We all need motivation and inspirational words to push us forward when we feel like losers. Challenges will come and go, and they’ll definitely stay with us if we want to chase our goals. And when we don’t have anything, a few words of wisdom can surely make us move forward by taking action instead of thinking about it. That’s why we’ve collected over 200 inspirational quotes about life and success. Let’s dive in!
Best Inspirational Quotes About Life
Happiness and Fulfillment
“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama
“Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.” – Dale Carnegie
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” – Dr. Seuss
“Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” – Robert Brault
“Happiness depends upon ourselves.” – Aristotle
“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” – Dalai Lama
“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” – John Lennon
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything.” – Unknown
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Be happy with what you have. Be excited about what you want.” – Alan Cohen
“Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.” – Frank Tyger
“The key to being happy is knowing you have the power to choose what to accept and what to let go.” – Dodinsky
“Happiness is a direction, not a place.” – Sydney J. Harris
“Happiness is a state of activity.” – Aristotle
“There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved.” – George Sand
“If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone.” – Chinese Proverb
“Sometimes happiness is just a matter of perspective.” – Unknown
“Joy is not in things; it is in us.” – Richard Wagner
“Your happiness depends on your mindset and attitude.” – Roy T. Bennett
“Happiness is contagious; surround yourself with happy souls.” – Unknown
Overcoming Challenges
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair
“Difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter.” – Dan Reeves
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” – Robert H. Schuller
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Challenges are what make life interesting, and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine
“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne
“The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” – C.S. Lewis
“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” – J.K. Rowling
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
“Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“A winner is just a loser who tried one more time.” – George M. Moore Jr.
“A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” – Duke Ellington
“We don’t grow when things are easy; we grow when we face challenges.” – Unknown
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford
“A river cuts through rock not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” – Jim Watkins
“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” – Molière
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” – Henry Ford
“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” – Margaret Thatcher
“The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.” – Robert Tew
Success Quotes to Motivate You
Achieving Greatness
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” – Chris Grosser
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” – Estée Lauder
“Your limitation—it’s only your imagination.” – Unknown
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
“If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” – Steve Jobs
“Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” – Roy T. Bennett
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy
“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” – Suzy Kassem
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” – C.S. Lewis
“Great things never come from comfort zones.” – Unknown
“Push yourself, because no one else is going to do it for you.” – Unknown
“The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.” – Les Brown
“Your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude.” – Michelle Obama
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” – Thomas Jefferson
“Everything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” – J.K. Rowling
“Champions keep playing until they get it right.” – Billie Jean King
The Power of Hard Work
“Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.” – Thomas Edison
“Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” – George S. Patton
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” – Colin Powell
“Believe in yourself, work hard, and never give up.” – Unknown
“Dream big, start small, act now.” – Robin Sharma
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” – Estée Lauder
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” – Tim Notke
“Do not whine… do not complain. Work harder. Spend more time alone.” – Joan Didion
“A dream does not become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.” – Colin Powell
“Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – Jim Rohn
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” – Thomas Jefferson
“If you want to achieve greatness stop asking for permission.” – Unknown
“Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.” – Oprah Winfrey
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” – Albert Einstein
“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
“Without hustle, talent will only carry you so far.” – Gary Vaynerchuk
“Hard work spotlights the character of people.” – Sam Ewing
“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson
“Nothing worth having comes easy.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Work hard in silence, let success make the noise.” – Frank Ocean
“Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.” – Ann Landers
“I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” – Stephen Leacock
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
“Nobody who ever gave their best regretted it.” – George Halas
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney
“Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden
Quotes About Self-Improvement
Becoming the Best Version of Yourself
“Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” – Albert Einstein
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde
“If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down.” – Toni Morrison
“Make the most of yourself… for that is all there is of you.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Growth and comfort do not coexist.” – Ginni Rometty
“Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” – Robin Sharma
“Your potential is endless. Go do what you were created to do.” – Unknown
“Progress, not perfection.” – Unknown
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. It’s about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw
“Embrace the glorious mess that you are.” – Elizabeth Gilbert
“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot
“Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be; embrace who you are.” – Brené Brown
“The best investment you can make is in yourself.” – Warren Buffett
“The greatest wealth is to live content with little.” – Plato
Personal Growth & Mindset
“A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.” – Nelson Mandela
“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” – Confucius
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain
“Believe you can, and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.” – Roy T. Bennett
“Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.” – Robert Kiyosaki
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller
“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” – Jim Rohn
“You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.” – Buddha
“Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” – Zig Ziglar
“The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” – Booker T. Washington
“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill
“You are the master of your fate, the captain of your soul.” – William Ernest Henley
“Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.” – Maya Angelou
“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” – Will Rogers
“He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.” – Confucius
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Your beliefs don’t make you a better person, your behavior does.” – Unknown
More Powerful Quotes to Keep You Inspired
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
“Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.” – Roy T. Bennett
“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” – Oprah Winfrey
“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” – Suzy Kassem
“Small steps in the right direction can turn out to be the biggest step of your life.” – Unknown
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Dream big and dare to fail.” – Norman Vaughan
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” – Nido Qubein
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
“Great things never come from comfort zones.” – Unknown
“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne
“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” – Chris Grosser
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” – C.S. Lewis
“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
“Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
Bonus Quotes
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar
“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” – Walter Elliot
“The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” – Colin R. Davis
“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” – William Butler Yeats
“When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” – Carol Burnett
“Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it.” – Napoleon Hill
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” – George Addair
“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen R. Covey
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Your mind is a powerful thing. When you fill it with positive thoughts, your life will start to change.” – Unknown
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” – Epictetus
“Work hard on yourself more than you do on your job.” – Jim Rohn
“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.” – William James
“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” – Norman Vincent Peale
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar
“Happiness depends on your mindset and attitude.” – Roy T. Bennett
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
Read Some More
“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama
“Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.” – Peter Marshall
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” – Maya Angelou
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou
“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” – Oprah Winfrey
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“You were born to be real, not to be perfect.” – Unknown
“The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open.” – Chuck Palahniuk
“The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness.” – William Saroyan
“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.” – Albert Einstein
“Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.” – John Barrymore
“To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.” – Albert Camus
“Happiness is not having what you want. It is appreciating what you have.” – Unknown
“True happiness arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of oneself.” – Joseph Addison
“The secret to happiness is to put yourself in the right mental state, not wait for life to do it for you.” – Unknown
Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.” – Winston Churchill
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” – Henry Ford
“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott
Final Thoughts!
Success and happiness are both within your reach. These 200 inspirational quotes about life and success serve as reminders that mindset, perseverance, and hard work are key ingredients to achieving greatness. Whenever you feel down or stuck, revisit these words and let them fuel your journey forward.
What’s your favorite quote from the list? Let me know in the comments below!
