Positive quotes can be incredible for improving your mood and helping you to feel so much more optimistic about life.
Because when you go through difficult times, it can be seriously discouraging and overwhelming. And especially when it feels like you’re all alone.
It can feel like no one sees you or gets what you’re experiencing.
But thankfully, those moments and seasons of life do get better as you choose to change your mindset and outlook on life.
And tools like positive quotes can help get you through so many hard days.
They’re an inspirational way to brighten up your day and help you to see more solutions and ways of growing and becoming a better person.
Also, there are multiple studies that show how positive thinking can help us.
One study, it was shown that the immune systems of people who found optimistic ways of thinking during difficulties, were benefited. And another study showed how positive quotes actually did help patients struggling with different chronic disorders.
I feel that this is important to bring up since how you handle difficult times doesn’t just affect your mindset or the outcome, it can also affect your health.
So many more things than you (or I) realize are affected by how we think.
So try using these uplifting words to help you get through challenges and stay motivated!
205 Positive Quotes
Positive Motivational Quotes
1. “Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” – Roy T. Bennett
2. “If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges.” – Pat Riley
3. “One day or day one. It’s your choice.” – Unknown
4. “Stay on the path of change, you will become the person you wish your parents were.” – Anonymous
5. “I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.” – Florence Nightingale
6. “Change what your parents didn’t want to work on, make a better life for yourself.” – Anonymous
7. “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” – Oprah Winfrey
8. “Imagine where you want to be in a year from now, and find the steps to get there.” – Anonymous
9. “These present moments don’t define you. How you respond to them will.” – Anonymous
10. “It is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.” – HRM Queen Elizabeth II
11. “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” – Willie Nelson
12. “Just for the record darling, not all positive change feels positive in the beginning.” – S.C. Lourie
13. “We all have two lives. The second one starts when we realize we only have one.” –Confucius
14. “Lay plans for something big by starting with it when small.” – Lao Tzu
15. “It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
16. “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
17. “Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.” – Rosa Parks
18. “Use each day to change the circumstances you’re in. Small steps lead to big changes.” – Anonymous
19. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – H.Jackson Brown Jr
20. “Take the first step.” – Darius Fisher
21. “Make a determination that you will live your purpose today.” – Daniel Budzinski
22. “I want to reach my potential, impact my world, and leave a legacy.” – Seth Buechley
23. “You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” – Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird
24. “I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.” – Langston Hughes
25. “Imagine this: What would happen if we were all brave enough to believe in our own ability, to be a little more ambitious? I think the world would change.” – Reese Witherspoon
26. “Hard work keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit.” – Helena Rubinstein
Quotes About Being Hopeful
27. “It’s going to get better, you just need to hold on a little bit longer.” – Anonymous
28. “Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.” – William James
29. “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” – Maria Robinson
30. “Some men see things as they are and say why—I dream things that never were and say why not.” – George Bernard Shaw
31. “Don’t listen to any voice that holds you back from a beautiful future.” – Anonymous
32. “Believe in possibilities bigger than what you’ve experienced, and you will see things start to change in your actions.” – Anonymous
33. “Don’t overlook your successes, see them as a way to understand how you can succeed again and again.” – Anonymous
34. “Keep your eye on the future and where you want to go, things will become much more clear.” – Anonymous
35. “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” – Jack Layton
36. “It’s so hard right now, but I promise you, there is a way out of this. You just need to look and it will be found.” – Anonymous
37. “I know it’s hard now, but don’t give up. Now doesn’t last forever.” – Anonymous
38. “It always seems impossible until it is done.” – Nelson Mandela
Short Positive Quotes
39. “One small positive thought can change your whole day.” – Zig Ziglar
40. “The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.” – Walter Bagehot
41. “You make a life out of what you have, not what you’re missing.” – Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden
42. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
43. “I dwell in possibility.” – Emily Dickinson
44. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison
45. “You always pass failure on the way to success.” – Mickey Rooney
46. “You were not put on this world to just exist.” – Anonymous
47. “What we think, we become.” – Buddha
48. “I have learned not to allow rejection to move me.” – Cicely Tyson
49. “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” – Bruce Lee
50. “The mind is everything. What you think you become.” – Buddha
51. “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” – Lao Tzu
52. “We don’t have to do all of it alone. We were never meant to.” – Brené Brown
53. “Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.” – Dalai Lama
54. “Put the work in today so that you can have a better tomorrow.” – Anonymous
55. “Take your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don’t settle for them.” – Mia Hamm
56. “The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” – Charles Dickens
57. “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle
Positive Quotes About Being Strong
58. “A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success.” – Joyce Brothers
59. “You can’t change how people treat you or what they say about you. All you can do is change how you react to it” – Mahatma Gandhi
60. “There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” – Amanda Gorman
61. “Once you face your fear, nothing is ever as hard as you think.” – Olivia Newton-John
62. “I know it’s hard to get out of bed right now, but you can do it. You are stronger than your emotions.” – Anonymous
63. “If you can stay positive in a negative situation, you win.” – Unknown
64. “Don’t give up, I promise you, this won’t last forever.” – Anonymous
65. “You have more than what it takes to push to the other side.” – Anonymous
66. “I believe great people do things before they are ready.” – Amy Poehler, Yes Please
67. “You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness.” – Diane von Furstenberg
68. “We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: We have the power to imagine better.” – J.K. Rowling
69. “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne
70. “The bad times don’t last forever. You are strong enough to reach sunnier days.” – Anonymous
Happy Positive Quotes
71. “Don’t ever forget your dreams or what you want in life. Focus on reaching your last day where you can say to yourself, ‘I am so happy to live the life I lived’.” – Anonymous
72. “Stay positive. Better days are on their way.” – Unknown
73. “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
74. “People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?” – Thich Nhat Hanh
75. “Do anything, but let it produce joy.” – Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass27.
76. “Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
77. “Misery might love company, but so does joy. And joy throws much better parties.” – Billy Ivey
78. “Believe in possibilities bigger than what you’ve experienced, and you will see things start to change in your actions.” – Anonymous
79. “Make your life matter and have fun doing it.” – Aaron Hurst
80. “The joy of life is becoming a person you are proud of.” – Bill Orender
81. “In a year from now, you will be so happy you started today.” – Anonymous
82. “I know it may seem hard right now, but simpler happier days are coming if you continue to persevere.” – Anonymous
83. “Recognize what you have inside you.” – Eric Pulier
Positive Quotes About Life
84. “We may not have hit the peak yet, but we are on the journey up.” – Brian Nhira
85. “Say something positive, and you’ll see something positive.” – Jim Thompson
86. “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West
87. “You are worth so much more than to live a life you hate.” – Grace Moser
88. “Positive anything is better than negative nothing.” – Elbert Hubbard
89. “No one is perfect – that’s why pencils have erasers.” – Wolfgang Riebe
90. “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller
91. “As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
92. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” – Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
93. “For me, 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. The journey doesn’t end.” – Michelle Obama, Becoming
94. “Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier
95. “It’s not scary to go after your dreams. What’s scary is forgetting about them.” – Anonymous
96. “Don’t forget about yourself and the dreams you’ve had, you are worth remembering.” – Anonymous
97. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb
98. “Stay positive and happy. Work hard and don’t give up. Be open to criticism and keep learning. Surround yourself with happy, warm, and genuine people.” – Tena Desae
99. “Even if I don’t reach all my goals, I’ve gone higher than I would have if I hadn’t set any.” – Danielle Fotopoulis
100. “I can’t change the world but I can change the world in me.” – Bono
101. “Don’t keep on imagining the worst, it doesn’t help you.” – Anonymous
102. “Forget about your past and failures, start thinking about your future and success.” – Anonymous
103. “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” –Abraham Lincoln
Staying Positive Quotes
104. “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” – Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
105. “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot
106. “Look to where you are going and that will be your light.” – Anonymous
107. “Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.” – Unknown
108. “You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” – Les Brown
109. “Inhale, exhale, it is well, it is well. All of this is a part of the story you will tell.” – Morgan Harper Nichols
110. “I don’t care what others have told you or what you think about yourself, you should be living a life you want to exist in.” – Anonymous
111. “Every day may not be good… but there’s something good in every day.” – Alice Morse Earle
112. “The moment where you doubt you can fly, you cease for ever being able to do it.” – J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
113. “It’s a wonderful thing to be optimistic. It keeps you healthy and it keeps you resilient.” – Daniel Kahneman
114. “Remember: things can be bad, and getting better.” – Hans Rosling
115. “When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy. It’s very simple.” – Paulo Coelho
Positive Quotes About Change
116. “I think anything is possible if you have the mindset and the will and desire to do it and put the time in.” – Roger Clemens
117. “We are imperfect creatures. We are; that’s what it is. But we should try reaching for the better you, the better me.” – Sidney Poitier
118. “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw
119. “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
120. “Change is made of choices, and choices are made of character.” – Amanda Gorman
121. “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” – Judy Garland
122. “Thou must gather thine own sunshine.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
123. “Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.” – Jon Acuff
124. “Walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.” – Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
125. “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” – Robin Williams
126. “Jump in with both feet and be brave.” – Sujit Choudhry
127. “Do what you need to do today so that you’re not regretting where you are in five years from now.” – Anonymous
128. “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” – Angela Davis
129. “Words can inspire, thoughts can provoke, but only action truly brings you closer to your dreams.” – Brad Sugars
130. “Generations will change when you choose to change the mindsets that have held you back.” – Anonymous
131. “When you realize how precious and fragile life is, it changes your whole perspective.” – Ryan O’Donnell
132. “I know you’re feeling exhausted right now, but don’t give up on you. You deserve a better future.” – Anonymous
133. “The next choice is the most important choice.” – George Wells
134. “You are bigger than the emotions you are feeling, you can take control.” – Anonymous
135. “We can choose to be hopeful, try and possibly fail or not be hopeful, give up and definitely fail.” – David Hogg
136. “There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.” –Buckminster Fuller
Positive Quotes for the Day
137. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein
138. “Every day brings new choices.” – Martha Beck
139. “Change what your ancestors refused to look at and you will become the pivot your family needed.” – Anonymous
140. “Don’t forget the person your younger self always wanted to be. Don’t let your younger self down.” – Anonymous
141. “I think you are worth fighting for. You are worthy of seeing better days.” – Anonymous
142. “Don’t lose yourself in the everyday, see everyday as an opportunity to make a better future.” – Anonymous
143. “The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination.” – Carl Rogers
144. “You’re off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.” – Dr. Seuss
145. “Each day provides its own gifts.” – Marcus Aurelius
146. “I don’t care how many times you fail. Keep going until you win.” – Anonymous
147. “Today is a good day to try.” – Quasimodo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
148. “I’ve got nothing to do today but smile.” – Simon and Garfunkel
149. “Don’t allow what others say to determine what you will do with your life.” – Anonymous
150. “I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles.” – Audrey Hepburn
Quotes About Making a Positive Difference
151. “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” – John F. Kennedy
152. “Do your little bit of good where you are; it is those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu
153. “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
154. “We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in our hands to make a difference.” – Nelson Mandela
155. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
156. “Attitude is the ‘little’ thing that makes a big difference.” – Winston Churchill
157. “Each of us can make a positive difference if we commit ourselves to do so.” – Dr. Cornel West
158. “One person can make a difference. You don’t have to be a big shot. You don’t have to have a lot of influence. You just have to have faith in your power to change things.” – Norman Vincent Peale
Positive Quotes for Women
159. “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell
160. “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” – Oprah Winfrey
161. “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive.” – Maya Angelou
162. “Pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it.” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
163. “Once I learned to like me more than others did, then I didn’t have to worry about being the funniest or the most popular or the prettiest. I was the best me and I only ever tried to be that.” – Issa Rae
164. “Don’t underestimate how powerful your negative thoughts are; they need to be plucked out.” – Anonymous
165. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde
166. “If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.” – Dolly Parton
167. “Do you see all those things you want in life? They’re just on the other side of fear.” – Anonymous
Positive Thinking Quotes
168. “If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain.” – Dolly Parton
169. “Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” – Anne Frank
170. “You know you can always help to make each day a special day by just your being yourself. You grow in your own way; everyone does. That’s one reason each one of us is different and special and people can like us exactly as we are.” – Fred Rogers
171. “You do not find the happy life. You make it.” – Thomas S. Monson
172. “Whenever you see darkness, there is extraordinary opportunity for the light to burn brighter.” – Bono
173. “Just for the record darling, not all positive change feels positive in the beginning.” – S. C. Lourie
174. “Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo
175. “When you are imagining, you might as well imagine something worth while.” –Lucy Maud Montgomery
176. “Do you hear that negative voice in your head saying you can’t do it? It’s a lie.” – Anonymous
Positive Mental Health Quotes
177. “You are strong enough to make it through this storm.” – Anonymous
178. “Mental health problems don’t define who you are. They are something you experience. You walk in the rain and you feel the rain, but you are not the rain.” – Matt Haig
179. “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” – Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy
180. “Mental health problems don’t define who you are. They are something you experience. You walk in the rain and you feel the rain, but, importantly, YOU ARE NOT THE RAIN.” – Matt Haig
181. “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.” – John Green
182. “Your thoughts control a whole lot more than you know.” – Anonymous
183. “Surround yourself with positive people.” – Rod Rohrich
184. “Life hurts and it’s hard. Not because you’re doing it wrong, but because it hurts for everybody. Don’t avoid the pain. You need it. It’s meant for you.” – Glennon Doyle
185. “Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” – Fred Rogers
Positive Quotes About Kindness
186. “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” – Maya Angelou
187. “It is not enough to have a good mind; the important thing is to use it well.” – Rene Descartes
188. “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” – Booker T. Washington
189. 31. “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
190. “Whoever is happy will make others happy too.” – Anne Frank
191. “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” – Charles Dickens
192. “That’s what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.” – Simone de Beauvoir
193. “Do good and good will come to you.” – Adam Lowy
194. “Find a way to give to another person. Sometimes this helps take the focus off of you, and when you make a change in another person’s life, you’ll see the kind of person you want to be. Then those old ways of thinking and feeling won’t be as important.” – Anonymous
195. “You can’t rely on how you look to sustain you, what sustains us, what is fundamentally beautiful is compassion; for yourself and for those around you.” – Lupita Nyong’o
Positive Quotes for Work
196. “Inspiration comes from within yourself. One has to be positive. When you’re positive, good things happen.” – Deep Roy
197. “We will fail when we fail to try.” – Rosa Parks
198. “To win big, you sometimes have to take big risks.” – Bill Gates
199. “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” – George Lorimer
200. “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson
201. “I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” – Henry David Thoreau
202. “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” – Alexander Graham Bell
203. “Don’t focus on what you don’t have, see what you’re good at and expand from there.” – Anonymous
204. “Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden
205. “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
How to Make Positive Quotes Work for You
1. First, Understand the Benefits of Positive Thinking
Embracing positive thinking can have an incredible impact on your life.
Research has shown that maintaining a positive mindset can improve mental health, and reduce anxiety and worry.
So when you use powerful tools like positive quotes and uplifting sayings, you get to take control of your mindset instead of letting your mindset have control over you.
You’re becoming more emotionally resilient.
And when I talk about emotional resilience, I’m talking about…
- Bouncing back from setbacks.
- Viewing failures as learning opportunities.
- And the ability to keep moving forward.
By focusing on the positives, you develop a more balanced perspective, which helps you understand how to move forward during the hard times, and stay motivated.
2. Strategies for Maintaining Positivity
Here are a few ways you can use these stay positive quotes to cultivate a positive mindset:
- Practice Daily Gratitude: Keep a gratitude journal and write down a positive quote for the day that you want to focus on. Just make sure not to forget about it after writing it!
- Surround Yourself with Positive Influences: Look for supportive friends, inspiring books, motivational podcasts, or online communities that will help you stay on track. And if there’s a helpful quote from a specific person who has written books or does podcasts, look them up! They might just inspire you more. 😊
- Reframe Negative Thoughts: Challenge negative thinking patterns by intentionally reframing them into empowering beliefs and using quotes to keep yourself in an empowered mindset.
- Limit Exposure to Negativity: Keep negative news, social media, or toxic relationships that drain your energy far away. Instead, surround yourself with positive quotes, thoughts, and ideas from inspiring people, good friends, and activities that are gonna support your mental health.
- Practice Self-Compassion: Be kind and practice self-love by reading over quotes that’ll help remind you to treat yourself with the same patience and understanding you’d give to a friend who was going through a hard time.
3. Look at Great Examples of People Who Kept a Positive Mindset
Start looking up the people from the quotes above and study their lives.
What were they doing to keep themselves motived? How did they cultivate a positive mindset?
A good example would be Maya Angelou.
I quoted her three times! She’s a very positive person. 😊
She is an amazing example of finding power in positivity and she overcame so many hardships.
She refused to let her negative experiences define her, and instead embraced a positive, motivating outlook.
And when you start looking at people who also went through difficulties, you get to see how they overcame it and use their story to help you overcome your own personal struggles. ❤️
4. Use One Positive Quote Each Day
Once you’ve gathered up your favorite quotes about positivity, I would highly suggest taking one from your list and using it as inspiration for the day.
That way things stay fresh and motivating when you’re moving towards a goal or just trying to make life better day by day.
You don’t want these uplifting quotes to get stale, so definitely pick new ones and rotate as much as possible!
Positive Quotes FAQ’s
In my opinion, this is one of the best quotes for uplifting, “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” — E.E. Cummings
It’s a good reminder that you are strong and you can become an incredible person!
I find that this is a good true positive quote about life:
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” — Mae West
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” — Maria Robinson
I hope these stay positive quotes helped make things in your life just a bit better.
I know how hard it can be to feel like nothing is working, but I promise you that when you use the right tools, it will get better. ♥️
And if you have any quotes on positivity that you want to share, then just let me know. I’d love to hear them!
Grace Moser is the author and founder of Chasing Foxes, where she writes articles to help women create a life they love in big and small ways. She's been a full-time traveler since 2016 and loves sharing her experiences and exploring the world with her husband, Silas. Her lifestyle and travel advice can also be seen on sites such as Business Insider, Glamour, Newsweek, Huffpost, & Apartment Therapy.