Looking for inspirational quotes to help you find your motivation?
Youโre not alone: everyone once in a while, we all need to find motivation and inspiration to help us take that next step towards success and happiness. And for some of us, a good and powerful quote at the right moment can make all the difference for our mindset.
With that in mind, Iโve put together this list of 200+ of my favourite inspirational quotes to help you find the motivation and inspiration you need.
Youโll find quotes about success and failure, about quitting and making mistakes, about hope and dreams โ and so many others.
But before we get to the quotes though, here a couple of strategies to help you find motivation when there doesnโt seem to be any โ strategies that I regularly use to find inspiration and motivation for myself:
Set goals for yourself
Sometimes, giving yourself a clear focus can help you find the motivation you need to get things done.
And the best way to give yourself focus is by setting goals for yourself. Using milestones, you can track your progress towards achieving these goals and motivate yourself as youโre getting closer and closer towards achieving your goals.
There really isnโt anything more powerful than seeing the results youโre working towards coming true โ and goals can help you get that.
Work on your mindset
Achieving a positive mindset can work wonders on your self-confidence and help you get inspired and motivated.
Working on your mindset is a continuous process and something that you should work on constantly as it will help you both mentally and physically: youโll be less stressed, more inspired, and better prepared to take on the world โ and win.
Here are a few useful tips to help you achieve a positive mindset:
Try to see the positive side in things: make a conscious choice to see the positive side of things, rather than the negative
Try to surround yourself with positivity and positive people โ and remove negativity as much as possible from your life
Take breaks and recharge โ too much work and too much stress will only decrease your productivity and make you feel down
Inspirational quotes about success and failure
Success and failure are incredibly intertwined โ in fact, I would go so far as to say that there is no success without some failure along the way. And as these powerful quotes will show you, failure is not the end: itโs just one painful step towards achieving success:
โI have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.โ
โ Thomas A. Edison
โSuccess is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.โ
โ Winston S. Churchill
โI can’t give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.โ
โ Herbert Bayard Swope
โYou never fail until you stop trying.โ
โ Albert Einstein
โThe worst part of success is trying to find someone who is happy for you.โ โ Bette Midler
โSuccess is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.โ โ W. P. Kinsella
โHave no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.โ โ Salvador Dali
โFailure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.โ โ Truman Capote
โSuccess is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.โ โ Winston S. Churchill
โIf A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shutโ โ Albert Einstein
โRemember the two benefits of failure. First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn’t work; and second, the failure gives you the opportunity to try a new approach.โ โ Roger Von Oech
โI’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down.โ โ Abraham Lincoln
โIt is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.โ โ Theodore Roosevelt
โIt had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.โ โ Leonardo da Vinci
โA man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.โ โ Bob Dylan
โMany of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.โ โ Thomas A. Edison
โJust because you fail once doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail at everything.โ โ Marilyn Monroe
โOnly those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.โ โ Robert F. Kennedy
โIf you try and lose then it isn’t your fault. But if you don’t try and we lose, then it’s all your fault.โ โ Orson Scott Card
โWe are all failures – at least the best of us are.โ โ J.M. Barrie
โJudge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.โ โ Dalai Lama XIV
โThe difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.โ โ Vince Lombardi
โI’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint – and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you. โ โ Oprah Winfrey
โAlways bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.โ โ Abraham Lincoln
โNever was anything great achieved without danger.โ โ Niccolo Machiavelli
โThe three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.โ โ Thomas A. Edison
โRich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.โ โ Zig Ziglar
โSuccess does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.โ โ George Bernard Shaw
โYouโre not obligated to win. Youโre obligated to keep trying. To the best you can do everyday.โ โ Jason Mraz
โThe only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down.โ โ Stephen Richards
โFailure is a bend in the road, not the end of the road. Learn from failure and keep moving forward.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โThe good news is that the moment you decide that what you know is more important than what you have been taught to believe, you will have shifted gears in your quest for abundance. Success comes from within, not from without.โ โ Ralph Waldo Emerson
โEighty percent of success is showing up.โ โ Woody Allen
โSuccess is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.โ โ Joyce Brothers
โIf you care about what you do and work hard at it, there isn’t anything you can’t do if you want to.โ โ Jim Henson
โPeople rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.โ โ Dale Carnegie
โTo be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great.โ โ HEGEL
โYou must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.โ โ Michael Jordan
โI want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.โ โ Amelia Earhart
โSuccess is a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don’t quit when you’re tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.โ โ Robert Strauss
โThere is no failure except in no longer trying.โ โ Elbert Hubbard
โDoubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.โ โ Suzy Kassem
โFailure is constructive feedback that tells you to try a different approach to accomplish what you want.โ โ Idowu Koyenikan
โAll the time you’re saying to yourself, ‘I could do that, but I won’t,’ โ which is just another way of saying that you can’t.โ โ Richard P. Feynman
โMissing a train is only painful if you run after it! Likewise, not matching the idea of success others expect from you is only painful if thatโs what you are seeking.โ โ Nassim Nicholas Taleb
โThe test of success is not what you do when you are on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom.โ โ George S. Patton Jr.
โThere are no secrets to success: donโt waste time looking for them. Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom you work, and persistence.โ โ Colin Powell
โYour success and happiness lie in you.โ โ Helen Keller
โAct the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you’d like to act.โ โ Bob Dylan
โDoing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next momentโ โ Oprah Winfrey
โIt’s failure that gives you the proper perspective on success.โ โ Ellen DeGeneres
โDon’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. โ โ John R Wooden
โIt’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.โ โ Mark Twain
โTrees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.โ โ Moliere
Inspirational quotes about hope and dreams
Dreaming and hoping is something that you should never let go โ age has nothing to do with it.
โIt is never too late to be what you might have been.โ โ George Eliot
โEverything you can imagine is real.โ โ Pablo Picasso
โThe future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.โ โ Eleanor Roosevelt
โIt’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.โ โ Paulo Coelho
โNothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!โ โ Audrey Hepburn
โWhat I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.โ โ Suzanne Collins
โDon’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โDon’t be afraid of your fears. They’re not there to scare you. They’re there to let you know that something is worth it.โ โ C. JoyBell C.
โYou see things; you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?โ โ George Bernard Shaw
โWhere there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.โ โ Rumi
Motivational and inspirational quotes
Here, Iโve put together some of my favourite motivational and inspirational quotes โ for whenever you need that extra pick-me-up, for those difficult days and for all those trying times:
โBe yourself; everyone else is already taken.โ โ Oscar Wilde
โBe the change that you wish to see in the world.โ โ Mahatma Gandhi
โNo one can make you feel inferior without your consent.โ โ Eleanor Roosevelt
โWe are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.โ โ Oscar Wilde
โYou have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…โ โ Dr. Seuss
โMake improvements, not excuses. Seek respect, not attention.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โWhatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.โ โ Napoleon Hill
โDo what you can, with what you have, where you are.โ โ Theodore Roosevelt
โWhen 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.โ โ Helen Keller
โWhen I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.โ โ Lao Tzu
โIf you’re waiting until you feel talented enough to make it, you’ll never make it.โ โ Criss Jami
“Confidence is like a dragon where, for every head cut off, two more heads grow back.โ โ Criss Jami
โBe grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals. If you arenโt grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more?โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โA ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.โ โ John A. Shedd
โThe past has no power over the present moment.โ โ Eckhart Tolle
โThe most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.โ โ Alice Walker
โItโs no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.โ โ Lewis Carroll
โLive in the present, remember the past, and fear not the future, for it doesn’t exist and never shall. There is only now.โ โ Christopher Paolini
โWhat you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.โ โ Maya Angelou
โYou can’t live your life for other people. You’ve got to do what’s right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.โ โ Nicholas Sparks
โThe universe doesnโt give you what you ask for with your thoughts – it gives you what you demand with your actions.โ โ Steve Maraboli
โI don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.โ โ Anne Frank
โNever be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.โ โ Harvey Fierstein
โWanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.โ โ Marilyn Monroe
โThe question is not what you look at, but what you see.โ โ Henry David Thoreau
โKeep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.โ โ Walt Whitman
โI’d rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.โ โ Kurt Cobain
โWhat lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.โ โ Ralph Waldo Emerson
โIt is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped. โ โ Anthony Robbins
โThe merit of all things lies in their difficulty.โ โ Alexandre Dumas
โOne of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. And so when I hear about negative and false attacks, I really don’t invest any energy in them, because I know who I am.โ โ Michelle Obama
โDon’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.โ โ H. Jackson Brown Jr.
โWhatever you are, be a good one.โ โ Abraham Lincoln
โIf my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.โ โ Rick Riordan
โMore smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โHaving a low opinion of yourself is not ‘modesty.’ It’s self-destruction. Holding your uniqueness in high regard is not ‘egotism.’ It’s a necessary precondition to happiness and success.โ โ Bobbe Sommer
โI must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.โ โ Frank Herbert
โTake responsibility of your own happiness, never put it in other peopleโs hands.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โThe mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..โ โ John Milton
โIt is so hard to leaveโuntil you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world.โ โ John Green
โTurn your wounds into wisdom.โ โ Oprah Winfrey
โAttitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โIt isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.โ โ Dale Carnegie
โDon’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.โ โ Robert Louis Stevenson
โBut I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.โ โ Martin Luther King, Jr.
โNone but ourselves can free our minds.โ โ Bob Marley
โThe secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.โ โ Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai
โThe past is a place of reference, not a place of residence; the past is a place of learning, not a place of living.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โInstead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โSometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being.โ โ Albert Schweitzer
โNo amount of regretting can change the past, and no amount of worrying can change the future.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โAsk for what you want and be prepared to get it!โ โ Maya Angelou
โShoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.โ โ Norman Vincent Peale
โBe steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work.โ โ Gustave Flaubert
โI figured something out. The future is unpredictable.โ โ John Green
โWhatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.โ โ Ralph Waldo Emerson
โI have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn’t learn something from him.โ โ Galileo Galilei
โEven if you are on the right track, youโll get run over if you just sit there.โ โ Will Rogers
โPeople say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.โ โ A.A. Milne
โAccept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โDon’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door. โ โ Coco Chanel
โThere was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one.โ โ Kazuo Ishiguro
โYou cannot control the behavior of others, but you can always choose how you respond to it.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โLack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.โ โ Zig Ziglar
Inspirational quotes about creativity, imagination and daring
In order to be successful and keep growing, you sometimes need to look inside and find your creativity and your imagination:
โImperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.โ โ Marilyn Monroe
โI am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.โ โ Albert Einstein
โAlways do what you are afraid to do.โ โ Ralph Waldo Emerson
โDo not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.โ โ Ralph Waldo Emerson
โI love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.โ โ Maya Angelou
โThe Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger–but recognize the opportunity.โ โ John F. Kennedy
โThe thing about growing up with Fred and George,” said Ginny thoughtfully, “is that you sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.โ โ J. K. Rowling
โIt is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.โ โ Herman Melville
Inspirational quotes about making mistakes
We all make mistakes, big and small. But itโs what you do after that truly counts:
โDo what you feel in your heart to be right โ for youโll be criticized anyway.โ โ Eleanor Roosevelt
โIsn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?โ โ L.M. Montgomery
โโThough nobody can go back and make a new beginning… Anyone can start over and make a new ending.โ โ Chico Xavier
โDon’t confuse poor decision-making with destiny. Own your mistakes. Itโs ok; we all make them. Learn from them so they can empower you!โ โ Steve Maraboli
โWe don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.โ โ Bob Ross
โIf you make a mistake and do not correct it, this is called a mistake.โ โ Confucius
โWell, we all make mistakes, dear, so just put it behind you. We should regret our mistakes and learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us.โ โ L.M. Montgomery
Inspirational quotes about quitting, perseverance and adversity
Perseverance is arguably the most important factor that leads to success. Along the way, youโll meet with failure and adversity numerous times โ itโs those who have the strength and the courage to persevere and never quit even in the most trying of times, that make it.
โYou can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.โ โ A.A. Milne
โAnd once the storm is over, you wonโt remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You wonโt even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you wonโt be the same person who walked in. Thatโs what this stormโs all about.โ โ Haruki Murakami
โIf you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.โ โ Martin Luther King Jr.
โI like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow; but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.โ โ Agatha Christie
โOnce you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.โ โ Vince Lombardi
โIt’s kind of fun to do the impossible.โ โ Walt Disney
โPain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.โ โ Lance Armstrong Sally Jenkins
โIt’s always to soon to quit!โ โ Norman Vincent Peale
โItโs only after youโve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform.โ โ Roy T. Bennett
โโLife is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.โ โ Voltaire
โA quitter never wins-and-a winner never quits.โ โ Napoleon Hill
โIt does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.โ โ Confucius
โTry a little harder to be a little better.โ โ Gordon B. Hinckley
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.โ โ Oliver Goldsmith
โAt the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets.โ โ Steve Maraboli
โKites rise highest against the wind, not with it.โ โ Winston S. Churchill
โCourage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength.โ โ Napoleon Bonaparte
โIf you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.โ โ Nora Roberts
โThe higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.โ โ Friedrich Nietzsche
โIf you are going through hell, keep going.โ โ Winston S. Churchill
โRivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.โ โ A.A. Milne
โYou may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.โ โ Maya Angelou
โThe man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.โ โ Confucius
โIt always seems impossible until it’s done.โ โ Nelson Mandela
โCourage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.โ โ Mary Anne Radmacher
โI am a slow walker, but I never walk back.โ โ Abraham Lincoln
โNever confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.โ โ F. Scott Fitzgerald
โEven if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.โ โ Martin Luther
โIf you fell down yesterday, stand up today.โ โ H.G. Wells
โContinuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.โ โ Winston S. Churchill
โDripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.โ โ Ovid
โEvery strike brings me closer to the next home run.โ โ Babe Ruth
โWhen things go wrong, don’t go with them.โ
โ Elvis Presley
โWhen you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.โ โ Franklin D. Roosevelt
โYour first 10,000 photographs are your worst.โ โ Henri Cartier-Bresson
โMost 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.โ โ Dale Carnegie
โ…A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight.โ โ Brandon Sanderson
โIt does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.โ โ Andy Warhol
โI tried always to do better: saw always a little further. I tried to stretch myself.โ โ Audrey Hepburn
โAfter climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.โ โ Nelson Mandela
โTo reach a port we must set sail โ Sail, not tie at anchor Sail, not drift.โ โ Franklin D. Roosevelt
โCharacter consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.โ โ James A. Michener
โYour friends will believe in your potential, your enemies will make you live up to it.โ โ Tim Fargo
โIt’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.โ โ Anthony Robbins
โChange is hardest at the beginning, messiest in the middle and best at the end.โ โ Robin Sharma
โThere are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.โ โ Franklin D. Roosevelt
โPerseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.โ โ Julie Andrews Edwards
โFew things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.โ โ Samuel Johnson
โWhen you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself.โ โ Isak Dinesen
โNothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.โ โ St. Catherine of Siena
โPerseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.โ โ Newt Gingrich
โHe who can have patience can have what he will.โ โ Benjamin Franklin
โThere always comes a time in life where you can either give up or step up.โ โ Graeme Rodaughan
โIn the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins, not through strength but by perseverance.โ โ H. Jackson Brown
โEverything works out in the end. if it hasn’t worked out yet, then it’s not the end.โ โ Tracy McMillan
โWith ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainableโ โ Thomas Fowell Buxton
โIf the road is easy, you’re likely going the wrong way.โ โ Terry Goodkind
โNothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficultyโฆ I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.โ โ Theodore Roosevelt
โDifficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.โ โ Lucius Annaeus Seneca
โI think that little by little I’ll be able to solve my problems and survive.โ โ Frida Kahlo
โLife always begins with one step outside of your comfort zone.โ โ Shannon L. Alder
Conclusion
I hope that these quotes have helped you find what you needed to find your motivation and inspiration and improve your mindset.
Reaching success is not easy: remember that failure is a part of it โ and you will have to face it, time and time again โ and that only by persevering, you can make it.