Common sense is not so common.— Voltaire
Inspirational Quotes
Not the tired posters — real inspirational quotes with something behind them. From people who did the hard thing and wrote down what they learned. Save the ones that reach you.
80 quotes
More topics ›Doubt is the origin of wisdom.— Rene Descartes
The beginning is always today.— Mary Shelley
Becoming is better than being.— Carol S. Dweck
There's always another secret.— Brandon Sanderson
You're stronger than you know.— Kristin Cashore
All knowledge is worth having.— Jacqueline Carey
Slow and steady wins the race.— Aesop
It's always too early to quit.— Norman Vincent Peale
We become what we think about.— Earl Nightingale
Leap, and the net will appear.— John Burroughs
Comparison is the thief of joy.— Theodore Roosevelt
Know what it is you want to do.— Sally Coulter
The wisest of the wise may err.— Aeschylus
You can be happy where you are.— Joel Osteen
We must imagine Sisyphus happy.— Albert Camus
Wisdom comes through suffering.— Christopher Paolini
Fall seven times, get up eight.— Japanese Proverb
No man was ever wise by chance.— Seneca
I will persist until I succeed.— Og Mandino
Make each day your masterpiece.— John Wooden
Lost time is never found again.— Benjamin Franklin
The storm will pass. Outlast it.— Thema Davis
The phoenix must burn to emerge.— Janet Fitch
Whatever you are, be a good one.— Abraham Lincoln
It's just a drop in the bucket,.— Doe Zantamata
Confine yourself to the present.— Marcus Aurelius
Things do not change; we change.— Henry David Thoreau
Past tears are present strength.— George MacDonald
A gentle word opens an iron gate.— Bulgarian proverb
Be so good they can't ignore you.— Steve Martin
Fall seven times, stand up eight.— Japanese Proverb
Happiness depends upon ourselves.— Aristotle
Learning never exhausts the mind.— Leonardo da Vinci
The only way to learn is to live.— Matt Haig
Angry people are not always wise.— Jane Austen
Conceit spoils the finest genius.— Louisa May Alcott
Mercy and cowardice are the same.— Joe Abercrombie
Cherish youth, but trust old age.— Native American Proverb
Be so good they cannot ignore you.— Steve Martin
Every artist was first an amateur.— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Joy is not in things, it is in us.— Richard Wagner
Growth and comfort do not coexist.— Ginni Rometty
Little by little, one travels far.— J.R.R. Tolkien
People aren't ever just one thing.— V.E. Schwab
A man who won't listen can't hear.— George R.R. Martin
Failure isn't an end. It's a step.— Brandon Sanderson
There is strength in the breaking.— Renée Ahdieh
There is always a price for power.— Garth Nix
One joy scatters a hundred griefs.— Chinese Proverb
A cheerful heart is good medicine.— Book of Proverbs
All cruelty springs from weakness.— Seneca
Stars can't shine without darkness.— D.H. Sidebottom
Well done is better than well said.— Benjamin Franklin
Wisdom is knowing what to overlook.— William James
The only journey is the one within.— Rainer Maria Rilke
To be great is to be misunderstood.— Ralph Waldo Emerson
There are no good men in this game.— V.E. Schwab
You're the strongest person I know.— Holly Black
People lived because I killed them.— Renée Ahdieh
The world is not yours to question.— Roshani Chokshi
Words are where most change begins.— Brandon Sanderson
Whatever advice you give, be brief.— Horace
Get comfortable being uncomfortable.— Jillian Michaels
Growth is the only evidence of life.— John Henry Newman
If you're not growing, you're dying.— Tony Robbins
Patience is the companion of wisdom.— Saint Augustine
Storms make trees take deeper roots.— Dolly Parton
Only you can decide what breaks you.— Sarah J. Maas
A poet is a musician who can't sing.— Patrick Rothfuss
Sleep is good, and books are better.— George R.R. Martin
To know a thing is to be free of it.— Jonathan Stroud
The price of perfection is too high.— Brent Weeks
Dig the well before you are thirsty.— Chinese Proverb
The only constant in life is change.— Heraclitus
After the storm, the ground hardens.— Korean Proverb
Forget the past. Remember the lesson.— Mandy Hale
Knowing is not enough; we must apply.— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.— Jimi Hendrix
Silence is sometimes the best answer.— Dalai Lama
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Open the Free Quote Maker →Inspirational Quotes — Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most inspirational quote?
One that keeps resurfacing is Maya Angelou's: "I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it." It's inspiring without being naive — it admits the pain and still refuses to be defined by it.
What is a short inspirational quote?
"Fall seven times, stand up eight." — Japanese Proverb. The shortest inspirational quotes travel furthest because you can carry them into the exact moment you need them, no re-reading required.
What makes a quote genuinely inspirational?
Truth, not volume. The quotes that actually move people aren't the loudest — they're the ones that name something real you've felt but never quite said, and then point you somewhere better.
How should I use inspirational quotes?
Pick one — not twenty — and sit with it. Save it, set it as a wallpaper, write it where you'll see it. A single quote you actually return to beats a hundred you scroll past.