40 Encouraging Quotes To Make Your Life A Little Better

Yesterday was not one of my better days.

So I turned to something I knew would inspire, would motivate and get me thinking about my life and my dreams and how I could make them better.

If you need something to lift your spirits, here are the words I turned to; 40 encouraging quotes designed to inspire. They’re quotes that will hopefully get you thinking about your life, your work, or your dreams. A little reminder that we can always keep moving forward.

 Encouragement

1. Press on – nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Perseverance and determination alone are omnipotent. ~ Calvin Coolidge
2. Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement…and we will make the goal. ~ Jerome Fleishman
3. It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. ~ Edmund Hillary
4. If you don’t pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves. ~ David Allen
5. Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do. ~ Ben Spock
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7. If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down. ~ Mary Pickford
8. If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again. ~ Flavia
9. Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t. ~ Rikki Rogers
10. Set your sights high, the higher the better. Expect the most wonderful things to happen, not in the future but right now. Realize that nothing is too good. Allow absolutely nothing to hamper you or hold you up in any way. ~ Eileen Caddy

Uncover your dreams

1. If you wait to do everything until you are sure it’s right, you’ll probably never do much of anything. ~  Win Borden
2. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life. Think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. That is way great spiritual giants are produced. ~ Swami Vivekananda
3. Don’t be afraid to take big steps. You cannot cross a chasm in two small jumps. ~ David Lloyd George
4. Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate. ~ Zhuangzi
5. Ask yourself, ‘how long am I going to work to make my dreams come true?’ I suggest you answer, ‘as long as it takes.’ ~ Jim Rohn
6. Nothing else matters much…not wealth, nor learning, nor even health…without this gift: the spiritual capacity to keep zest in living. This is the creed of creeds, the final deposit and distillation of all important faiths: that you should be able to believe in life. ~ Harry Emerson Fosdick
7. A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. A goal is what specifically you intend to make happen. Dreams and goals should be just out of your present reach but not out of sight. Dreams and goals are coming attractions in your life. ~ Joseph Campbell
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9. Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born. ~ Dale E. Turner
10. I learned that there were two ways I could live my life: following my dreams or doing something else. Dreams aren’t a matter of chance, but a matter of choice. When I dream, I believe I am rehearsing my future. ~ David Copperfield

Change

1. Use what talents you possess, the woods will be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. ~ Henry van Dyke
2. Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow. ~ Mary Anne Radmacher
3. Don’t make excuses. Make things happen. Make changes. Then make history. ~ Doug Hall
4. If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. ~ Lao-Tzu
5. Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward. ~ C.S. Lewis
6. Inspire yourself and others will be inspired. Motivate yourself and others will be motivated. Develop yourself and others will start to develop themselves. Be an example first and then the world changes around you. ~ Unknown
7. Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. ~ George Bernard Shaw
8. Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing. ~ L.M. Montgomery
9. The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. ~ C.JoyBell C
10. When you don’t like a thing change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. ~ Maya Angelou

 Inspiration

1. I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can’t make it through one door, I’ll go through another door – or I’ll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present. ~ Rabindranath Tagore
2. The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there. ~ Robert M. Pirsig
3. Have patience. Wait until the mud settles and the water is clear. Remain unmoving until right action arises by itself. ~ Lao Tzu
4. Picture yourself vividly as winning, and that alone will contribute immeasuarably to success. ~ Harry Emerson Fosdick
5. Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storms, but to add colour to my sunset sky. ~ Radindranath Tagore
6. In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
7. Self-confidence is the most attractive quality a person can have. How can anyone see how awesome you are if you can’t see it yourself? – Unknown
8. If we know exactly where we’re going, exactly how to get there, and exactly what we’ll see along the way, we won’t learn anything. ~ M. Scott Peck
9. Each day brings with it the miracle of a new beginning. Many of the moments ahead will be marvelously disguised as ordinary days, but each one of us has the chance to make something extraordinary out of them. ~ Douglas Pagels
10. Always remember, there is more strength in you than you ever realized or even imagined. Certainly nothing can keep you down if you are determined to get on top of things and stay there. ~ Norman Vincent Peale

Do you have a favourite quote. One that breathes life into your dreams? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. If you have friends who’d enjoy some quotes to make their life a little better, please share. Most of us could use a bit of encouragement.

Encourage one another.

Love Elle