Inspirational Quotes

Words are sometimes the springboards of our dreams; the power of words influences us in ways we may not even fathom or suspect. The following collection of quotes is designed to inspire courage, hope, strength, the pursuit of knowledge, thought and much, much more.

“Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.” Ruth Ann Schabacker

“To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.” Confucius

“Every noble work is at first impossible.” Thomas Carlyle

“It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.” Seneca

“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” Robert Byrne

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Oscar Wilde

“I can’t write a book commensurate with Shakespeare, but I can write a book by me.” Sir Walter Raleigh

“Everything that lives, lives not alone, nor for itself.” William Blake

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Roy Rogers

“Little things affect little minds.” Benjamin Disraeli

“Humor is just another defense against the universe.” Mel Brooks

“Wisdom outweighs any wealth.” Sophocles

“Embrace simplicity.” Lao-tzu

“I stepped into life and startled it: it stretched before me like a meadow.” Anna Akhmatova

“To be great is to be misunderstood.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” J.R.R. Tolkien

“The bird of paradise alights only on the hand that does not grasp.” John Berry

“Bring me the sunset in a cup.” Emily Dickinson

“I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be.” Martha Washington

“Virtue is bold and goodness never fearful.” Shakespeare

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Abraham Lincoln

“Too much of a good thing is wonderful.” Mae West

“A small rock holds back a great wave.” Homer

“I see nothing in space as promising as the view from a Ferris Wheel.” E.B. White

“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life.” Byron

“Adventure is the champagne of life.” G.K. Chesterton

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanore Roosevelt

“It is an interesting question how far men would retain their rank if they were divested of all their clothes.” Henry David Thoreau

“I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free.” Charles Dickens

“All I can do is be me. Whoever that is.” Bob Dylan

“A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.” Aesop

“Life is my college. May I graduate well and earn some honors.” Louisa May Alcott

“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.” Willa Cather

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the road less traveled by.” Robert Frost

“The sun breaks through the darkest clouds.” Shakespeare

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci

“When in doubt, tell the truth.” Mark Twain

“Can anyone remember when times were not hard and money not scarce?” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.” Anne Bradstreet

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Mark Twain

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” George Bernard Shaw

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King

“Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.” Dr. Dale Turner

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” Leo Buscaglia

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” Anatole France

“Give us grace and strength to forbear and persevere.” Robert Louis Stevenson

“Those who realize their folly are not true fools.” Chang tzu

“Nothing is more dreadful than ignorance in action.” Goethe

“What man wants is simply independent choice, whatever that may cost and wherever it may lead.” Fyodore Dostoevsky

“A wise man is superior to any insults which may be put upon him.” Moliere

“Wisdom and virtue are like the two wheels of a cart.” Japanese Proverb

“A word and a stone let go cannot be called back.” Thomas Fuller

“Part of kindness is loving people more than they deserve.” Joseph Joubert

“Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one.” Oscar Wilde

“Our accepting what we are must always inhibit what we ought to be.” John Fowles

“Charm strikes the sight, but merit wins the soul.” Alexander Pope

“Do not do an immoral thing for moral reasons.” Thomas Hardy

“We need the tonic of wildness…and nature.” Henry David Thoreau

“Nonviolence is a flop. The only bigger flop is violence.” Joan Baez

“Love truth, but pardon error.” Voltaire

“Peace, like charity, begins at home.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Keep up your merry hearts, and ride to meet your fortune.” J.R.R. Tolkien

“Those who are free of resentful thoughts will surely find peace.” Buddha

“Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain.” Helen Keller

“I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” George Washington

“Always do right - this will gratify some and astonish the rest.” Mark Twain

“I bend but do not break.” Jean de la Fontaine