Great Motivational Quotes to Inspire You Today

“What lies behind us and what lies in front of us pales in comparison to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

These are the powerful motivational quotes you’ve been looking for.

Powerful motivation quotes inspire us to push past our limits, overcome challenges, and achieve greatness in all areas of life.

Whether you need to defeat procrastination or inspire your inner fire, motivational quotes can help you get your inner mojo going again.

Powerful motivational quotes can move us.  

As a high-performance coach at Microsoft over 20 years, I’ve had to master motivation.  Mastering motivation is a journey.  I’ve learned that powerful motivational quotes are your best friends for the journey.   This is my collection of the most powerful motivational quotes ever.

Use these quotes to inspire your life, fire you up right now, and inspire you every day.  And use these quotes to build a better mindset, skillset, and toolset so you can motivate yourself and others with skill.

Motivation is a skill you can practice.

To change your motivation, change your language, and to change your language learn the best motivational quotes of all time.  I’ve included motivational quotes by some of the world’s best motivational masters including Brian Tracy, Bruce Lee, Tony Robbins, Zig Zigglar and more.

By the way, I don’t know who anonymous is, but he or she sure has some great motivational one-liners 😉

What is Motivation?

What is motivation?  Let’s get to a simple working definition of motivation.

The dictionary defines motivation as:

“The reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.“

Motivation comes from the Latin word, movere, which means “to move.”    How do you “move” yourself?

According to Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, motivation shapes 3 aspects of action:

1. Direction – your direction or choice
2. Intensity – your intensity or effort
3. Persistence – your duration or persistence

Motivation also shapes how much you gain and grow, as well as how much you use the skills and abilities you’ve got.

Before we dive into my full list of the best motivational quotes, I want to start with some very special, life changing quotes that will help you approach every aspect of your life in a new way…

10 Great Motivational Quotes

Let’s start this list off right, with the 10 best motivational quotes:

1. “Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” – William B. Sprague
2. “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” — Howard Thurman
3. “I get knocked down. But I get up again. You’re never going to keep me down.” – Chumbawamba
4. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill
5. “Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose– a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.” — Mary Shelley
6. “There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.” — Tony Robbins
7. “Time is the coin of life. Only you can determine how it will be spent.” — Carl Sandburg
8. “To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
9. “To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.” — Bruce Lee
10. “When it’s time to die, let us not discover that we have never lived.” — Henry David Thoreau

Short Motivational Quotes

1. “Begin anywhere.” — John Cage
2. “Dreams don’t work unless you do.” — John Maxwell
3. “Go the extra mile. It’s never crowded there.” — Dr. Wayne Dyer
4. “H.O.P.E. = Hold On. Pain Ends.” — Anonymous
5. “Make each day your masterpiece.” — John Wooden
6. “Keep your face always toward the sunshine?and shadows will fall behind you.” — Walt Whitman
7. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” –– Oprah Winfrey
8. “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” — Confucius
9. “We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough.” — Helen Keller
10. “What defines us is how well we rise after falling.” — Lionel Bloch, Maid in Manhattan

Deep Motivational Quotes

1. “As long as you live, keep learning how to live.” — Seneca
2. “At any given moment you have the power to say: this is not how the story is going to end.” — Unknown
3. “Be a voice, not an echo.” — Albert Einstein
4. “Death comes to all, but great achievements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
5. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” — Robert Louis Stevenson
6. “Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.” — Jim Rohn
7. “I want to be all used up when I die.” — George Bernard Shaw
8. “I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy- I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.” — Art Williams
9. “Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman
10. “Let him who would move the world, first move himself.” – Socrates
11. “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” — Maya Angelou
12. “Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.” — Stephen R. Covey
13. “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” — Earl Nightingale
14. “Remember that failure is an event, not a person.” — Zig Ziglar
15. “Smile, breathe and go slowly.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
16. “Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” — Saint Francis
17. “The big lesson in life is never be scared of anyone or anything.” — Frank Sinatra
18. “The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.” — Dorothy Parker
19. “What we believe will always be more powerful than what’s real.” – Sean Aeon
20. “When someone says you can’t do it, do it twice and take pictures.” — Unknown
21. “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” — Paulo Coelho
22. “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” — Confucius
23. “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” — Albert Einstein
24. “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” — Jim Rohn

Great Motivational Quotes for Getting Started

What do motivational quotes teach us about getting started?

Just start.

1. “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” — John R. Wooden
2. “Just do it.” — Nike
3. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe
4. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” — Mark Twain
5. “The wise does at once what the fool does at last.” — Baltasar Gracian
6. “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” — Ralph Marston
7. “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.” — Henry Ford

Monday Motivational Quotes

1. “All Motivation Mondays need are a little more coffee and a lot more mascara.” — Unknown
2. “Goodbye, blue Monday.” — Kurt Vonnegut
3. “I’m alive, motivated and ready to slay the day #MONSLAY.” — Unknown
4. “It was a Monday and they walked on a tightrope to the sun.” — Marcus Zusak
5. “It’s Monday … time to motivate and make dreams and goals happen. Let’s go!” — Heather Stillufsen
6. “Monday c’est Mon Day.” — Unknown
7. “One day or day one. You decide.” — Unknown
8. “So. Monday. We meet again. We will never be friends—but maybe we can move past our mutual enmity toward a more positive partnership.” — Julio-Alexi Genao
9. “When life gives you Monday, dip it in glitter and sparkle all day.” — Ella Woodword

Friday Motivational Quotes

1. “Don’t worry about letting the dogs out. It’s Friday! Let them have a great weekend, too.” — Anthony Hincks
2. “Every Friday, I like to high five myself for getting through another week on little more than caffeine, willpower, and inappropriate humor.” — Nanea Hoffman
3. “Fridays are the hardest in some ways: you’re so close to freedom.” — Lauren Oliver
4. “Friday sees more smiles than any other day of the workweek!” — Kate Summers
5. “I challenge you to let every day be a Friday. Permit yourself to be happy every day.” — Joel Osteen
6. “It’s Friday morning, mankind! Good vibe, don’t frown and let the monster see you smile!” — Napz Cherub Pellazo
7. “Make Friday a day to celebrate work well done that you can be proud of knowing that you just didn’t put in time to the next paycheck.” — Byron Pulsifer
8. “Oh! It’s Friday again. Share the love that was missing during the week. In a worthy moment of peace and bliss.” — S. O’Sade
9. “This Friday, finish your work and be done. Look forward to the weekend and have some fun!” — Kate Summers
10. “When you leave work on Friday, leave work. Don’t let technology follow you throughout your weekend (answering text messages and emails). Take a break. You will be more refreshed to begin the workweek if you have had a break.” — Catherine Pulsifer

Great Motivational Quotes for Entrepreneurship

1. “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” — Walt Disney
2. “Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you.” — Tony Hsieh
3. “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” — Mary Kay Ash
4. “Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.” — Sara Blakely
5. “Everyone has an idea, but it’s really about executing the idea and attracting other people to help you with the idea.” — Jack Dorsey
6. “I wake up every morning and think to myself, ‘How far can I push this company in the next 24 hours.’” — Leah Busque
7. “If people are doubting how far you can go, go so far that you can’t hear them anymore.” — Michele Ruiz
8. “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” — Tony Robbins
9. “If you think that you are going to love something, give it a try. You’re going to kick yourself in the butt for the rest of your life if you don’t.” — Joe Penna
10. “In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunities.” — Albert Einstein
11. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” — Babe Ruth
12. “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” — Scott Belsky
13. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.” — Michael Jordan
14. “Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” — Napoleon Hill
15. “Only the paranoid survive.” — Andy Grove
16. “Openly share and talk to people about your idea. Use their lack of interest or doubt to fuel your motivation to make it happen.” — Todd Garland
17. “Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical.” — Howard Schultz
18. “The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.” — Tony Blair
19. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” — Chinese Proverb
20. “The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” — Mark Zuckerberg
21. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”  — Mark Twain
22. “The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.” — Walt Disney
23. “There’s lots of bad reasons to start a company. But there’s only one good, legitimate reason, and I think you know what it is: it’s to change the world.” — Phil Libin
24. “Waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress.” — Seth Godin
25. “We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes?understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” — Arianna Huffington
26. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” — Henry Ford
27. “When I’m old and dying, I plan to look back on my life and say ‘wow, that was an adventure,’ not ‘wow, I sure felt safe.” — Tom Preston-Werner
28. “Write it. Shoot it. Publish it. Crochet it. Sauté it. Whatever. MAKE.” — Joss Whedon
29. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates
30. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” — Steve Jobs

Great Motivational Quotes for Students

1. “Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.” — Bill Nye
2. “Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.” — Chinese proverb
3. “Learning is never done without errors and defeat.” — Vladimir Lenin
4. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” — Mahatma Gandhi
5. “Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning.” — Bruce Lee
6. “Success is a poor teacher.” — Robert Kiyosaki
7. “Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.” — Leonardo da Vinci
8. “That is never too often repeated, which is never sufficiently learned.” — Seneca
9. “The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.” — Baruch Spinoza
10. “The learned man knows that he is ignorant.” –– Victor Hugo
11. “They cannot stop me. I will get my education, if it is in the home, school, or anyplace.” — Malala Yousafzai
12. “To accuse others for one’s own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one’s education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one’s education is complete.” – Epictetus
13. “We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.” – Lloyd Alexander
14. “Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” — Albert Einstein
15. “Who questions much, shall learn much, and retain much.” – Francis Bacon
16. “You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety.” – Abraham Maslow

Great Motivational Quotes for Work

1. “A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.” — Plato
2. “Achievement results from work realizing ambition.” — Adam Ant
3. “Amateurs sit around and wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work.” — Stephen King
4. “Big thinking precedes great achievement.” — Wilferd A. Peterson
5. “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” — Alexander Graham Bell
6. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” — Mary Anne Radmacher
7. “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” — Jim Rohn
8. “Go the extra mile. It’s never crowded there.” — Dr. Wayne Dyer
9. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” — Tim Notke
10. “High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.” — Charles Kettering
11. “I didn’t get there by wishing for it, but by working for it.” — Estee Lauder
12. “I want to be all used up when I die.” — George Bernard Shaw
13. “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” — Napoleon Hill
14. “If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.” — Olin Miller
15. “If you’ll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives.” — Vince Lombardi
16. “Never stop doing your best just because someone doesn’t give you credit.” — Kamari aka Lyrikal
17. “Nothing will work unless you do.” — Maya Angelou
18. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” — Thomas Edison
19. “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” — Dale Carnegie
20. “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” — Dwayne Johnson
21. “The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.” — Oscar Wilde
22. “The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.” — Mother Teresa
23. “The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” — Jimmy Johnson
24. “The price of discipline is always less than the pain of regret.” — Nido Qubein
25. “This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” — Alan Wilson Watts
26. “Well done is better than well said.” — Benjamin Franklin
27. “Winners compare their achievements with their goals, while losers compare their achievements with those of other people.” — Nido Qubein
28. “Work hard for what you want because it won’t come to you without a fight. You have to be strong and courageous and know that you can do anything you put your mind to. If somebody puts you down or criticizes you, just keep on believing in yourself and turn it into something positive.” — Leah LaBelle
29. “You can control two things: your work ethic and your attitude about anything.” — Ali Krieger
30. “You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.” — Jim Rohn
31. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And 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. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”  — Steve Jobs

Great Motivational Quotes on Taking Action

What do motivation quotes teach us about action?

Do more of it.

1. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” — William James
2. “Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.” — Albert Schweitzer
3. “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” — Jim Rohn
4. “Experience is the child of thought, and thought is the child of action.” — Benjamin Disraeli
5. “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” — Anne Frank
6. “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put the foundation under them.” — Henry David Thoreau
7. “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
8. “Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.” — Peter Marshall
9. “Step by step and the thing is done.” — Charles Atlas
10. “The more we do the more we can do.” — William Hazlitt
11. “Time is the coin of life. Only you can determine how it will be spent.” — Carl Sandburg
12. “To talk goodness is not good… only to do it is.” — Chinese proverb
13. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.” — Will Durant
14. “Well done is better than well said.” — Benjamin Franklin
15. “Words are plentiful; deeds are precious.” – – Lech Walesa
16. “Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.” — Voltaire

Great Motivational Quotes on Attitude

What do motivation quotes teach us about attitude?

Express the best of you.

1. “A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.” — Oscar Wilde
2. “A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change.” – – Earl Nightingale
3. “Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.” ? Roy Bennett, The Light in the Heart
4. “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” — Lou Holtz
5. “Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.” – – Charles Swindoll
6. “Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” — Wayne Dyer
7. “Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time.” — Elbert Green Hubbard
8. “Don’t take yourself too seriously. And don’t be too serious about not taking yourself too seriously.” — Howard Ogden
9. “Eagles come in all shapes and sizes, but you will recognize them chiefly by their attitudes.” — Charles Prestwich Scott
10. “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.
11. “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” — Victor E. Frankl
12. “Funny is an attitude.” — Flip Wilson
13. “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” — Maya Angelou
14. “It is not the position, but the disposition.” — J. E. Dinger
15. “Mental attitude is more important than mental capacity.” — Walter Dill Scott
16. “Minds are like parachutes – they only function when open.” — Thomas Dewar
17. “Our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude towards us.” — Earl Nightingale
18. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in making new landscapes but in having new eyes.” — Marcel Proust
19. “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” — Plato

Great Motivational Quotes on Boldness

What do motivation quotes teach us about boldness?

Go for it and don’t hold back.

1. “Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.” — W. Clement Stone
2. “Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.” — William James
3. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt
4. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day, saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” — Mary Anne Radmacher
5. “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
6. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” — George Adair
7. “Fortune favors the brave.” — Publius Terence
8. “Fortune sides with him who dares.” — Virgil
9. “Go for it now. The future is promised to no one.” — Wayne Dyer
10. “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” — Albert Einstein
11. “He who hesitates is lost.” — Proverb
12. “If you can dream it, you can do it.” — Walt Disney
13. “Leap, and the net will appear.”  — John Burroughs
14. “Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.” — Chris Grosser
15. “Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.” — George S. Patton
16. “We are still masters of our fate.  We are still captains of our souls.” — Winston Churchill
17. “When it’s time to die, let us not discover that we have never lived.” —Henry David Thoreau
18. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” — Wayne Gretzky

Great Motivational Quotes on Challenges and Changes

What do motivation quotes teach us about challenge and change?

Make the most of it.

1. “Change is not merely necessary to life – it is life.” — Alvin Toffler
2. “Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.” — Alfred A. Montapert
3. “Kites rise highest against the wind; not with it.” — Winston Churchill
4. “Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.” — Samuel Johnson
5. “Only I can change my life. No one else can do it for me.” — Carol Burnett
6. “The optimist sees opportunity in every danger; the pessimist sees danger in every opportunity.” — Winston Churchill
7. “Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” — George Bernard Shaw

Great Motivational Quotes on Determination and Persistence

What do motivation quotes teach us about determination and effort?

That’s what it takes to succeed.

1. “Always look at what you have left.  Never look at what you have lost.” — Robert H. Schuller
2. “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” — Thomas Jefferson
3. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” — Sam Levenson
4. “Either I will find a way, or I will make one.” — Philip Sidney
5. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” — Samuel Beckett
6. “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” — Og Mandino
7. “I’ve failed over and over and over again. And that is why I succeed.” — Michael Jordan
8. “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” — H. G. Wells
9. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius
10. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” — Jim Ryun
11. “Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe
12. “Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose– a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.” — Mary Shelley
13. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.” — Confucius
14. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” — Thomas A. Edison
15. “Pursue one great decisive aim with force and determination.” — Carl von Clausewitz
16. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” — Robert Collier
17. “The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost
18. “You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” — Babe Ruth
19. “Your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” — Abraham Lincoln

Great Motivational Quotes on Fear

1. “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” — Helen Keller
2. “Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.”  — Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
3. “Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back.” —Babe Ruth
4. “Each of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it.” — Judy Blume
5. “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” — Yoda
6. “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” —Dale Carnegie
7. “Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
8. “Have no fear of perfection–you’ll never reach it.” — Salvador Dali
9. “He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
10. “I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.” — Louisa May Alcott
11. “Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” — Marie Curie
12. “One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn’t do.”
    —Henry Ford
13. “The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” — Nelson Mandela
14. “The key to change… is to let go of fear.” — Roseanne Cash
15. “We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets.” — Marilyn Monroe
16. “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Great Motivational Quotes on Greatness Itself

What do motivation quotes teach us about greatness?

Don’t set limits.  Act in limitless ways.

1. “Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.” — Og Mandino
2. “Don’t put a limit on what can be accomplished.” — Christopher Reeve
3. “I’d rather attempt to do something great and fail, than to attempt nothing and succeed.” — Robert H. Schuller
4. “It’s great to be great, but its greater to be human.” — Will Rogers
5. “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” — Theodore Roosevelt
6. “The first key to greatness is to be in reality what we appear to be.” — Socrates
7. “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” — William James
8. “The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.” — Arthur C. Clarke
9. “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.”— Confucius
10. “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.” — Muhammad Ali
11. “Try not to be a person of success, but rather a person of virtue.” — Albert Einstein
12. “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”— Albert Einstein

Great Motivational Quotes on Optimism

What do motivation quotes teach us about optimism?

Look for the bright side until you find one.

1. “A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” — Herm Albright
2. “Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one.” — Hans Selye
3. “An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere. The pessimist sees only the red light. But the truly wise person is color blind.” — Dr. Albert Schweitzer
4. “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.” — Helen Adams Keller
5. “Optimism means expecting the best, but confidence means knowing how to handle the worst. Never make a move if you are merely optimistic.” — The Zurich Axioms
6. “The best way to cheer yourself up: Cheer everybody else up.” — Mark Twain
7. “The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind.” — Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
8. “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.” — John Wooden
9. “To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Anonymous Motivational Quotes

What does “anonymous” or “unknown” teach us through their best motivational quotes?

We help motivate our self and others through our attitude.

1. “Sometimes we are limited more by attitude than by opportunities.” — Anonymous
2. “A healthy attitude is contagious but don’t wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.” — Anonymous
3. “Although fate presents the circumstances, how you react depends on your character.” — Anonymous
4. “Attitude determines altitude.” — Anonymous
5. “Take charge of your attitude. Don’t let someone else choose it for you.” — Anonymous
6. “Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?” — Anonymous
7. “People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” — Anonymous

Brian Tracy Best Motivational Quotes

What does Brian Tracy teach us about motivation through his best motivational quotes?

We shape our motivation through our thoughts and actions.

1. “Your attitude is an expression of your values, beliefs and expectations.” — Brain Tracy
2. “Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other.” — Brain Tracy
3. “If you did not care at all what anyone else thought about you, what would you do differently or change in your life?” — Brain Tracy
4. “Make a game of finding something positive in every situation. Ninety-five percent of your emotions are determined by how you interpret events to yourself.” — Brain Tracy
5. “Whatever is expressed is impressed. Whatever you say to yourself, with emotion, generates thoughts, ideas and behaviors consistent with those words.”— Brain Tracy

Bruce Lee Best Motivational Quotes

What does Bruce Lee teach us about motivation through his best motivational quotes?

Live with zest and be your best.

1. “To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.” — Bruce Lee
2. “As you think, so shall you become.” — Bruce Lee
3. “Ever since I was a child, I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.” — Bruce Lee
4. “A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at.” — Bruce Lee
5. “All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.” — Bruce Lee
6. “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” — Bruce Lee
7. “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.” — Bruce Lee
8. “If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” — Bruce Lee
9. “If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” — Bruce Lee
10. “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” — Bruce Lee
11. “It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.” — Bruce Lee
12. “Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.” — Bruce Lee
13. “Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.” — Bruce Lee
14. “Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.” — Bruce Lee
15. “Real living is living for others.” — Bruce Lee
16. “Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.” — Bruce Lee
17. “The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.” — Bruce Lee

Jim Rohn Best Motivational Quotes

What does Jim Rohn teach us about motivation through his motivation quotes?

Start your motivation from the inside out.

1. “Happiness is not by chance, but by choice.” — Jim Rohn
2. “Humans have the remarkable ability to get exactly what they must have. But there is a difference between a ‘must’ and ‘want.'” — Jim Rohn
3. “Motivation alone is not enough. If you have an idiot and you motivate him, now you have a motivated idiot.” — Jim Rohn
4. “My suggestion would be to walk away from the 90% who don’t and join the 10% who do.” — Jim Rohn
5. “The best motivating is self-motivating. The guy says, “I wish someone would come by and turn me on. “What if they don’t show up? You’ve got to have a better plan for your life.” — Jim Rohn
6. “When you know what you want, and you want it badly enough, you’ll find a way to get it.” — Jim Rohn
7. “Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value.” — Jim Rohn

Ralph Waldo Emerson Best Motivational Quotes

What does Ralph Waldo Emerson teach us about motivation from his best motivational quotes?

Get out of the way of your own greatness.

1. “Do the thing we fear, and death of fear is certain.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
2. “A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
3. “We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
4. “A good indignation brings out all one’s powers.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
5. “A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
6. “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
7. “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
8. “A man’s growth is seen in the successive choirs of his friends.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
9. “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
10. “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
11. “Always do what you are afraid to do.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
12. “As long as a man stands in his own way, everything seems to be in his way.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
13. “As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
14. “An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
15. “As soon as there is life there is danger.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
16. “Beauty without expression is boring.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
17. “Before we acquire great power, we must acquire wisdom to use it well.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
18. “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
19. “Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
20. “Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
21. “Each age, it is found, must write its own books; or rather, each generation for the next succeeding.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
22. “Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great ever achieved.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
23. “Ever artist was first an amateur.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
24. “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tony Robbins Best Motivational Quotes

What does Tony Robbins teach us about motivation through his best motivational quotes?

Do what makes your heart sing.

1. “Live with passion.” — Tony Robbins
2. “Stay committed to your decisions but stay flexible in your approach.” — Tony Robbins
3. “It not knowing what to do, it’s doing what you know.” — Tony Robbins
4. “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” — Tony Robbins
5. “Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.” — Tony Robbins
6. “There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.” — Tony Robbins
7. “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” — Tony Robbins

Zig Ziglar Best Motivational Quotes

What does Zig Ziglar teach us about motivation through his motivation quotes?

Focus on the positive, and you’ll catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar.

1. “Of all the ‘attitudes’ we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important and by far the most life-changing.” — Zig Ziglar
2. “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar
3. “Positive thinking won’t let you do anything, but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” — Zig Ziglar
4. “To respond is positive, to react is negative.” — Zig Ziglar
5. “When you choose to be pleasant and positive in the way you treat others, you have also chosen, in most cases, how you are going to be treated by others.” — Zig Ziglar
6. “You can disagree without being disagreeable.” — Zig Ziglar
7. “I’ve got to say ‘no’ to the good to say, ‘yes’ to the best.” — Zig Ziglar
8. “You cannot tailor make the situations in life, but you can tailor make the attitudes to fit those situations before they arise.” — Zig Ziglar

“Smile Because It Happened”– Best Motivational Quote Ever

I’ve found I can use this quote to reflect on the past– or to inspire myself to give my all for the future.

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
— Dr. Seuss

Sometimes, the best thing you can do to find your greatest motivation, is to dig deep, practice your attitude of gratitude, and appreciate all you can:

“Dare to Be”–Best Quote for Greatness

Dare to Be is one of the greatest motivational quotes of all time that reminds you to dare to do what’s hard:

“Dare to Be
When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully.
When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.
When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.
When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.
When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.
When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.
When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going.
When times are tough, dare to be tougher.
When love hurts you, dare to love again.
When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.
When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.
When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.
When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.
When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great too.
When the day has ended, dare to feel as you’ve done your best.
Dare to be the best you can –
At all times, Dare to be!”
— Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

“Live Without the Fear of Death in Your Heart”–Best Motivational Quote for Living and Loving Life

Living with fear is no way to live.  Here is a powerful, motivational quote by Chief Tecumseh:

“So, live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.

Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.

Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.

When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.

Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes, they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.

Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”
— Chief Tecumseh

“It’s Not the Critic Who Counts”–Best Motivational Quote for Standing Strong When Tested

Here is one of the most inspiring motivational quotes of all time to help you back up when you get knocked down:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
— Theodore Roosevelt

When critics try to knock you down, remember you are the one in the arena.

Where to Go for More Motivation?

Looking for more insights and actions on the art and science of motivation?

Check out 25 Movies that Will Inspire You and Light Your Fire.

For a great roundup of one-line quotes to inspire you and motivate your mind, body, and spirit, check out Maxime Lagacé’s most excellent collection of short-quotes that will inspire you.

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