20 Inspirational Quotes To Live By

Written by Celestine Chua - 57 Comments
Categories: self improvement

I love inspirational quotes. They are powerful nuggets of wisdom condensed into 1-2 lines. Whenever I read them, I am inspired to take action. I remember when I was a high school student, I would decorate the cover of my foolscap pads with quotes because they were so meaningful. Today, I have quotes plastered on the noticeboard in front of my work desk, which I change regularly to whichever quote resonates most with me at the point in time. Whenever I raise my head, I’ll see them in front of me, sort of like a little nod of affirmation. :)

Here, I’ll share 20 of my favorite inspirational quotes. I won’t include any commentary because the quotes speak for themselves.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein

“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” – Albert Ellis

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” – Bill Copeland

“If what you’re doing is not your passion, you have nothing to lose.”

“The person who says something is impossible should not interrupt the person who is doing it.”

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot

“All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

“What the mind can conceive, it can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.” – Seneca

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

“Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.” -Albert Einstein.

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” -Milton Berle

“The sky has never been the limit. We are our own limits. It’s then about breaking our personal limits and outgrowing ourselves to live our best lives.”

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” – Life’s Little Instruction Book, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“When you can’t change the direction of the wind — adjust your sails.” ~ H. Jackson Brown

“Everything you want should be yours: the type of work you want; the relationships you need; the social, mental, and aesthetic stimulation that will make you happy and fulfilled; the money you require for the lifestyle that is appropriate to you; and any requirement that you may (or may not) have for achievement or service to others. If you don’t aim for it all, you’ll never get it all. To aim for it requires that you know what you want” ~ Richard Koch

“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” – Albert Ellis

“Confidence comes not from always being right but not fearing to be wrong”

“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drowned your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

About

Celestine Chua writes at The Personal Excellence Blog, where she shares her best advice on how to achieve personal excellence and live your best life. Get her RSS feed directly and add her on Twitter @celestinechua. If you like this article, you will enjoy one of her top articles: 101 Most Inspiring Quotes of All Time.

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  • http://feedingo.com Aaron Pepper

    Great quotes! I agree, great quotes can be a powerful source of inspiration.

    Here’s one of my favorites.

    “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” – Charles Mingus

  • http://celestinechua.com/blog/ Celestine Chua

    Thanks Pick The Brain for this guest post opportunity and chance to reach out to other Pick The Brain readers. How all of you enjoy the quotes as much as I have :D

    If you are interested in more quotes, I have compiled 101 quotes in one of my blog posts: http://celestinechua.com/blog/2009/06/101-most-inspiring-quotes-of-all-time/
    (which has led to 2 other parts each with 101 quotes too.)
    Due to the overwhelming popularity, I have compiled a free ebook with over 300+ quotes which you can grab here: http://celestinechua.com/blog/free-ebooks/#quotes. It’s entirely free for all your perusal so feel free to republish / share with others :)

  • http://www.2knowmyself.com Farouk

    i love these Quotes
    thank you Celestine :)

  • http://singleagainonlinediary.blogspot.com Yvette Francino

    Thanks for these great quotes. I’ve been looking for inspirational blogs to blog about myself. I’ll add your blog to my blog roll and will be creating a future post about your site. Great work!

  • http://celestinechua.com/blog/ Celestine Chua

    Thanks Farouk :D

  • http://celestinechua.com/blog/ Celestine Chua

    Thanks Aaron, that’s a great quote to add to my collection! :D

  • http://www.stevescottsite.com/uncategorized/steves-sunday-selections-may-23rd-2010 Steve’s Sunday Selections – May 23rd, 2010 | Steve Scott Site

    [...] Like many people I like inspirational quotes. That’s why I think you should read these 20 inspirational posts that Celestine put together. [...]

  • http://www.divorceforguys.com Jeff

    One of my favorites.

    Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
    Mark Twain

  • http://celestinechua.com/blog/ Celestine Chua

    Thanks Yvette, I really appreciate it :) I just checked out your blog and it’s a great idea to share your lessons of love with others on your blog. Keep up the great work! :D

  • http://celestinechua.com/blog/ Celestine Chua

    Thanks Jeff! That’s a favorite of mine too :) Very hard-hitting and true.

  • http://warriormindcoach.com/blog Gregg Swanson

    Thanks Celectine!
    If I can…I’d like to add my favorite quote
    “Every facet, every compartment of your mind is to be programmed by you. If you don’t take your rightful responsibility and program your own mind, the world will program it for you.” – Unknown

  • http://www.asparkstarts.com Frank

    Wow! Thank you Celectine. This is an awesome combination of quotes that put perspective on a lot of the things we go through throughout our lives. I always find it amazing on how much you can learn from the wisdom of others. Who would think that one statement could encourage and inspire so many people years after they made it.

    Thanks for sharing

  • http://n/a joseph p.martino

    “Sometimes the best decisions you ever make are the decisions you don’t make.”
    Copyright Joseph P.Martino

  • Phani

    “The best things in life are always FREE!!!”

  • http://www.momentary.org Kendra

    Love these quotes! I’m going to save these as daily reminders. Thanks for sharing!

    Best,

    Kendra
    Momentary.org
    Count your blessings. Everyday. Everywhere.
    (mobile gratitude journal — free with promo “joy”)

  • http://celestinechua.com/blog/ Celestine Chua

    Hey Greg, that’s a fantastic quote! Thanks for sharing! :D

  • http://onbeinghuman.net/ Julie

    in answer to
    “The person who says something is impossible should not interrupt the person who is doing it.”
    I rather like the subtle difference (and warning) in
    ” The man who says it can’t be done is interrupted by the man who is doing it “

  • moe comeau

    I was astounded when I read the Steve Jobs “quote”:
    “Don’t let the noise of other’s opinion drowned your own inner voice.”
    Could he have possibly made such a stupid blunder? (drown, not drowned). No, the typo is a MISquote. Duh.

  • http://motive8.me petelim2410

    Very impressive post. More power.

  • ahmed316

    thank you alot i realy enjoyed by reading your ideas

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  • http://p163.sg Angelee

    I love quotes cos they strike a reality in your life that is so true. They’re full of wisdom. I’ve read so many quotes ever since, though I don’t memorize all of ‘em, but I remember them whenever I experience something related.

    Based on the list above,

    “All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

    .. this simple one has been guiding me ever since I decided to wake up from the wrong path I’ve been to before.

    Thanks for sharing! and reminding as well.

  • http://enlightr.com Craig Thomas

    Nice post and an awesome selection of quotes! :)

  • http://www.asparkstarts.com/2010/06/inspiration-from-others-this-week/ Inspiration From Others This Week – A Spark Starts

    [...] 20 inspirational quotes to live by-Pick the brain [...]

  • blah

    this is a pretty good one too:

    In the long run the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip.

  • http://n/a joseph p.martino

    “success may be the symphony in life’s sweet rhapsody,but love is the conductor that orchestrates life every note.” copyright joseph p.martino

    “life and success is a great big merry-go-round,love is the brass ring.”
    copyright joseph p.martino

  • Carlos in Fabula

    I really don’t want to ruin your day, but you might want to notice that you compiled 19 quotes (one of them twice). And still, nobody seems to care… :)

  • Sadeq

    Tnx
    this was great!

  • Dan

    My favourite quote…

    ‘if you are stupid enough, you’ll never learn…’

  • http://www.quotes-to-live-by.info/ quotes to live by

    All kids are gifted; some just open their packages earlier than others.

  • http://n/a joseph p.martino

    “it’s important to know what’s important ( in life ) and even
    more important to know what’s not.”
    copyright joseph p.martino

  • http://yahoo.com haniya

    i relly like quotes… u know why? beceuse its make my life meaningful

  • http://yahoo.com nen

    quotes inspire me to live life wisely

  • http://n/a joseph p.martino

    ‘a respectful mouth kept in check and not allowed to expand beyond the size of one’s brain and ego will bring success to its user.
    copyright joseph p.martino

  • ernie

    God know’s that I’m worth it =)

  • http://www.pickthebrain.com Kyvi Hood

    Here’s one of my favs: “Never take life too seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.”
    (Author Unknown)

  • http://www.rory-ellis.com/quote-then-you-win/ Rory Ellis » Blog Archive » Quote: Then you win

    [...] This came from a post from PicktheBrain on 20 Inspiring Quotes. [...]

  • meera

    great quotes thanks for sharing

  • http://www.quotes-to-live-by.info/ Quotes To Live By

    lively quotes to feel beter about life!

  • http://n/a joseph p.martino

    “maintaining a modern infrastructure is the very lifeblood of a successful and vibrant national economy,
    as crucial as the arterial system is to life.”
    copyright joseph p.martino

  • Tawny

    Love it so much I shared three!! (= Thank you

  • http://n/a joseph p.martino

    “don’t attempt to gain success at any and all cost, the price may prove to high.”
    copyright joseph p.martino

  • Anonymous

    “as important it is to believe in god,it is even more important that god should believe in you.” copyright joseph p.martino

  • Sodowdy

    Thank you – I very much needed to know that.

  • http://iloveyourquotes.com/quotes-of-i-love-you/ I love you quotes

    I really like the first one
    that Albert Einstein said about two ways of living life. It really enlightened
    me. 

  • Anonymous

    “the only thing we are guaranteed and assured besides life and death is the very moment.”
    copyright joseph p.martino

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  • Cod

    steve jobs you crazy ass

  • http://lifequotes99.com Sanju250

    interesting
    piece of information, I had come to know about your web-page from my friend
    pramod, jaipur,i have read atleast eight posts of yours by now, and let me tell
    you, your blog gives the best and the most interesting information. This is
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    life

     

  • John H

    Life is not measured by the amount of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away

  • Hellokittybabi@yahoo.com

    My life is written in pen so I can’t erase my mistakes

  • Jordatech1

    This is a great site, however the quote “The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your
    problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the
    ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own
    destiny.” – Albert Ellis from section  is repeated in section 18.   I added your quotes to my archives thanks for the contributions.
    Ps. I am assuming that the quotes with no references are Unknown NOT written by you.

    Sincerely,
    –
    J.D.U.

  • Cyrus

    Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit when there’s footprints on the moon.

  • Ben Winters

    Quotes! Quotes! Quotes! Quotes! Love these.. I really like the Ghandi one keeping that one handy!

  • http://TeachMeAwesome.com/ Ben Winters

    Quotes! Quotes! Quotes! Quotes! Love these.. I really like the Ghandi one keeping that one handy!