Growing Up Quotes About Change, Growth and Life

Looking for awesome growing up quotes?

Change is something that many people do not handle well.

Positive or negative, change carries with it a certain level of stress.

How we deal with that change, how we embrace it, and what we choose to learn from it, is up to us.

Hopefully, these quotes on growth can help you find that acceptance and gift that change can bring in your own life.

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration. 

Explore our complete collection of motivational quotes here.

Inspirational Growing Up Quotes

1. “No Work so great, but what admits decay,

No Act so glorious, but must fade away…

Old things must yield to New, Common to Strange,

Perpetual Motion, brings perpetual Change.” – James Miller (1706–1744), Harlequin-Horace: Or, The Art of Modern Poetry, 1731

2. “Who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.”- Harold Wilson

You will also enjoy our article on getting older quotes.

3. “All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.”- Anatole France

You will also enjoy our article on quotes on change growth.

4. “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”- Viktor Frankl

If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of Viktor Frankl quotes on life, suffering and success.

5. “Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer.”- Shunryu Suzuki

6. “If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.”- Mary Engelbreit

7. “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”- W. Edwards Deming (Thanks, Michelle)

8. “Every hour proves to us that change and decay are written upon all things earthly. As surely will the proudest monuments of human labor pass away, as the morning mist from among the hills. If we can look upon the past and behold the ravages of time, or on the present and not feel his powerful influence upon ourselves and the things around us, then indeed will our future be dark and cheerless.”- Charles Lanman, ‘Musings,’ 1840

9. “You must welcome change as the rule but not as your ruler.”- Denis Waitley

You will also enjoy our article on motivational quotes for kids.

Growing Up Quotes about Life and Time

10. “If you’re in a bad situation, don’t worry, it’ll change. If you’re in a good situation, don’t worry it’ll change.”- John A. Simone, Sr.

11. “There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position, and be bruised in a new place.”- Washington Irving

12. “When you are through changing, you are through.”- Bruce Barton

13. “The man who looks for security, even in the mind, is like a man who would chop off his limbs in order to have artificial ones which will give him no pain or trouble.”- Henry Miller

14. “Life is change.”- Heraclitus of Ephesus

15. “Change is inevitable — except from a vending machine.”- Robert C. Gallagher

16. “Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.”- John Kenneth Galbraith

Also, read these childhood quotes that will make you connect with your inner child.

Growing Up Quotes about Changing for the Better

17. “What can we take on trust

in this uncertain life? Happiness, greatness,

pride — nothing is secure, nothing keeps.”- Euripides, Hecuba

18. “They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.”- Confucius

19. “It is a pleasant feeling to be the first to walk on sands which the tide has just left. It is like being the first to visit a new land. It produces a freshness of sensation something akin to that of early morning, or of spring. It is like entering upon a new stage of life, having a new world before us from which to receive, and upon which to make impressions.”- Henry James Slack (1818–1896), The Ministry of the Beautiful, ‘Conversation II: Footsteps on the Sand,’ 1850 [Lyulph speaking —tεᖇᖇ¡·g]

20. “The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions.”- Ellen Glasgow

21. “There were no violins or warning bells… no sense that my little life was about to change. But we never know, do we? Life turns on a dime.”- Stephen King, 11/22/63, 2011

22. “Life is its own journey, presupposes its own change and movement, and one tries to arrest them at one’s eternal peril.”- Laurens van der Post

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of life changing quotes about love, life and death.

23. “Growth is the only evidence of life.”- John Henry Newman, Apologia pro vita sua, 1864

24. “The past is the present, and the present the future, to the non-progressive mind.”- James Lendall Basford (1845–1915), Sparks from the Philosopher’s Stone, 1882

25. “Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations.”- Faith Baldwin

26. “The circumstances of the world are so variable that an irrevocable purpose or opinion is almost synonymous with a foolish one.”- William H. Seward

27. “The birds are molting. If only man could molt also — his mind once a year its errors, his heart once a year its useless passions.”- James Allen

28. “The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.”- William Blake

If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of William Blake quotes for the creative soul.

29. “Man’s yesterday may ne’er be like his morrow; Nought may endure but Mutability.”- Percy Bysshe Shelley, ‘Mutability’

30. “You can avoid having ulcers by adapting to the situation: If you fall in the mud puddle, check your pockets for fish.”- Author Unknown

31. “Time, which changes people, does not alter the image we have retained of them.”- Marcel Proust

32. “Stubbornness does have its helpful features. You always know what you are going to be thinking tomorrow.”- Glen Beaman

33. “It is strange and wonderful what changes may be wrought by a few fleeting months, on the human frame, and the human heart.”- Elizabeth J. Eames, ‘An Autumn Reverie,’ October 1840

34. “When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.”- Chinese Proverb

35. “I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed.”- George Carlin

You might also like these immature quotes to help you grow.

Growing Up Quotes about Changing for the Better

36. “Must the old joys be evermore withholden?

Even their memory keeps me pure and true;

And yet, God speaketh, ‘I make all things new.’” – Sarah Doudney, ‘Between the Lights,’ c.1875

37. “Change may come to you in trinkets and I hope it adorns your life gracefully.”- Dodinsky, www.dodinsky.com

38. “People and their rituals. They cling to things so hard sometimes.”- Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain, 2008

39. “For either or both ways all minds are always,

Morning and noon and night, sleeping and waking,

Summer and winter, always, always changing…”- James Henry, ‘Love,’ 1855 December 26th

40. “The wheel of change moves on, and those who were down go up and those who were up go down.”- Jawaharlal Nehru

41. “What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want.”- Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook, 1960

42. “We would rather be ruined than changed;

We would rather die in our dread

Than climb the cross of the moment

And let our illusions die.” – W.H. Auden

43. “You never have a friend all figured out. Just when you think you know what makes them tick, they tock.”- Robert Brault, rbrault.blogspot.com

44. “All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.”- Ellen Glasgow

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

Make sure to also check out these wise sayings about life to expand your understanding.

Other growing up quotes to inspire you

46. “If growing up is the process of creating ideas and dreams about what life should be, then maturity is letting go again.” – Mary Beth Danielson

47. “Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.” – Chili Davis

48. “Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you’re in diapers; the next day you’re gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul.” – The Wonder Years

49. “Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others.” – Virginia Woolf

50. “Growing up happens when you start having things you look back on and wish you could change.” – Cassandra Clare

51. “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” – C.S. Lewis

52. “Growing apart doesn’t change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I’m glad for that.” – Ally Condie

53. “Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.” – Anne Frank

54. “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” – J.D. Salinger

55. “When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” – Patrick Rothfuss

56. “Most people don’t grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging.” – Maya Angelou

57. “Growing up happens when you start having things you look back on and wish you could change.” – Cassandra Clare

58. “Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter could be said to remedy anything.” – Kurt Vonnegut

59. “Everyone thinks you make mistakes when you’re young. But I don’t think we make any fewer when we’re grown up.” – Jodi Picoult

Also, check out these inspirational quotes for kids about kindness.

More relatable growing up quotes

60. “I don’t want to be a man,” said Jace. “I want to be an angst-ridden teenager who can’t confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead.”
“Well,” said Luke, “you’re doing a fantastic job.” ― Cassandra Clare

61. “One of the strange things about adulthood is that you are your current self, but you are also all the selves you used to be, the ones you grew out of but can’t ever quite get rid of.” ― John Green

62. “It was only high school after all, definitely one of the most bizarre periods in a person’s life. How anyone can come through that time well adjusted on any level is an absolute miracle.” ― E.A. Bucchianeri

63. “Relax. You will become an adult. You will figure out your career. You will find someone who loves you. You have a whole lifetime; time takes time. The only way to fail at life is to abstain.” ― Johanna de Silentio

64. “You grow up the day you have your first real laugh — at yourself.” ― Ethel Barrymore

65. “When you were too young and naïve to see the risks, I incurred your wrath to protect you. Scream at me for it if you must. Thank me for it when you finally grow up.” ― Karen Marie Moning

66. “You learn over time that the world isn’t broken. It’s just… got more pieces to it than you thought. They all fit together, just maybe not the way you pictured when you were young.” ― M.L. Wang

67. “That’s one of the things we learn as we grow older — how to forgive. It comes easier at forty than it did at twenty.” ― L.M. Montgomery

68. “Nothing special has happened today; no one can say she was more provoked than usual. It is only that every day one grows a little, every day something is different, so that in the heaping up of days suddenly a thing that was impossible has become possible. This is how a girl becomes a grown woman. Step by step until it is done.” ― Naomi Alderman

69. “I knew that I had reached the end of childhood once I realized that adults in my life didn’t know anymore than I did.” ― Matthew Quick

70. “Part of growing up was learning not to be quite that honest – learning when it was better to lie, rather than to hurt someone with the truth.” ― Jodi Picoult

Growing up quotes that are full of wisdom

71. “The trick is growing up without growing old.” — Casey Stengel

72. “Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.” — Walt Disney

73. “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” — E.E. Cummings

74. “When they tell you to grow up, they mean stop growing.” — Tom Robbins

75. “’Oh,’ she thought, ‘How horrible it is that people have to grow up and marry and change!’” — L.M. Montgomery

76. “Growing old is unavoidable, but never growing up is possible. I believe you can retain certain things from your childhood if you protect them — certain traits, certain places where you don’t let the world go.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

77. “Growing up, we are told many things; one being, you can do anything. But somewhere between child and adult, things change.” — Julie Hebert

78. “You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they’re going.” — P. J. O’Rourke

79. “I think she is growing up, and so begins to dream dreams, and have hopes and fears and fidgets, without knowing why or being able to explain them.” — Louisa May Alcott

80. “For me, growing up felt like a roller coaster ride at times, but looking back, I don’t think that it was such a bad thing. It was all part of the excitement of being young.” — Jameela Jamil

Relatable Growing Up Quotes To Inspire Teens

81. “Maturity is a high price to pay for growing up.” — Tom Stoppard

82. “I reckon responsible behavior is something to get when you grow older. Like varicose veins.” ― Terry Pratchett

83. “It was a sign of growing up, when the dark made no more difference to you than the day.” ― Roddy Doyle

84. “Sometimes you have to grow up before you appreciate how you grew up.” ― Daniel Black

85. “The years went by, and Mary Alice and I grew up, Slower than we wanted to, faster than we realized.” ― Richard Peck

86. “Some days later, I understood what he was trying to say, that getting grown means learning how to work that current: learning when to hold fast, when to drop anchor, when to let it sweep you up.” ― Jesmyn Ward

87. “Feeling very surprised too at myself. I knew what was happening, O my brothers. I was like growing up.” ― Anthony Burgess

88. “That’s the trick of growing up. Nothing stays the same.” Hook sounded oddly sympathetic. “You see the faults in everything. Including yourself.” ― Austin Chant

89. “Growing up, I have discovered over time, is rather like housework: never finished.” ― Lois McMaster Bujold

90. “This is growing up, having to stomp out love, this is how people turn terrible.” ― Michelle Tea

Did any of these quotes about growing up resonate with you?

Many people do not handle any type of change well, and they prefer to live a life that is consistent and the same each day.

This manages their anxiety, and assures them that they always know what’s coming next.

The problem is that, life does not work like that.

Change is inevitable.

It’s what makes us grow up.

You never know when you – or your life – can change forever.

By

Dr. Nikki Martinez, Lead Contributor

Psychologist, Life Coach, Author

July 20, 2022 5:00 AM EST