Motivational quotes can help us find inspiration when we need it, they can help us understand our own emotions and give us a little wisdom to see things differently.
Some people say words are cheap, but the right word at the right time can be the difference between success and failure, pushing on and giving up, or resilience and suffering.
So if you’re looking for words to help you deal with a difficult time in your life, start a business, or help with your well-being, having the right words in your back pocket could give you the difference you need.
So, let’s have a look at exactly what motivation is, what tools we can use to motivate ourselves, and a load of motivational quotes to give you the edge you need for whatever you might be going through.
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motivational quotes on life
“If you live in harmony with nature youwill never be poor; if you live accordingto what others think, you will never be rich.” – Seneca
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” -Oscar Wilde
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” -Thomas Jefferson
“If you are distressed by anythingexternal, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it;and this you have the power to revokeat any moment.” – Marcus Aurelius
“If you really want to escape the things that harass you,what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.” – Seneca
“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” – Ernest Hemingway
“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” —Paulo Coelho
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” — Maya Angelou
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” –Jim Ryun
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” —Abraham Lincoln
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” ―Eleanor Roosevelt
“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love…” – Marcus Aurelius
“The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” – Thucydides
motivational quotes for students
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” —Malcolm X
“The man who does not read books has no advantage over the one who cannot read them.” —Mark Twain
“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” —B.B. King
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” —Albert Einstein
“Procrastination makes easy things hard and hard things harder.” —Mason Cooley
“The expert in anything was once a beginner.” —Helen Hayes
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” –Walt Disney
“I think it’s possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.” —Elon Musk
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” —Amelia Earhart
“You’ll find that education is just about the only thing lying around loose in this world, and it’s about the only thing a fellow can have as much of as he’s willing to haul away.” —John Graham
motivational quotes for success
“Much effort, much prosperity.” – Euripides
“There is no success without hardship.” – Sophocles
“My powers are ordinary. Only my application brings me success.” – Isaac Newton
“Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso
“Don’t explain your philosophy.Embody it.” – Epictetus
“There is only one way to happiness andthat is to cease worrying about thingswhich are beyond the power or our will.” – Epictetus
“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.” -Lao Tzu
“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.” -Lao Tzu
“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” — Dale Carnegie
“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” ― Confucius
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” —Winston Churchill
“Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.” – Confucius
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
“Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.” – C. S. Lewis
motivational quotes for work
“How much time he gains who does notlook to see what his neighbour says or doesor thinks, but only at what he does himself,to make it just and holy.” – Marcus Aurelius
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” – Sun Tzu
“Great acts are made up of small deeds.” -Lao Tzu
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” —Beverly Stills
“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” –Thomas Jefferson
“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” – Stephen Hawking
“If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.” – John D. Rockefeller
“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” – Alexander Graham Bell
“We cannot solve problems with the kind of thinking we employed when we came up with them.” — Albert Einstein
powerful motivational quotes
“Circ*mstances don’t make the man, they only reveal him to himself.” – Epictetus
“Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, stupid people already have all the answers.” –Socrates
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
“You must completely control your desire and shift your avoidance to what lies within your reasoned choice. You must no longer feel anger, resentment, envy, or regret.” – Epictetus
“Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.” – Marcus Aurelius
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“I am not a product of my circ*mstances. I am a product of my decisions.” —Stephen R. Covey
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
“Stay away from those people who try to disparage your ambitions. Small minds will always do that, but great minds will give you a feeling that you can become great too.” — Mark Twain
“When you give joy to other people, you get more joy in return. You should give a good thought to happiness that you can give out.”— Eleanor Roosevelt
“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” – Wayne Dyer
motivational quotes for self-improvement
“Any person capable of angering you becomesyour master; he can anger you only when youpermit yourself to be disturbed by him.” – Epictetus
“He is a wise man who does not grieve forthe things which he has not, but rejoicesfor those which he has. ” – Epictetus
“It is not death that a man should fear, but rather he should fear never beginning to live.” – Marcus Aurelius
“True wisdom comes to each of us when werealize how little we understand about life,ourselves, and the world around us.” – Socrates
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” — Albert Einstein
“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.” — Nietzsche
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius
“Your focus should be on becoming a type of person you want to be, not a specific goal” ― James Clear
“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” —Andrew Carnegie
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” —Albert Einstein
“If a man knows not to which port he sails, no windis favourable.” – Seneca
“Nothing, to my way of thinking, is a better proofof a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stopjust where he is and pass some time in his own company.” – Seneca
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” – Epictetus
“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
“Always be yourself and have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and try to duplicate it.” -Bruce Lee
“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many–not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” -Charles Dickens
short motivational quotes
“Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Hope for tomorrow.” –Albert Einstein
“None of us is as smart as all of us.” —Ken Blanchard
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela
“They succeed, because they think they can.” – Virgil
“Failure is success in progress.” – Albert Einstein
“Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.” – John F. Kennedy
“We will fail when we fail to try.” — Rosa Parks
“Don’t count the days, make the days count.” — Muhammad Ali
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” ―Theodore Roosevelt
“Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.” — Dalai Lama
“The soul becomes dyed withthe colour of its thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.” -Paulo Coelho
“All cruelty springs from weakness.” – Seneca
“It does not matter what you bear, but how you bear it.” – Seneca
“Death smiles at us all; all we can do is smile back.”- Marcus Aurelius
“Given that all must die, it is better to die with distinction than to live long.” – Musonius Rufus
Motivational quotes for entrepreneurs
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas A. Edison
“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” — George Bernard Shaw
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” —Walt Disney
“You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.” —Confucius
“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
“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” —Winston Churchill
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” – Elon Musk
“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” —Calvin Coolidge
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus. “ — Alexander Graham Bell
“The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way.” – Dale Carnegie
“Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death stands at your elbow. Be good for something while you live and it is in your power.” – Marcus Aurelius
What is motivation?
Motivation is a tricky thing; it can come in waves, and sometimes it’s not there when we want it and pops up when we least expect it.
Its the fuel that kicks us into action and, in some cases, hints at our purpose and value. It’s the thing that prompts us to take action, whether it’s driven by internal desires or external influences.
Motivation, while difficult to find 100% of the time, is a crucial element in setting and achieving goals. It can come from cultural values, social dynamics, and psychological needs.
How to motivate yourself: 3 simple Methods
Set Specific and Achievable Goals:
This one’s straight out of the workplace playbook.
Setting yourself clear, specific goals provides you with a set of actions that, when done right, provide stepping stones to get you where you want to go.
When goals are achievable and broken down into smaller milestones, it not only makes the task seem less daunting but also provides a little bit of accomplishment along the way.
This approach taps into the principle of progress, where each small success fuels the drive to achieve more.
Create a Positive Mindset:
A fair few of the quotes up above are about mindset. If we believe in our ability to get a result, we are far more able to stay motivated.
If doubt starts to creep in, we need to find a way to address it and push it back.
By regularly practicing positive self-talk and affirmations, we can shift our mindset from a focus on obstacles to a focus on possibilities.
This mental shift can increase resilience and the willingness to tackle challenges.
Leverage the Power of Habit:
Building habits around the actions needed to achieve goals can make progress feel more automatic and less effortful.
Starting with small, manageable habits that align with one’s goals and gradually building on them creates a foundation for sustained motivation.
The key is consistency; over time, these habits become ingrained, making it easier to maintain momentum.
