50 Famous Quotes That Will Change Your Life Forever

Quotes have a unique power: a few words from someone who has lived boldly can spark new thinking, steady you in hard moments, and push you to act. Use these quotes when you need a morning boost, a reminder during setbacks, lines for a speech, or words to share with a friend. Below are 50 memorable quotes by famous people organized into categories to help you find the right words for any moment.

Motivational quotes

• "The only way to do great work is to love what you do." — Steve Jobs
• "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't — you're right." — Henry Ford
• "Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." — William James
• "Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking." — William Butler Yeats
• "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." — Arthur Ashe
• "I never dreamed about success. I worked for it." — Estée Lauder
• "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." — Wayne Gretzky
• "Believe you can and you're halfway there." — Theodore Roosevelt
• "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny." — C.S. Lewis

Inspirational quotes

• "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today." — Franklin D. Roosevelt
• "In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity." — Albert Einstein
• "Once you choose hope, anything's possible." — Christopher Reeve
• "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." — Mahatma Gandhi
• "It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters." — Epictetus
• "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." — Eleanor Roosevelt
• "Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you." — Walt Whitman
• "The purpose of our lives is to be happy." — Dalai Lama

Life wisdom quotes

• "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." — John Lennon
• "The unexamined life is not worth living." — Socrates
• "He who has a why to live can bear almost any how." — Friedrich Nietzsche
• "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." — Oscar Wilde
• "Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing." — Seneca
• "Your time is limited, don't waste it living someone else's life." — Steve Jobs
• "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." — Lao Tzu
• "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Success quotes

• "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." — Winston Churchill
• "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great." — John D. Rockefeller
• "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." — Thomas Jefferson
• "The secret of getting ahead is getting started." — Mark Twain
• "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
• "Opportunities don't happen. You create them." — Chris Grosser
• "Chase the vision, not the money." — Tony Hsieh

Happiness quotes

• "For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "Happiness depends upon ourselves." — Aristotle
• "The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation." — Jeremy Bentham
• "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." — Mahatma Gandhi
• "There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved." — George Sand
• "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." — Robert Brault
• "The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things." — Henry Ward Beecher
• "When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive." — Marcus Aurelius

Daily inspiration quotes

• "Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned." — Peter Marshall
• "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other." — Walter Elliot
• "Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life." — J.K. Rowling
• "If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else." — Booker T. Washington
• "Make each day your masterpiece." — John Wooden
• "Do one thing every day that scares you." — Eleanor Roosevelt
• "A year from now you may wish you had started today." — Karen Lamb
• "The best revenge is massive success." — Frank Sinatra
• "Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground." — Theodore Roosevelt

Quotes can be a spark or a steadying hand—short lines to pin to a mirror, powerful passages to open a speech, or a simple sentence to carry through a tough day. Keep a few of these close, revisit them when you need perspective, and let the words of those who have walked before you guide the steps you take next.