Successful personalities don’t become that way overnight. What most people recognize at a glimpse—wealth, happiness, a great career, purpose—is the outcome of hard work, and hustle over a period. Here is a list of the best inspirational and motivational quotes about life and success.
To be successful, you have to use every day as an opportunity to develop, to be better, to get closer to your goals. It might seem like a lot of work—and with a busy calendar, next to impossible. But the most satisfying part is, the more you achieve, the more you’ll desire to do, the higher you’ll want to stand. So as long as you have the desire for success, you will forever have the ability within you to achieve it.
Here is a list of the best inspirational and motivational quotes about life and success that will boost your confidence and lift your mood so you believe in yourself.
Inspirational Motivational Quotes
1. “Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.”
—Coco Chanel
2. “Your limitation—it’s only your imagination.”
3. “If the plan doesn’t work, change the plan, but never the goal.”
—Wayne W. Dyer
5. “The world is full of nice people. If you can’t find one, be one.”
—Nishan Panwar
6. “A walk to a nearby park may give you more energy and inspiration in life than spending two hours in front of a screen.”
—Tsang Lindsay
7. “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
—Rumi
8. “I can and I will. Watch me.”
—Carrie Green
9. “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
—Paulo Coelho
10. “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”
—Will Rogers
Motivational Quotes from Movies
11. “Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.”
—The Lion King
12. “No one has ever made a difference by being like everyone else.”
—The Greatest Showman
13. “Spend a little more time trying to make something of yourself and a little less time trying to impress people.”
—The Breakfast Club
14. “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.”
—Pirates of the Caribbean
15. “You’ll have bad times, but it’ll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren’t paying attention to.”
—Good Will Hunting
16. “A wise man can learn more from his enemies than a fool from his friends.”
—Rush
17. ““Every man dies, but not every man really lives.”
—Braveheart
18. “Great men are not born great, they grow great.”
—The Godfather
19. “Life is not the amount of breaths you take. It’s the moments that take your breath away.”
—Hitch
20. “Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.”
—The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Motivational Quotes for Women
21. “You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.”
—Brigham Young
22. “A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt
23. “The best protection any woman can have … is courage.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton
24. “We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.”
—Malala Yousafzai
25. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
26. “Done is better than perfect.”
—Sheryl Sandberg
27. “A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. A woman must do what he can’t.”
—Rhonda Hansome
28. “It’s not your job to like me, it’s mine.”
—Byron Katie
29. “A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.”
—Medlinda Gates
30. “Power is not given to you. You have to take it.”
—Beyoncé Knowles
Inspirational Quotes for Men
31. “Try not to become a man of success, but rather become a man of value.”
— Albert Einstein
32. “To accomplish great things we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe.”
—Anatole France
33. “One man with courage makes a majority.”
—Andrew Jackson
34. “If you try, you risk failure. If you don’t, you ensure it.”
—Anonymous
35. “Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
—Bruce Lee
36. “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
37. “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
—Albert Einstein
38. “What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.”
—Tim Ferriss
39. “Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.”
—Bruce Lee
40. “A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake.”
—Confucius Kongzi
Inspirational Quotes About Love
41. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”
—Lucille Ball
42. “Power is not given to you. You have to take it.”
—Beyoncé Knowles
43. “There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.”
—George Sand
44. “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”
—Beyoncé Knowles
45. “Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”
—Mother Teresa
46. “Our first and last love is self-love.”
—Christian Nestell Bovee
47. “Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.”
—Euripides
48. “Love cures people—both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.”
—Karl A. Menninger
49. “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
50. “We are most alive when we're in love.”
—John Updike
Inspirational Sayings and Quotes on Happiness
51. “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
—Buddha
52. “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
—Mahatma Gandhi
53. “Happiness consists of living each day as if it were the first day of your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation.”
—Leo Tolstoy
54. “If you are too busy to laugh, you are too busy.”
—Proverb
55. “Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.”
—Dalai Lama
56. “And remember, no matter where you go, there you are.”
—Confucius
57. “The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditation on the past.”
— Andre Maurois
58. “Learn to let go. That is the key to happiness.”
—Buddha
59. “Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another.”
— Marquis de Condorcet
60. “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
—Mahatma Gandhi
Best Inspirational Quotes And Sayings Of All Time
61. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
—Lao Tzu
62. “Do what you love and the money will follow.”
—Marsha Sinetar
63. “Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.”
—Victor Kiam
64. “Someday is not a day of the week.”
—Denise Nelson
65. “Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”
—Winston Churchill
66. “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.”
—Robin Sharma
67. “Everything you've ever wanted is on the other sideof fear.”
—Robin Sharma
68. “A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.”
—Author Unknown
69. “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or objects.”
—Albert Einstein
70. “If you have everything under control, you’re not moving fast enough.”
—Mario Andretti
Inspirational Sayings and Quotes on Success
71. “Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time.”
—Arnold H. Glasgow
72. “Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.”
—George Patton
73. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
—Samuel Beckett
74. “Whenever you see a successful person, you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them.”
—Vaibhav Shah
75. “Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.”
—George Bernard Shaw
76. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
—Herman Cain
77. “Striving for success without hard work is life trying to harvest where you haven't planted.”
—David Bly
78. “If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. ”
—Read more quotes of Muhammad Ali
79. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”
—Colin Powell
80. “If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.”
—Jim Rohn
Short Inspirational Sayings and Quotes
81. “Here are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ”
—Edith Wharton
82. “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will. ”
—Suzy Kassem
83. “To be the best, you must be able to handle the worst. ”
—Wilson Kanadi
84. “Change the world by being yourself. ”
—Amy Poehler
85. “Die with memories, not dreams. ”
—Unknown
86. “Whatever you do, do it well. ”
—Walt Disney
87. “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are. ”
—Kurt Cobain
88. “The time is always right to do what is right. ”
—Martin Luther King Jr.
89. “When words fail, music speaks. ”
—Shakespeare
90. “I have nothing to lose but something to gain. ”
—Eminem
Motivating And Inspirational Quotes For Students
91. “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. ”
—John Wooden
92. “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you. ”
—Eminem
93. “The man who does not read books has no advantage over the one who cannot read them. ”
—Read more quotes of Mark Twain
94. “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. ”
—Michael Jordan
95. “Teachers can open the door, but you must enter it yourself. ”
—Chinese Proverb
96. “You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there. ”
—Ed Cole
97. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. ”
98. “The expert in everything was once a beginner. ”
99. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. ”
—Robert Collier
100. “The secret of success is to do the common things uncommonly well.”
—John D. Rockefeller
Inspirational Quotes for Work(Motivation to Work Hard and Smart)
101. “Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see further. ”
—Thomas Carlyle
102. “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourselves. ”
—Chanakya
102. “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. ”
— Thomas Jefferson
103. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. ”
— Thomas Edison
104. “The individual who says it is not possible should move out of the way of those doing it. ”
—Tricia Cunningham
105. “Build your own dreams or someone else will hire you to build theirs. ”
—Farrah Gray
106. “Things may come to those who wait but only the things left by those who hustle. ”
—Abraham Lincoln
107. “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. ”
—Earl Nightingale
108. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. ”
—Thomas A. Edison
109. “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my ax. ”
—Abraham Lincoln
110. “The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work. ”
—Harry Golden
Motivational Quotes for Employees
111. “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”
—Read more quotes of Mark Twain
112. “You were hired because you met expectations, you will be promoted if you can exceed them. ”
—Saji Ijiyemi
113. “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. ”
—Michael Jordan
114. “Life is about making an impact, not making an income. ”
—Kevin Kruse
115. “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it. ”
—Dwight D. Eisenhower
116. “When a team of dedicated individuals makes a commitment to act as one...the sky's the limit. ”
—Harry Golden
117. “You can worry about the competition ... or you can focus on what's ahead of you and drive fast. ”
—Harry Golden
118. “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. ”
—Amelia Earhart
119. “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. ”
—Jim Rohn
120. “Well done, is better than well said. ”
—Benjamin Franklin
Health Care Workers Inspirational Quotes
121. “You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you, you’ll win—no matter what the outcome. ”
—Patch Adams
122. “Nurses may not be angels, but they are the next best thing. ”
—Anonymous
123. “Only a life lived in the service to others is worth living. ”
— Albert Einstein
124. “One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others. ”
—Harry Golden
125. “The greatest of all mistakes is to do nothing because you think you can only do a little. ”
—Zig Ziglar
126. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. ”
—Mahatama Gandi
127. “They may forget your name but they'll never forget how you made them feel. ”
—Harry Golden
128. “NURSE: just another word to describe a person strong enough to tolerate everything and soft enough to understand everyone. ”
—Tehzeeb Kazmi
129. “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right. ”
—Rosa Parks
130. “Winners are not the people who never fail, but people who never quit.”
—Anonymous
Inspirational Quotes On Exercise
131. “Good things come to those who sweat.”
—Anonymous
132. “The only bad workout is the one that didn’t happen ”
—Anonymous
133. “What hurts today makes you stronger tomorrow. ”
—Jay Cutler
134. “Don’t wish for a good body, work for it. ”
—Anonymous
135. “Running is not just exercise; it is a lifestyle. ”
—John Bingham
136. “The body achieves what the mind believes. ”
—Anonymous
137. “Once you are doing exercise regularly, the hardest thing is to stop it. ”
—Erin Gray
138. “If you don’t make time for exercise, you’ll probably have to make time for illness. ”
—Robin Sharma
139. “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live in. ”
—Jim Rohn
140. “Fitness starts in your head. You must choose to eat clean, exercise regularly, and treat your body with respect. ”
—Anonymous
Inspirational Quotes About Learning
141. “The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you. ”
—B.B. King
142. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. ”
—Mahatma Gandhi
143. “All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind. ”
—Martin Fisher
144. “You aren’t learning anything when you’re talking. ”
—Lyndon B. Johnson
145. “I never learned from a man who agreed with me. ”
—Harry Golden
146. “The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work. ”
—George Carlin
147. “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn. ”
—Benjamin Franklin
148. “Every student can learn, just not on the same day, or the same way. ”
—George Evans
149. “Knowing is not enough; We must apply. Willing is not enough; We must do. ”
—Bruce Lee
150. “A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. ”
—Bruce Lee
Inspirational Quotes On Nature
161. “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God. ”
—Anne Frank
162. “In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks. ”
—John Muir
163. “Going to the mountains is like going home. ”
—John Muir
164. “I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees. ”
—Henry David Thoreau
165. “Nature. Cheaper than therapy. ”
—Anonymous
166. “Adopt the pace of Nature. Her secret is patience. ”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
167. “If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere. ”
—Vincent van Gogh
168. “Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party! ”
—Robin Williams
169. “Nature is full of infinite causes that have never occurred in experience. ”
—Leonardo Da Vinci
170. “The earth laughs in flowers. ”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Inspirational Graduation Quotes and Sayings
171. “Now go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for you being here. Make good art. ”
— Neil Gaiman
172. “Instruction ends in the schoolroom, but education ends only with life. ”
—Frederick W. Robertson
173. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. ”
—Arthur Ashe
174. “Graduation is not the end; it’s the beginning. ”
—Senator Orrin Hatch
175. “Every person you meet knows something you don’t; learn from them. ”
—Harry Golden
176. “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done. ”
—Thomas Jefferson
177. “Do not let making a living prevent you from making a life. ”
—John Wooden
178. “You have to dance a little bit before you step out into the world each day, because it changes the way you walk. ”
—Sandra Bullock
179. “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. ”
—Dr. Seuss
180. “Your life is your story, and the adventure ahead of you is the journey to fulfill your own purpose and potential. ”
—Harry Golden
Most Inspirational Sports Quotes Of All Time
181. “I don't count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they're the only ones that count. ”
—Read more quotes of Muhammad Ali
182. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. ”
—Tim Notke
183. “Never say never because limits, like fears, are often just illusions. ”
—Michael Jordan
184. “Good is not good when better is expected. ”
—Vin Scully
185. “What makes something SPECIAL is not just what you have to GAIN but what you feel there is to LOSE. ”
—Andre Agassi
186. “An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head. ”
—Emil Zatopek
187. “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination. ”
—Tommy Lasorda
188. “The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before. ”
—Steve Young
189. “The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning. ”
—Pele
190. “To uncover your true potential you must first find your own limits and then you have to have the courage to blow past them. ”
—Picabo Street
Top Christian Inspirational Quotes
191. “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength. ”
—Corrie Ten Boom
192. “Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them. ”
—Elisabeth Elliot
193. “Faith is believing BEFORE what will only make sense AFTER. ”
—Steven Furtick
194. “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. ”
—Corrie ten Boom
195. “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at Earth and you get neihter. ”
—CS Lewis
