Notable Inspiring Quotes From Famous People

Many of the following quotes are from unsaved people, but they are inspiring none the less. Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) used to wisely say, “Every man is my teacher.” There is something that we can learn from every human being. ...

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone. —Alan Watts

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. —Alice Walker

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. —Anaïs Nin

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before beginning to improve the world. —Anne Frank

Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. —Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Every birthday is a gift. Every day is a gift. —Aretha Franklin

You cannot define a person on just one thing. You can’t just forget all these wonderful and good things that a person has done because one thing didn’t come off the way you thought it should come off. —Aretha Franklin

Happiness does not consist in pastimes and amusements but in virtuous activities. —Aristotle

Nothing is impossible; the word itself says ‘I’m possible’! —Audrey Hepburn

Someday is not a day of the week. —Author Unknown

Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today. —Benjamin Franklin

Well done is better than well said. —Benjamin Franklin

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. —Buddha

So often people are working hard at the wrong thing. Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard. —Caterina Fake

We need to start work with the idea that we’re going to learn every day. I learn, even at my position, every single day. —Chanda Kochhar

The most powerful control we can ever attain, is to be in control of ourselves. —Chris Page

There is only one success--to be able to spend your life in your own way. —Christopher Morley

Procrastination is like a credit card: it's a lot of fun until you get the bill. —Christopher Parker

The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. —Confucius

Whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you are withholding from the world. —Eckhart Tolle

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself. —Eleanor Roosevelt

If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more. —Erica Jong

Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration and inspiration. —Evan Esar

Good manners will often take people where neither money nor education will take them. —Fanny Jackson Coppin

Inaction will cause a man to sink into the slough of despond and vanish without a trace. —Farley Mowat

By constant self-discipline and self-control, you can develop greatness of character. —Grenville Kleiser

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. —Helen Keller

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold. —Helen Keller

Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake. —Henry David Thoreau

In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity. Henry —Wadsworth Longfellow

Rule your mind or it will rule you. —Horace

Our humanity is worth a little discomfort, it's actually worth a lot of discomfort. —Ijeoma Oluo

There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there. —Indira Gandhi

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. —James Baldwin

What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. —Jane Goodall

Life without endeavor is like entering a jewel mine and coming out with empty hands. —Japanese Proverb

Do today what others won't and achieve tomorrow what others can't. —Jerry Rice

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. —Katharine Hepburn

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. —Lao Tzu

Great acts are made up of small deeds. —Lao Tzu

The flame that burns Twice as bright burns half as long. —Lao Tzu

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. —Lao Tzu

Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination. —Mae C. Jemison

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. —Mae West

When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful. —Malala Yousafzai

No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger than its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise. —Marian Anderson

The minute a person whose word means a great deal to others dare to take the open-hearted and courageous way, many others follow. —Marian Anderson

We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained. —Marie Curie

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. —Martin Luther

We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. —Martin Luther King Jr.

The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important. —Martin Luther King Jr.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. —Martin Luther King Jr.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. —Martin Luther King Jr.

Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others. —Martin Luther King Jr.

You 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. —Maya Angelou

If you’re always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be. —Maya Angelou

If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded. —Maya Angelou

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. —Maya Angelou

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying. —Michael Jordan

There are still many causes worth sacrificing for, so much history yet to be made. —Michelle Obama

True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline. —Mortimer J. Adler

You create opportunities by performing, not complaining. —Muriel Siebert

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness. —Napoleon Hill

If you can't do great things, do small things in a great way. —Napoleon Hill

There’s a myth that time is money. In fact, time is more precious than money. It’s a nonrenewable resource. Once you’ve spent it, and if you’ve spent it badly, it’s gone forever. —Neil A. Fiore

Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim. —Nora Ephron

If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough. —Oprah Winfrey

My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment. —Oprah Winfrey

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. —Paul Valery

Idleness is only the refuge of weak minds, and the holiday of fools. —Philip Dormer Stanhope

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. —Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the secrets to staying young is to always do things you don’t know how to do, to keep learning. —Ruth Reichl

If you do not have courage, you may not have the opportunity to use any of your other virtues. —Samuel L. Jackson

Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else. —Sara Blakely

Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week. —Spanish Proverb

At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets. —Steve Maraboli

If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner. —Tallulah Bankhead

You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute. —Tina Fey

This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time. —Tyler Durden, Fight Club

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will. —Vince Lombardi Jr.

If we don't discipline ourselves, the world will do it for us. —William Feather

We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls. —Winston Churchill

Do, or do not. There is no try. —Yoda