50 Do Better Quotes For Competing With Yourself

By Clifton Sankofa

School Leader, Language Arts Expert & Master Quote Curator

Published October 20, 2023

Feed your soul with our do better quotes.

Our DNA is wired to evolve, which makes the idea of doing better seem innate to the human experience.

Many forget that doing better is a result of failure.

Learn to redefine failure with our do better quotes.

What does it mean to do better?

With eight billion people, we are not going to share the same opinion of what our “best” looks like.

For some people, their best may be a monumental effort; for others, it might be a humble attempt.

To do better simply means to improve on your prior performance.

Some people choose to do better by:

Improving their health.
Challenging themselves to improve their skills.
Redefining their perspective to incorporate a larger scope.

Is comparison the thief of joy?

Former US President Theodore Roosevelt is attributed to the quote,

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

The idea behind the president’s words is that we may feel inferior or superior if we compare ourselves to others.

However, neither emotion contributes to our wellness constructively.

Remembering that your life experience is unique will help us stay grounded.

A mentor once shared with me, “When you feel you are banging your head against a wall, that is you living someone else’s life.”

The idea behind this advice is that when we come to parts of our lives where we face resistance, we must ask ourselves how we contribute to the problem.

If you know better, do you actually do better?

Maya Angelou is often misquoted in this regard, but her statement goes as follows:

“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.”

Ignorance means we make mistakes without knowledge; stupid is when we know better and make a poor choice anyway.

The poet laureate encourages us not to judge ourselves too harshly for our choices.

When you know better, you do better.

Check out our do better quotes below to learn more.

Short do better quotes for elevating yourself

We start with these short yet powerful quotes about doing better.

1. “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” — Maya Angelou

2. “I am always trying to do better. My guess is that you are, too.” ― Laura McKowen, We Are the Luckiest

4. “It’s how we learn. It’s how we do better in the future. Hopefully, anyway.” ― Lisa Wingate, The Book of Lost Friends

4. “Set an example for others to do better.” ― Debasish Mridha

5. “Now we have the opportunity to start over and try to do better this time around.” ― Shaun David Hutchinson, The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza

6. “What can we do, what can you do, to do better?” ― Shellen Lubin

7. “A man will do better if he knew the best ways of living” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

8. “I do believe we can do better, be better.” ― Jason Reynolds, All American Boys

9. “But goddamn, I am trying to do better.” ― Laura McKowen, We Are the Luckiest

10. “Transformational leaders empower their followers to do better and become better.” ― Gift Gugu Mona, The Effective Leadership Prototype for a Modern Day Leader

The top do better quotes for finding the best parts of yourself

These quotes remind us that every day is an opportunity to do better.

11. “Gratitude, compassion, and kindness are pillars to make you a better person.” — Invajy

12. “Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.” — William Faulkner

13. “I’m not saying we won’t fight, or you won’t want to throw those daggers at me when I’m inevitably an ass, but I swear I will always strive to do better.” ― Rebecca Yarros, Fourth Wing

14. “I’m frequently in need of consolation, I often feel weak, and more often than not, I fail to meet expectations. I know this, and every day I resolve to do better.” ― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

15. “The quickest way to see if someone really cares about you is do better than them and see how they react.” ― Nitya Prakash

16. “Do better should be what all who carry any kind of privilege in this society should say to ourselves and to each other.” ― Shellen Lubin

17. “Try to be better than yourself.” — William Faulkner

18. “Better to trip with the feet than with the tongue.” — Zeno

19. “There’s always room to be a better person. Always.” — Sonya Teclai

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

The best motivational quotes for doing better

We can always use motivation to pursue our best selves.

21. “We can’t tell if any of those other versions would of been better or worse.” — Matt Haig

22. “The goal is not to be perfect by the end. The goal is to be better today.” — Simon Sinek

23. “Mediocrity will never do. You are capable of something better.” — Gordon B. Hinckley

24. “Every morning, we get a chance to be different. A chance to change. A chance to be better.” — Alan Bonner

25. “Life brings continuous improvements. Learn and past and today be a better person than yesterday.” — Invajy

26. “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” — Aldous Huxley

27. “You either take what has been dealt to you and allow it to make you a better person, or you allow it to tear you down.” — Josh Shipp

28. “You either get bitter, or you get better.” — Josh Shipp

29. “It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies.” — Arthur Calwell

30. “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” — C. S. Lewis

Famous do better quotes for finding your life’s purpose

The best way to do better is to try your hand at everything that excites you.

31. “I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid.” — Neil Gaiman, American Gods

32. “We’ve done larger things, but not better things.” — Bob Moorehead, Words Aptly Spoken

33. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.” — Theodore Roosevelt

34. “Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” — Plato

35. “And, you’ll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine.” — Charles Bukowski, Factotum

36. “I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks, and I still believe that they are better than the alternative.” — Neil Gaiman, American Gods

37. “Sometimes the best we can do is to remind each other that we’re related for better or for worse.” — Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians

38. “Don’t you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can’t think of a better way to spend these moments?” — Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

39. “When it comes down to it, I let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I’m already better than them.” — Marilyn Monroe

40. “To pretend that you don’t need love when you do, or you like your work when you know quite well you’re capable of better.” — Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook

Do better quotes and sayings about how things get better with time

We close our list with these inspirational quotes about how all things get better when we do better.

41. “As long as you’re alive, there’s always a chance things will get better.” – Laini Taylor

42. “Everything is going to be okay. Actually, it’ll turn out better than okay. You’ll see.” – MC Serch

43. “And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better.” – Malcolm S. Forbes

44. “As long as you keep going, you’ll keep getting better. And as you get better, you gain more confidence. That alone is success.” – Tamara Taylor

45. “What is coming is better than what is gone.” – Arabic Proverb

46. “When you are on a downswing, do not feel bad. Know the swing will change, and things will get better. There are good times coming.” – Bob Proctor

47. “A very wise man once told me that you can’t look back; you just have to put the past behind you and find something better in your future.” – Jodi Picoult

48. “It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” — Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

49. “Things will get better if you just hold out long enough.” – Desmond Dekker

50. “Night is always darker before the dawn, and life is the same, the hard times will pass, everything will get better, and the sun will shine brighter than ever.” – Ernest Hemingway