When life gets tough or self—doubt strikes, a few words of inspiration can make an incredible difference. And who better to turn to for words of inspiration than gifted authors? In this collection of 60 quotes from noted novelists, poets, and memoirists, you just might find the right inspiring words to lift your spirits and keep you shining.
Inspirational quotes for following your dreams
Even big dreamers sometimes need a little inspiration. When achieving your vision seems impossible, these quotes will help you to keep on believing and striving.
"If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is." —Charles Bukowski, Factotum
"Aim higher in case you fall short." —Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire
"Drive away and try to keep smiling. Get a little rock and roll on the radio and go toward all the life there is with all the courage you can find and all the belief you can muster. Be true, be brave, stand. All the rest is darkness." —Stephen King, It
"I assign myself no rank or any limit, and such an attitude is very much against the trend of the times. But my world has become one of infinite possibilities." —Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
"Live all you can; it’s a mistake not to. It doesn’t so much matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life." —Henry James, The Ambassadors
"Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of." —Markus Zusak, I Am the Messenger
"If you don't try at anything you can't fail... it takes back bone to lead the life you want." —Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road
"And there's nothing wrong with being a lizard either. Unless you were born to be a hawk." —Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone
"It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting." —Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist
"Just think happy thoughts and you’ll fly." —J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
"The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek." —Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Inspirational quotes for facing your fears
When you hit a wall, suffer a setback, or experience sinking feelings of failure, fear not! There's a quote for that.
"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." —Neil Gaiman, Coraline
"A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a shortcut to meet it." —J. R. R. Tolkien, The Children of Hurin
"Adversity is like a strong wind. It...tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be." —Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha
"Peril, loneliness, an uncertain future, are not oppressive evils, so long as the frame is healthy and the faculties are employed; so long, especially, as Liberty lends us her wings, and Hope guides us by her star." —Charlotte Brontë, Villette
"Only after disaster can we be resurrected. It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. Nothing is static, everything is evolving, everything is falling apart." —Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." —Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
"Any fool can be happy. It takes a man with a real heart to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep." —Clive Barker, Days of Magic, Nights of War
"Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after. Such moments are tests of courage, of strength." —Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes
"If a fear cannot be articulated, it cannot be conquered." —Stephen King, Salem's Lot
"If you're going through hell, keep going." —Kristin Hannah, The Nightingale
"Let's start with the end of the world, why don't we? Get it over with and move on to more interesting things." —N. K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season
"Where there's life there's hope." —J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." —Neil Gaiman, Coraline
"A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a shortcut to meet it." —J. R. R. Tolkien, The Children of Hurin
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." —Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
"The wound is the place where the Light enters you." —Rumi, The Essential Rumi
"The human capacity for burden is like bamboo—far more flexible than you'd ever believe at first glance." —Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper
"Turn your wounds into wisdom." —Oprah Winfrey, What I Know For Sure
"The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places." —Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
Inspirational quotes for doing what's right
Kindness, sacrifice, forgiveness—sometimes doing what you know is right can be really hard. These inspirational quotes will give you strength and comfort.
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right." —Isaac Asimov, Foundation
"You have to serve those who need to be served, not just the ones who make you feel good about yourself." —Ann Patchett, The Dutch House
"Forgiving isn't something you do for someone else. It's something you do for yourself. It's saying, 'You're not important enough to have a stranglehold on me.' It's saying, 'You don't get to trap me in the past. I am worthy of a future.'" —Jodi Picoult, The Storyteller
"It is useless to meet revenge with revenge; it will heal nothing." —J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
"And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good." —John Steinbeck, East of Eden
"Sometimes, a useful decision is better than a useless truth." —Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad
"One Choice, decided your friends. One Choice, defines your beliefs. One Choice, determines your loyalties—Forever. ONE CHOICE CAN TRANSFORM YOU." —Veronica Roth, Divergent
"Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself." —Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign
"In the end you should always do the right thing even if it's hard." —Nicholas Sparks, The Last Song
"Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right." —Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
Inspirational quotes for believing in yourself
Nothing defeats success and crushes happiness like losing sight of your own power and value. Turn to these quotes whenever you need a jolt of self—affirmation.
"What's the greatest lesson a woman should learn? That since day one she's already had everything she needs within herself. It's the world that's convinced her she did not." —Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey
"If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself." —Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
"I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning. I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction." —Ayn Rand, Anthem
"You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate." —Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
"You see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that's the way I want to live." —Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
"It was my life–like all lives, mysterious and irrevocable and sacred. So very close, so very present, so very belonging to me. How wild it was, to let it be." —Cheryl Strayed, Wild
"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." —Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter
"No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of theeworld. And normally he doesn't know it." —Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist
"It is far better to be taught to think critically and then be allowed to make your own decisions than to have someone else's notions thrust upon you." —Christopher Paolini, Eldest
"Don't let the bastards grind you down." —Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
"What's the greatest lesson a woman should learn? That since day one she's already had everything she needs within herself. It's the world that's convinced her she did not." —Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey
"You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." —Mahatma Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth
Inspirational quotes for personal growth and change
Growth and change go hand-in-hand. These quotes will give you the motivation and clarity you need to venture on your own journey of transformation with confidence.
"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." —Rumi, The Essential Rumi
"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change." —Carl Rogers, On Becoming a Person
"Becoming isn't about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self." —Michelle Obama, Becoming
"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." —Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful Warrior
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." —George Bernard Shaw, Everybody's Political What's What
"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." —Albert Einstein, The World As I See It
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." —Mahatma Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth
