220 Short Inspirational Quotes to Motivate & Encourage You

It’s easy to feel lost, disconnected, or uninspired in a world that moves at a dizzying pace.

But what if I told you that the key to reigniting your passion, creativity, and drive could be found in a few simple words?

These bite-sized pieces of wisdom can shift our perspective, lift our spirits, and motivate us to take on even the most daunting challenges.

That’s why I’ve curated a collection of the most impactful, thought-provoking, and soul-stirring quotes from some of the greatest minds of our time. Whether you’re an entrepreneur seeking innovation, an artist needing a creative spark, or someone looking to navigate life’s ups and downs with more grace and resilience, these short inspirational quotes are for you.

But this isn’t just another generic list of recycled sayings. These words have helped me push through writer’s block, embrace change, and stay connected to what matters most.

So, keep reading if you’re ready to tap into the wisdom of visionaries, icons, and thought leaders across industries and eras. In just a matter of minutes, you’ll discover the words that will become your daily mantras, your calls to action, and your reminders of your incredible power.

Get ready to be inspired, motivated, and transformed. Your journey starts now.

Short inspirational quotes about happiness

1. “Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden

2. “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”  – Edith Wharton

3. “You do not find the happy life. You make it.” – Camilla Eyring Kimball

4. “The most wasted of days is one without laughter.” – E.E. Cummings

5. “Kids are the only ones who will listen to the real truth about life.” – Sylvia Plath

6. “Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.” – Hafez

7. “Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.” – John Barrymore

8. “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow.” – Helen Keller

9. “Life changes very quickly, in a very positive way, if you let it.” – Lindsey Vonn

Short inspirational quotes about believing in yourself

10. “Impossible is for the unwilling.” – John Keats

11. “No pressure, no diamonds.” – Thomas Carlyle

12. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt

13. “Women are the real architects of society.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe

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

15. “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” – Carol Burnett

16. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

17. “Stay foolish to stay sane.” – Maxime Lagacé

18. “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” – Steve Jobs

19. “Whatever you are, be a good one.” – Abraham Lincoln 

20. “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

21. “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius

22. “Be faithful to that which exists within yourself.” – André Gide

23. “Each day provides its own gifts.” — Marcus Aurelius

24. “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive.” – Maya Angelou

25. “You are enough just as you are.” – Meghan Markle

Short inspirational quotes about perseverance

26. “Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.” — Voltaire

27. “No matter what you’re going through, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” – Demi Lovato

28. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein

29. “Every moment is a fresh beginning.” – T.S. Eliot 

30. “Angels are visible to those who accept without question.” — Paulo Coelho

31. “Keep going. Be all in.” – Bryan Hutchinson

32. “Leave no stone unturned.” – Euripides

33. “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says “I’m possible!” – Audrey Hepburn

34. “It isn’t where you came from. It’s where you’re going that counts.” – Ella Fitzgerald

35. “Encouragement is oxygen to the soul.” — George M. Adams

36. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” – Dr. Robert Schuller

37. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” – Oprah Winfrey 

38. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

39. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

40. “Don’t wait, the time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill

41. “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” – Martin Luther King Jr. 

42. “Empower yourself with inner strength.” — Les Brown

43. “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler

Short inspirational quotes about helping people

44. “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” – Maya Angelou

45. “Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful.” – Hazrat Inayat Khan

46. “Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.” – Isaac Asimov

47. “I’m starting to think this world is just a place for us to learn that we need each other more than we want to admit.” – Richelle E. Goodrich

48. “We have a responsibility to help those around us and help others in need.” – Virginia Williams

49. “You can.” — Unknown

50. “No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank

Short inspirational quotes to encourage you

51. “Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett

52. “The only thing that can grow is the thing you give energy to.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

53. “Good things happen to those who hustle.” – Anaïs Nin

54. “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” — John Lennon

55. “Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.” – Winston Churchill

56. “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” – Joseph Campbell

57. “You can if you think you can.” – George Reeves

58. “Worrying is like paying a debt you don’t owe.” – Mark Twain

59. “There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done.” – The Beatles

60. “Get to the point where you get allergic to average! You don’t think average!” – Eric Thomas

Short inspirational quotes that will open your mind

61. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde

62. “Open your mind. Get up off the couch. Move.” – Anthony Bourdain

63. “Friday is the diamond that I turn over a million times, to better see its brilliance.” — Jerry Spinelli

64. “You never fail until you stop trying.” – Albert Einstein

65. “We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough.” – Helen Keller

66. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

67. “Whatever you do, do with all your might.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

68. “Life is all about the evolution” – J. Cole

69. “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

70. “The advice I would give to someone is to not take anyone’s advice.” — Eddie Murphy

Short inspirational quotes to keep you moving forward

71. “Persistence guarantees that results are inevitable.” – Paramahansa Yogananda

72. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” –George Bernard Shaw

73. “Sports do not build character. They reveal it.” – Heywood Broun

74. “Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

75. “There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” – Augustine of Hippo

76. “Always do what you are afraid to do.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

78. “Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.” – Ralph Emerson

79. “You have to be grateful for what you have.”— Lil Peep

80. “Overcome the notion that you must be regular. It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary.” – Uta Hagen

Short inspirational quotes to empower you

81. “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.“
Eleanor Roosevelt

82. “Mondays are the start of the workweek which offer new beginnings 52 times a year!” – David Dweck

83. “Love me or hate me, I swear it won’t make or break me.” – Lil Wayne

84. The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship. William Blake

85. “When one door of happiness closes, another opens.“ – Helen Keller

86. “I never want to grow up.” – Tyler, the Creator

87. “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Edmund Hillary

88. “Begin anywhere.” – John Cage

89. “Dare to live by letting go.” – Tom Althouse

90. “Most obstacles melt away when we make up our minds to walk boldly through them.” – Orison Swett Marden

Short inspirational quotes that will make your day

91. You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward. — Conrad Hall

92. “The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live.”- Elbert Hubbard

93. “No great thing is created suddenly.” — Epictetus

94. “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It is the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln

95. “Send a good morning text to yourself about how thankful you are for not quitting.” — Jeff Moore

96. “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward.” – Soren Kierkegaard

97. “When you feel like you’re the only person in the world feeling this way, you’re not” – Taylor Swift

98. “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” – Dorothy Bernard

99. “Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.”– Jonathan Lockwood Huie

100. “Live your dreams.” – Les Brown

Short inspirational quotes and short inspirational sayings

101. “The true vocation of man is to find his way for himself.” – Hermann Hesse

102. “A life of sacrifice is the pinnacle of art, and is full of true joy.” –Mahatma Gandhi

103. “Peace is the absence of confusion.” – Wu-Tang

104. “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” – Henry Davis Thoreau

105. “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” – Albert Einstein

106. “To know oneself, one should assert oneself.” –Albert Camus

107. “Men do less than they ought unless they do all they can.” – Thomas Carlyle

108. “People living deeply have no fear of death.” – Anais Nin

109. “Remember when you were young? You shone like the Sun…” ― Pink Floyd

110. “Be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” –Chinese Proverb

Short inspirational quotes about life and dreams

111. “If I’m gonna tell a real story, I’m gonna start with my name.” – Kendrick Lamar

112. “To have a comeback, you have to have a setback.” – Mr. T

113. “All limitations are self-imposed.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

114. “When you make a choice, you change the future.” – Deepak Chopra

115. “Life’s like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending.” – Jim Henson

116. “Words are your paintbrush, and your life is the canvas. You can paint whatever you want to paint.”― Miguel Ruiz

117. “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” – Rumi

118. “Never let your emotions overpower your intelligence.” – Drake

119. “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.”– Oprah Winfrey

120. “Life is so short. I would rather sing one song than interpret the thousand.” ― Jack London

Quotes about inspiration for success

121. “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.” – Mark Twain

122. “Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul.”
– Walt Whitman

123. “Have enough courage to start and enough heart to finish.” – Jessica N. S. Yourko

124. “A witty saying proves nothing.” – Voltaire

125. “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” – Steve Martin

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

127. “We don’t stop going to school when we graduate.” – Carol Burnett

128. “Who you are tomorrow begins with what you do today.”– Tim Fargo

129. “Quality is not an act, it is a habit.” – Aristotle

130. “You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?” – Steven Wright

Short life quotes to brighten your day

131. “Tough times never last but tough people do.” – Robert H. Schiuller

132. “Life’s a garden, dig it.” – Joe Dirt

133. “I could agree with you but then we’d both be wrong.” – Harvey Specter

134. “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” – Tony Robbins

135. “Just do it.” – Nike

136. “Assumptions are the termites of relationships. – Henry Winkler

137. “There is no substitute for hard work.” – Thomas Edison

138. “Mostly, the world sees you the way you see yourself.”– Lisa Nichols

139. “Remember, yearbooks are like diamonds – forever and forever embarrassing.” ― Amy Poehler

140. “Assuming is the root of all disappointments. – Rogienel Reyes

Short inspirational quotes to uplift you

141. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi

142. “We accept the love we think we deserve.” – Stephen Chbosky

143. “No friendship is an accident.” ― O. Henry

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

145. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou

146. “Everything you can imagine is real.” – Pablo Picasso

147. “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt

148. “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” – Paulo Coelho

149. “Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama

150. “Even though you’re growing up, you should never stop having fun.” – Nina Dobrev

Short positive quotes to pump you up

151. “Never give up hope. All things are working for your good. One day, you’ll look back on everything you’ve been through and thank God for it.” – Germany Kent

152. “When in doubt, throw doubt out and have a little faith….” – E.A. Bucchianeri

153. “Don’t worry about the challenges. Get excited about the rewards of crushing them.” – Hiral Nagda

154. “Keep going. Is not as difficult as you feel it is. Don’t give up.” – Brandon Sanderson

155. “I may stumble. I may fall. I may cry. But I’ll NEVER give up! Tomorrow, I rise again.” – Steve Maraboli

156. “The most important thing is to keep going. The second most important thing is to choose the right direction.” – Maxime Lagacé

157. “It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.”  – Napoleon Hill

158. “There are a thousand reasons to live this life, every one of them is sufficient.” – Marilynne Robinson

159. “Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.” — George F. Will

160. “Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what is still possible to do.” – Hillary Rodham Clinton

Short inspirational quotes to inspire success

161. “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz

162. “Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.” – Henry Ford

163. “God always offers us a second chance in life.” — Paulo Coelho

164. “Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” – Christian D. Larson

165. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius

166. “Dream big, stay positive, work hard, and enjoy the journey.” – Urijah Faber

167. “Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.” – John Heywood

168. “We go forward with our heads held high, but look back and remember where we come from.” – Michael Hudson

169. “Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” – Dolly Parton

170. “As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Short inspirational quotes to brighten your day

171. “My life is my message.” – Mahatma Gandhi

172. “Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.” – Maya Angelou

173. “Never regret anything that made you smile.” – Mark Twain

174. “You receive from the world what you give to the world.” – Oprah Winfrey

175. “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius

176. “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

177. “Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.” – W. Clement Stone

178. “All progress takes place outside of your comfort zone.” – Michael John Bobak

179. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela

180. “They laugh at me because I’m different. I laugh at them because they’re all the same.” ― The Joker

Short inspirational quotes and words of wisdom

181. “I don’t need it to be easy, I need it to be worth it.” – Lil Wayne

182. “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein

183. “If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” – Bruce Lee

184. “He that can have patience can have what he will.” – Benjamin Franklin

185. “Be proud of yourself when you do keep going!” – Lindsey Vonn

186. “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” – Muhammad Ali

187. “One lie has the power to tarnish a thousand truths.” ― Al David

188. “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” – Henry Ford

189. “Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” – Oprah Winfrey

190. “Sometimes life is hard for no reason at all.” – Carol Boone, Remember The Titans

Short inspirational quotes for big life changes

191. “As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.“ –
Marianne Williamson

192. “Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.”— Walt Whitman

193. “The morning was full of sunlight and hope.” – Kate Chopin

194. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”– Winston Churchill

195. “You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script.”— Oprah Winfrey

196. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”— Malala Yousafzai

197. “Spread love everywhere you go.”— Mother Teresa

198. “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” ― Thomas Campbell

199. “Belief creates the actual fact.”— William James

200. “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”— Aristotle

Other short positive quotes and sayings

201. “When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.” – Maya Angelou

202. “There can be glory in failure and despair in success.” – Abraham Lincoln

203. “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.” – Francis Bacon

204. “None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing.” – Benjamin Franklin

205. “A man’s true wealth is the good he does in the world.” – Kahlil Gibran

206. “There is just news. There is no good or bad.” – Master Oogway

207. “Positive anything is better than negative nothing.” – Elbert Hubbard

208. “If you want to see a rainbow you have to learn to see the rain.” – Paulo Coelho

209. “I’m a slow walker, but I never walk back.” – Abraham Lincoln

210. “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” —Seneca

Short inspirational quotes about success and goals

211. “Learn as if you will live forever, live like you will die tomorrow.” — Mahatma Gandhi

212. “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” — Will Rogers

213.“When you change your thoughts, remember to also change your world.”—Norman Vincent Peale

214. “To know how much there is to know is the beginning of learning to live.” —Dorothy West

215. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy looking for it.” — Henry David Thoreau

216. “Goal setting is the secret to a compelling future.” — Tony Robbins

217. “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” — Herman Melville

218. “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” — Tony Robbins

219. “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” —Estée Lauder

220. “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” — Jim Rohn

Which of these short motivational quotes will you turn to?

Sometimes, all we need is a small dose of inspiration to keep going. Remember to bookmark this page so you can get back to it quickly whenever you need extra motivation. 

One of the best things about these short quotes is that they are easily shareable. If you see someone needing inspiration, send them one of the above quotes. 

These quotes are universally relatable and can help many people decipher problems within their own lives.

It only takes a couple of seconds to make someone’s day. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the people you care about. 

Did we miss one of your favorite short inspirational quotes and sayings? Let us know your favorites in the comments section below.