes for success aren’t just about money or fame. Success looks different for everyone, but it always starts with mindset, and sometimes, the right words can shift yours just enough to keep moving forward.
1. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier
2. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” – Albert Schweitzer
3. “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” – Bruce Lee
4. “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
5. “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” – Albert Einstein
6. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it.” – W. C. Fields
7. “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” – Mark Twain
8. “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” – Stephen Hawking
9. “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.” – John F. Kennedy
10. “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” – Booker T. Washington
11. “Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune.” – Jim Rohn
12. “Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso
13. “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life. Think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea. Just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.” – Swami Vivekananda
14. “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.” – John Wooden
15. “Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success.” – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
16. “Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
17. “When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.” – John Ruskin
18. “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” – Abraham Lincoln
19. “If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.” – Maya Angelou
20. “Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal, a commitment to excellence, that will enable you to attain the success you seek.” – Mario Andretti
21. “Don’t aim for success if you want it. Just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.” – David Frost
22. “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
23. “There is little success where there is little laughter.” – Andrew Carnegie
24. “Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.” – Orison Swett Marden
25. “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” – Woody Allen
26. “Success is a science. If you have the conditions, you get the result.” – Oscar Wilde
Inspirational Quotes for Self
Life moves fast, and it’s easy to lose touch with your own thoughts, needs, and progress. That’s where these inspirational quotes for self come in, not to tell you who to be, but to gently remind you of who you already are.
1. “The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of one’s self to others.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
2. “Self-care equals success. You’re going to be more successful if you take care of yourself and you’re healthy.” – Beth Behrs
3. “Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.” – Roy T. Bennett
4. “There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by myself.” – Brian Andreas
5. “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” – Aldous Huxley
6. “Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” – Golda Meir
7. “Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self.” – May Sarton
8. “Be bold, be brave enough to be your true self.” – Queen Latifah
9. “You should never give up your inner self.” – Clint Eastwood
10. “Keep taking time for yourself until you are you again.” – Lalah Delia
11. “You are magnificent beyond measure, perfect in your imperfections, and wonderfully made.” – Abiola Abrams
12. “The challenge is not to be perfect—it is to be whole.” – Jane Fonda
13. “There is no respect for others without humility in one’s self.” – Henri Frederic Amiel
14. “Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.” – Etty Hillesum
15. “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” – Oprah Winfrey
16. “Always be your true self, and surround yourself with positive and supportive people.” – Amanda Lepore
17. “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.” – Ernest Hemingway
18. “You cannot be lonely if you like the person you’re alone with.” – Wayne Dyer
19. “Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.” – Christopher Germer
20. “You are always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company.” – Diane Von Furstenberg
21. “Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives. Man’s life is independent. He is born not for the development of the society alone, but for the development of his self.” – B. R. Ambedkar
22. “Sometimes you’ve got to let everything go – purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything… whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you’ll find that when you’re free, your true creativity, your true self comes out.” – Tina Turner
23. “The self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action.” – John Dewey
24. “If I could talk to my younger self, I would just say that the path to great things is filled with a lot of stumbles, suffering, and challenges along the way. But if you have the right attitude and know that hard times will pass – and you get up each time – you will reach your destination.” – Jonny Kim
25. “At the innermost core of all loneliness is a deep and powerful yearning for union with one’s lost self.” – Brendan Behan
26. “Inner beauty should be the most important part of improving one’s self.” – Priscilla Presley
27. “Being cool is being your own self, not doing something that someone else is telling you to do.” – Vanessa Hudgens
28. “Everyone is beautiful in their own way, and nobody should have self doubt.” – Nia Jax
29. “Realising that, write a good story with your life and make sure to write yourself as the protagonist. Be the hero of your journey.” – Yossi Ghinsberg
30. “If there’s one message I want people to take away, it’s never compromise being your authentic self. Even if that means making others uncomfortable.” – Halima Aden
31. “To me, beauty is confidence. I think beauty comes from one’s confident inner self and attitude. Make-up and styling are the cherries on top of your beautiful inner-self.” – Lisa
31. “It seems that it is madder never to abandon one’s self than often to be infatuated. Better to be wounded, a captive and a slave, than always to walk in armor.” – Margaret Fuller
32. “Be that self which one truly is.” – Søren Kierkegaard
33. “When we don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, we always say, “Oh, I’m so lonely. I want a date,” or something like that. But I think the biggest love we’re all searching for is the love for one’s self.” – RM
34. “When you feel comfortable, you carry yourself in a way that means you can be your true self.” – Leah Williamson
35. “The burden of the self is lightened when I laugh at myself.” – Rabindranath Tagore
36. “What a blind person needs is not a teacher but another self.” – Helen Keller
37. “Sometimes I wish that I could go into a time machine right now and just look at myself and say, “Calm down. Things are gonna be fine. Things are gonna be all great. Just relax.”” – Tristan Wilds
38. “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” – Maya Angelou
39. “If you don’t love yourself, nobody will. Not only that, you won’t be good at loving anyone else.” – Wayne Dyer
40. “When you are compassionate with yourself, you trust in your soul, which you let guide your life.” – John O’Donohue
45. “There is an amazing power in getting to know your inner self and learning how to use it and not fight with the world. If you know what makes you happy – your personality, interests, and capabilities – just use them, and everything else flows beautifully.” – Juhi Chawla
46. “I’m always trying to prove to my 17-year-old self that I can do creative things I thought weren’t possible.” – Virgil Abloh
47. “Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.” – Ray Bradbury
48. “I believe, as human beings, we sometimes indulge in self pity more than it’s necessary. Over my life’s journey, I have realised that overthinking about your problems and indulging in self-pity is not the answer to get through tough times.” – Sonali Bendre
Inspirational Quotes for Kids
Children don’t always need long speeches, sometimes, a simple sentence can plant a seed of confidence, kindness, or courage. That’s the magic of inspirational quotes for kids, the right words can stick with them for years. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or mentor, feel free to share them out loud or write them somewhere they’ll be noticed and remembered.
1. “Perfection is boring. Constant improvement is beautiful.” – Misty Copeland
2. “Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.” – Peter Marshall
3. “I may not be there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday.” – José N. Harris
4. “Never give up on your dreams.” – Unknown
5. “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
6. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
7. “There is no substitute for hard work.” – Thomas Edison
8. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
9. “Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine
10. “The expert in anything was once a beginner.” – Helen Hayes
11. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
12. “Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose.” – G.K. Nielson
13. “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!” – Dr. Seuss
14. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
15. “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford
16. “You can do anything you set your mind to.” – Unknown
17. “The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.” – B.B. King
18. “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln
19. “If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney
20. “The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.” – Brian Herbert
21. “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” – Dalai Lama
22. “The man who does not read books has no advantage over the one who cannot read them.” – Mark Twain
23. “Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.” – Chinese Proverb
24. “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” – Thomas Edison
25. “When you think you have made a mistake, think of it as an opportunity to make something new.” – Barney Saltzberg
26. “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” – Henry Ford
27. “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein
28. “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein
29. “Believe in yourself.” – Unknown
30. “You grow through what you go through.” – Tyrese Gibson
32. “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” – Matt Biondi
33. “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
34. “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne
35. “The most important thing is not to be afraid to make mistakes.” – Anonymous
36. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” – Richard Branson
37. “Effort is between you and you. Nobody else.” – Unknown
38. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss
39. “You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward.” – Conrad Hall
40. “It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
41. “The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.” – Swati Sharma
42. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair
42. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball
43. “With confidence, you have won before you have started.” – Marcus Garvey
44. “You’re never too young to dream big.” – Unknown
45. “Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” – Dr. Benjamin Spock
46. “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne
47. “You cannot be lonely if you like the person you’re alone with.” – Wayne Dyer
48. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
49. “No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop
50. “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” – Maya Angelou
51. “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” – Margaret Thatcher
52. “Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” – Rikki Rogers
53. “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” – Helen Keller
54. “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” – Dalai Lama XIV
55. “It doesn’t matter if thousands of people believe in you, unless you believe in you.” – Maddy Malhotra
56. “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” – Buddha
57. “You are enough just as you are.” – Meghan Markle
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