60 Mark Manson Quotes To Inspire You To Live A Better Life

Author, modern philosopher and lecturer, Mark Manson is full of advice on how to give less f*cks and ultimately live a better life.

We hope these Mark Manson quotes will inspire you to do just that.

Are you living your best life?

Mark Manson became a household name when his book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck became the most read non-fiction book in 2017.

Manson has had two New York Times Best Sellers in the last five years: the aforementioned Subtle Art, as well as Everything is F*cked.

In his books, Manson collects self-help advice from both modern research and from timeless philosophers such as Plato and Nietzsche.

Overall, the message in his books urges the reader to care less and live better.

We hope these Mark Manson quotes inspire you to live your best life.

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

Our inspirational quotes category page has all of our motivational quotes for all the different areas of life.

Mark Manson quotes about embracing failure

1. “Being wrong opens us up to the possibility of change. Being wrong brings the opportunity for growth.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: Embrace when you are wrong, and figure out what needs to change. Just like failure, being wrong is a great teacher, and essential for growth. If you can’t recognize where you went wrong, then how can you grow?

2. “It turns out that adversity and failure are actually useful and even necessary for developing strong-minded and successful adults.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: Adversity and failure provide us with the opportunity to try again! We can learn from our mistakes, strengthen our purpose, and build resiliency. All of these things are important to developing a growth-mindset.

3. “Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: Grapes have to be crushed in order to make wine. Diamonds are created under pressure. Being crushed and put under pressure are some negative experiences, yet this action produces something wonderful. What will the results of your struggles end up being?

4. “If what we value is unhelpful, if what we consider success/failure is poorly chosen, then everything based upon those values—the thoughts, the emotions, the day-to-day feelings—will all be out of whack.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: Be clear about what you value and how you define success. Keep your thoughts, emotions, and feelings aligned with what you believe. Shifting your mindset and being self-aware are powerful tools you can use to live a life that doesn’t feel out of whack!

5. “If you want to change how you see your problems, you have to change what you value and/or how you measure failure/success.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: What does success or failure mean to you? Answering this question will help you evaluate the things you perceive as problems, and allow you to make any changes you feel are necessary. Success does not look the same for everyone!

6. “If pursuing the positive is a negative, then pursuing the negative generates the positive. The pain you pursue in the gym results in better all-around health and energy. The failures in business are what lead to a better understanding of what’s necessary to be successful.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: Something doesn’t have to make us feel good to have value. Pain hurts, yet the tearing and rebuilding of muscles makes us stronger. Our failed endeavors teach us much about ourselves, and provide us with the knowledge we need to get it right next time.

Mark Manson quotes about challenging yourself and facing challenges

7. “Challenge yourself to find the good and beautiful thing inside of everyone. It’s there. It’s your job to find it. Not their job to show you.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: We do seem to assume that everyone should always put their best foot first. Thereby instantly showing us what is good and beautiful about them. However, thinking of it as our job to uncover these traits through conversations, understanding, grace, and empathy is more meaningful.

8. “You can’t build a better mind without challenging your own beliefs and assumptions.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: Always be willing to keep an open mind and challenge what you think is true. This is especially important in regards to our beliefs about ourselves. These beliefs become self-fulfilling prophecies that keep us boxed in instead of growing.

9. “Problems never stop; they merely get exchanged and/or upgraded.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: There is always going to be something that needs solved. When we are poor, we thing money will solve all our problems, but then learn that money comes with a new set of challenges. The same can be said with everything. Focus on learning how to handle problems, think critically, and react, instead of trying to eliminate all your problems!

10. “Bravery is not the absence of fear. Bravery is feeling the fear, the doubt, the insecurity, and deciding that something else is more important.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: Everyone who has ever been brave has also been terrified by what they were about to do. However, they were able to recognize that despite those negative feelings, the thing they were afraid to do simply needed to be done. It had to happen because it was greater than their discomfort. Be brave and face your fears, because you and your life matters!

11. “Our crisis is no longer material; it’s existential, it’s spiritual.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: What causes an existential crisis? Typically, this type of crisis is caused by large life changes, despair, or traumatic events. Each of these things can cause you to question the meaning of life, who you are, and why you exist. When you start to search for the answers to these questions, and are not met with satisfying answers triggers an internal war.

12. “Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: What are you willing to struggle for? What things are worth practicing delayed gratification for? Every goal or ambition in your life will cost something. It might be money, time, or another sacrifice. It is strange to think that happiness comes with a struggle, but everything in life worth having (a healthy relationship, more money, better health, etc.) has a cost. The question comes back down to what are you willing to struggle for?

13. “Pain is an inextricable thread in the fabric of life, and to tear it out is not only impossible but destructive: attempting to tear it out unravels everything else with it.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: Pain and struggle are a part of all of our lives, even if we all experience different forms of pain. Let’s say you are trying to get in shape and be healthier. This will come with the physical pain of going to the gym. Healthy food costs more than junk food, so it might be a struggle financially. Eating a certain diet might mean you choose not to go to dinner with friends. However, being healthy comes with many advantages. Therefore, you can just remove pain and struggle from your life.

14. “To try to avoid pain is to give too many fucks about pain. In contrast, if you’re able to not give a fuck about the pain, you become unstoppable.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: You become unstoppable because you are willing to struggle for something despite it’s cost (pain). The majority of people care about the pain and struggle associated with improving their lives, so they stay where they are. If you can reach a place where you do not focus on the pain and instead focus on the goal or vision for your life, then what else stands in your way?

15. “Suffering through your fears and anxieties is what allows you to build courage and perseverance.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: Perseverance is one of the most important life skills that you can develop. It is the thing that forces us to keep pursuing our goals, even when they are hard. You can build your perseverance by making sure the goals you pursue matter to you. Next, be sure that you are being deliberate in your efforts. We also need hope to persevere. You must believe that your efforts are not in vain and what you are struggling for will improve your future.

16. “When it comes down to it, if you feel crappy it’s because your brain is telling you that there’s a problem that’s unaddressed or unresolved.” — Mark Manson

17. “Negative emotions are a call to action. When you feel them, it’s because you’re supposed to do something. Positive emotions, on the other hand, are rewards for taking the proper action. When you feel them, life seems simple and there is nothing else to do but enjoy it.” — Mark Manson

Mark Manson quotes about finding success

18. “This is the most simple and basic component of life: our struggles determine our successes.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: If your path never has a large uncomfortable obstacle you must overcome, then your successes will never be large or cause massive growth. How you handle your struggles also matters! Do you welcome them and the lessons you can learn? Or do you make sure to avoid obstacles (and the risks that could make you successful)?

19. “Commitment allows you to focus intently on a few highly important goals and achieve a greater degree of success than you otherwise would.” — Mark Manson

20. “Values underlie everything we are and do.” — Mark Manson

21. “Life is about not knowing and then doing something anyway.” — Mark Manson

22. “Self-Improvement and success often occur together. But that doesn’t mean they’re the same thing.” — Mark Manson

23. “What most people don’t understand is that passion is the result of action, not the cause of it.” — Mark Manson

24. “Don’t just sit there. Do something. The answers will follow.“ — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: If you want anything to happen you must take some kind of action. Now, there are big steps and little steps you could take, but that is a separate conversation! The point here is that you can not remain idle…you must do something. Then depending on what you did and how it worked out, answers will follow!

25. “Carefully choose what to care about.” — Mark Manson

26. “Don’t hope for the better. Just be better.” — Mark Manson

Mark Manson quotes about being happy

27. “True happiness occurs only when you find the problems you enjoy having and enjoy solving.” — Mark Manson

28. “The fact is, people who base their self-worth on being right about everything prevent themselves from learning from their mistakes. They lack the ability to take on new perspectives and empathize with others. They close themselves off to new and important information.” — Mark Manson

29. “We are actually often happier with less. When we’re overloaded with opportunities and options, we suffer from what psychologists refer to as the paradox of choice.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: The paradox of choice is an interesting concept. In his book, The Paradox of Choice—Why More is Less, psychologist Barry Schwartz addresses the idea that too many consumer choices causes anxiety. He mentions two different types of people: maximizers and satisficers. It is a fascinating read, so check it out!

30. “Happiness is like being cool, the harder you try the less it’s going to happen. So stop trying. Start living.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: Being happy is a choice and a state of mind. It is not about having certain stuff, doing certain things, or being around certain people. Sure, those things might make you feel good, and make you happy in the moment. However, real happiness comes from within and you will find it by worrying less, being grateful, and living more!

31. “To be happy we need something to solve. Happiness is, therefore, a form of action.” — Mark Manson

32. “A good life is not a life without problems. A good life is a life with good problems.” — Mark Manson

33. “The pain of honest confrontation is what generates the greatest trust and respect in your relationships.” — Mark Manson

34. “You, me, and everything we do will one day be forgotten. It will be as if we never existed, even though we did. Nobody will care. Just like right now, almost nobody cares what you actually say or do with your life. And this is actually really good news: it means you can get away with a lot of stupid shit and people will forget and forgive you for it. It means that there’s absolutely no reason to not be the person that you want to be. The pain of un-inhibiting yourself will be fleeting and the reward will last a lifetime.” — Mark Manson

35. “Hopelessness is the root of anxiety, mental illness, and depression. It is the source of all misery and the cause of all addiction.” — Mark Manson

Everyday Application: What causes hopelessness? According to GoodTherapy.org hopelessness can be caused by a variety of mental health conditions, or can occur when a ‘person is discouraged by dissatisfying, distressing, or negative life events.’ Our response to life events is within our control, while mental health conditions are not. Check out this article about how to be more hopeful in the face of negative events.

36. “Freedom itself demands discomfort.” — Mark Manson

37. The opposite of happiness is hopelessness, an endless gray horizon of resignation and indifference. It’s the belief that everything is fucked, so why do anything at all?” — Mark Manson

38. “You must love someone without expecting anything in return; otherwise, it’s not truly love. ” — Mark Manson

39. “The more you desperately want to be rich, the more poor and unworthy you feel, regardless of how much money you actually make.” — Mark Manson

40. “The problem isn’t that we don’t know how not to get punched in the face. The problem is that, at some point, likely a long time ago, we got punched in the face, and instead of punching back, we decided we deserved it.” — Mark Manson

Mark Manson quotes that will make your day

41. “We all get dealt cards. Some of us get better cards than others. And while it’s easy to get hung up on our cards, and feel we got screwed over, the real game lies in the choices we make with those cards, the risk we decide to take, and the consequences we choose to live with. People who consistently make the best choices in the situations they’re given are the ones who eventually come out ahead in poker, just as in life. And it’s not necessarily the people with the best cards.” — Mark Manson

42. “We suffer for the simple reason that suffering is biologically useful. It is nature’s preferred agent for inspiring change.” — Mark Manson

43. We have evolved to always live with a certain degree of dissatisfaction and insecurity because it’s the mildly dissatisfied and insecure creature that’s going to do the most work to innovate and survive.” — Mark Manson

44. ”Everything we think and feel about a situation ultimately comes back to how valuable we perceive it to be.” — Mark Manson

45. “One of those realizations was this: that life itself is a form of suffering. The rich suffer because of their riches. The poor suffer because of their poverty.” — Mark Manson

46. “We are responsible for experiences that aren’t our fault all the time. This is part of life.” — Mark Manson

47. “You can’t be an important and life-changing presence for some people without also being a joke and an embarrassment to others.” — Mark Manson

48. “Commitment gives you freedom because you’re no longer distracted by the unimportant and frivolous.” — Mark Manson

49. “You and everyone you know are going to be dead soon.” — Mark Manson

50. “Whether we consciously recognize it or not, we are always responsible for our experiences.” — Mark Manson

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More Mark Manson quotes

51. “Life is essentially an endless series of problems. The solution to one problem is merely the creation of another.” – Mark Manson

52. “The more something threatens your identity, the more you will avoid it.” – Mark Manson

53. “People get addicted to feeling offended all the time because it gives them a high; being self-righteous and morally superior feels good.” – Mark Manson

54. “We are defined by what we choose to reject. And if we reject nothing we essentially have no identity at all.” – Mark Manson

55. “But a true and accurate measurement of one’s self-worth is how people feel about the negative aspects of themselves.” – Mark Manson

56. “We can be truly successful only at something we’re willing to fail at. If we’re unwilling to fail, then we’re unwilling to succeed.” – Mark Manson

57. “We don’t always control what happens to us. But we always control how we interpret what happens to us, as well as how we respond.” – Mark Manson

58. “Like anything worth doing in life, happiness takes time and patience and consistency.” – Mark Manson

59. “Everything has an opportunity cost, and the big things we want in life – like happiness and healthy relationships and wealth – they all have big opportunity costs.” – Mark Manson

60. “You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” – Mark Manson

How many f*cks do you give?

More than likely it’s too many.

It’s human nature to care too much about what other people think.

We often shove ourselves into a box that shines with society’s stamp of approval in order to survive in the modern world.

The sad thing is, in order to fit in this box, we tend to squish our natural selves and this stops us from thriving.

Mark Manson urges us to forget the societal standards we try and follow and to embrace who we are instead.

Stop caring what other people might say if you go after your dreams.

Their opinions don’t matter.

What does matter is whether you are living out your best life, or if you are simply floating through life while trying to fit in.

Stand out and shine, you beautiful soul.

Live out your best life because that’s what you deserve.

We hope you enjoyed these Mark Manson quotes and sayings.

Which quote was your favorite?

Let us know in the comment section below.