From Obscurity to Inspiration: 149 Rare Quotes to Help You Achieve Your Dreams

Our latest collection of rare inspirational quotes will help open your eyes and mind.

Sometimes thinking outside of the box has the power to open a window of opportunity you may never have realized.

Let us know your favorite rare inspirational quote in the comment section below!

Tired of the same old inspirational quotes about life?

So are we!

Therefore we decided to find some rare quotes that aren’t a secret, but most people have never heard of.

Rare Inspirational Quotes That You Probably Never Heard Of

1. “We meet no ordinary people in our lives.” – C.S. Lewis

2. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain

3. “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” – H.G. Wells

4. “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

5. “What you do today can improve all your tomorrows.” – Ralph Marston

6. “Don’t let others decide who you are.” – Denis Rodman

7. “The soul is stronger than its surroundings.” – William James

8. “If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.” – Rick Riordan

9. “Courage of the heart is very rare. Let it guide you.”― Sarah J. Maas

10. “Like water, every moment is precious.”― Michael Bassey Johnson

Rare inspirational quotes to make you strong

11. “You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” – Walt Disney

12. “If there was nothing wrong in the world there wouldn’t be anything for us to do” – George Bernard Shaw

13. “Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

14. “Think outside of the box, create your own path in life. “You laugh at me because I am different; I laugh because you are all the same.” – Daniel Knode

Rare inspirational quotes to bring out the best in you

15. “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” – John Wooden

16. “Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

17. “If we all did the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.” – Thomas Edison

18. “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T. S. Eliot

19. “The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.” – James Oppenheim

20. “You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Christopher Columbus

21. “Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.”- Ramana Maharshi

22. “The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.”- Carl Jung

Rare inspirational quotes to uplift and inspire

23. “He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.” – Elbert Hubbard

24. “Sometimes we all need a unicorn to believe in. Sometimes we need a unicorn to believe in us.”― Claudia Bakker

25. “What makes you unique is what makes you attractive.”― Amit Kalantri

26. “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” – Abraham Lincoln

27. “A champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall.” – Serena Williams

28. “In the end, everything will be okay. If it’s not okay, it’s not yet the end.” – Fernando Sabino

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

Rare inspirational quotes to motivate you

30. “Turn your can’t into a can, and your dream into plan!” -Cris Nikolov

31. “Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance.” –Ruth E. Renkel

32. “Anything is possible. You can be told that you have a 90-percent chance or a 50-percent chance or a 1-percent chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight.” -Lance Armstrong

33. “Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.” -Charles F. Kettering

34. “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. …so remember: great achievements take time; there is no overnight success.” -Leo Tolstoy

35. “The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.” ― Robert Green Ingersoll

36.  “It’s not up to you how you fall. It’s up to you how far you let yourself fall and how long it takes you to get back up and stand on your own two feet.” -Sr. Tac Jeffrey Mitchell

37. ”When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.” -Eric Thomas 

38. “With confidence, you have won before you have started.” – Marcus Garve

Rare Inspirational Quotes to Keep You Up and Moving

39. “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” -Charles R. Swindoll

40. “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best.” -St. Jerome

41. “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” –Elon Musk

42. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” –Samuel Beckett

43. “I don’t believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be.” -Ken Venturi

44. “Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” -Lao Tzu

Rare Inspirational Quotes With Wise Words from Unknown Authors

45. “Love is a rare gem that needs to be polished, praised and pampered, every day!” – Unknown

46. “There is no opposite of love because love is everything. There is only an absence of love, which is fear.” – Unknown

47. “Some of the biggest achievements of your life will come from helping others achieve.” – Unknown

48. “The best way to ensure success is to never lose energy because things aren’t going as fast as you want them to.” – Unknown

49. “You can’t go anywhere standing still, laying down or on your knees.” – Unknown

50. “Try to lose as large as possible and discover sides of you that will help you win like you’ve never won before.” – Unknown

51. “The key to success is to learn, and then do things on your own terms. The definition of success is to do things on your own terms. You get what you want, by being it and not chasing it!” – Unknown

52. “A miracle isn’t winning the lotto, it’s believing in yourself when you didn’t before.” – Unknown

53. “Dreams happen when you’re asleep. Hope happens when you dream while you’re awake.” – Unknown

54. “Choose your thoughts how you choose your clothes. Make sure they are the best fit for the time, place and location.” – Unknown

55. “Don’t just say what you say, live what you say!” – Unknown

56. “One of the fastest ways to improve your life is to simply do what you said you were going to do.” – Unknown

57. “The more we criticize and judge, the less time we have to love and take care of.” – Unknown

58. “Let’s be clear, we live every day. We only DIE once! Live and die for something!” – Unknown

59. “Say YES more often and life will return the favor.” – Unknown

60. The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow.” – Unknown

Rare Inspirational Quotes To Give You Peace of Mind

61. “Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” ― Neil Armstrong

62. “Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday.” ― John Wayne

63. “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” ― William James

64. “You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” ― Aristotle

65. “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” ― Martin Luther King, Jr

66. “If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.” ― Thomas J. Watson

67. “Peace begins with a smile.” ― Mother Teresa

68. “I was raised to face any challenge.” ― Louis Zamperini

69. “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” ― Pablo Picasso

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

Rare Inspirational Quotes to Keep You Pushing Through

71. “If you’re serious about changing your life, you’ll find a way. If you’re not, you’ll find an excuse.” — Jen Sincero

72. “Step out of the history that is holding you back. Step into the new story you are willing to create.” — Oprah Winfrey

73. “Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

74. “By changing nothing, nothing changes.” — Tony Robbins

75. “At any given moment, you have the power to say: this is not how the story is going to end.” — Christine Mason Miller

76. “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” — Albert Einstein

77. “If you want to overcome the whole world, overcome yourself.” — Fyodor Dostoyevsky

78. “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” — Margaret Thatcher

79. “All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.” — Michael John Bobak

80. “If you are not willing to risk the usual you will have to settle for the ordinary.” — Jim Rohn

Rare Inspirational Quotes To Keep You Encouraged

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

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

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

84. “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

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

86. “Don’t try to rush progress. Remember — a step forward, no matter how small, is a step in the right direction. Keep believing.” ― Kara Goucher

87. “If your plan isn’t working, adjust your plan. Never give up.” ― Matt Martin

88. “By thinking about your goals every morning, many times during the day, and every night, you begin moving toward it, and bringing it toward you.” ― Bob Proctor

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

90. Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.” ― John Heywood

Rare Inspirational Quotes Towards Your Success

91. “Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.” — Bill Bradley

92. “When ordinary people decide to step out and be part of something big, that’s when they become extraordinary.” — Brett Harris

93. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” — Vince Lombardi

94. “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

95. “You are always stronger and more resourceful than you give yourself credit for.” — Rob Moore

96. “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” ― Theodore Roosevelt

97. “The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” — H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

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

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

100. “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.” — Mark Twain

Rare Inspirational Quotes To Inspire a Positive Mindset

101. “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” ― Joseph Campbell

102. “When you accept yourself, the whole world accepts you.” ― Lao Tzu

103. “The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year.” ― John Foster Dulles

104. “Life is always walking up to us and saying, ‘Come on in, the living’s fine,’ and what do we do? Back off and take its picture.” ― Russell Baker

105. “Little by little, one travels far.” ― J. R. R. Tolkien

106. “A nail is driven out by another nail. Habit is overcome by habit.” ― Desiderius Erasmus

107 “The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”  ― William Faulkner

108. “You have two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” ― Denis Waitley

109. “The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going.” David Starr Jordan

110. “Never let yesterday use up today.” ― Richard H. Nelson

Rare Inspirational Quotes About Achieving Your Dreams

111. “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.” ― Mike Murdock

112.“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” ― Benjamin Franklin

113. “It’s when you are not scared of losing that you win everything.” ― Shailendra Singh

114. “Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself.” ― Joel Hawes

115. “It’s not what is available or unavailable that determines your level of success and happiness; it’s what you convince yourself is true.” ― Dr. Wayne Dyer

116. “Your outer circumstances are the mirror of your inner world. Change your inner world, and you change your outer world.” ― Remez Sasson

117. “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” ― Winston Churchill

118. “The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time.” ― Sydney Smiles

119. “The greatest things on earth have been done little by little.” ― Thomas Guthrie

120. “A good plan today is better than a great plan tomorrow.” ― George S. Patton

Rare Inspirational Quotes That Will Ignite Your Spirit

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

122. “The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” — Colin R. Davis

123. “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” — Andy Warhol

124. “Be open to learning new lessons, even if they contradict the lessons you learned yesterday.” — Ellen Degeneres

125. “You can’t turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again.” — Bonnie Prudden

126. “If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” — Steve Jobs

127. “I have standards I don’t plan on lowering for anybody, including myself.” — Zendaya

128. “I was built this way for a reason, so I’m going to use it.” — Simone Biles

129. “Believe in yourself. Stay in your own lane. There’s only one you.” — Queen Latifah

130. “The only way to have a life is to commit it to like crazy.” — Angelina Jolie

Rare Inspirational Quotes for Unearthed Wisdom

131. “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” — Oprah Winfrey

132. “If you risk nothing, then you risk everything.” — Geena Davis

133. “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” — George Lorimer

134. “A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” — Duke Ellington

135. “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” — Confucius

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

137. “Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.” — Hafez

138. “Encourage yourself, believe in yourself, and love yourself. Never doubt who you are.” — Stephanie Lahart

139. “Follow your heart. Listen to your inner voice. Stop caring about what others think.” — Roy T. Bennett

140. “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” — Paulo Coelho

141. “The ultimate expression of generosity is not in giving of what you have, but in giving of who you are.” ― Johnnetta B. Cole

142. “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” ― Mark Twain

143. Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” ― George Washington Carver

144. “There’s gotta be more to life than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me.” ― Stacie Orrico

145. “Don’t let others define you. Don’t let the past confine you. Take charge of your life with confidence and determination and there are no limits on what you can do or be.” ― Michael Josephson

146. “Don’t waste your energy trying to convince people to understand you. Your time is too valuable to try to prove yourself to people.” ― Joel Osteen

147. “The price of discipline is always less than the pain of regret.” ― Nido R Qubein

148. “Build a dream and the dream will build you.” ― Robert H. Schuller

149. “Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.” ― Benjamin Disraeli

These rare inspirational quotes that most people have never heard come from some of the greatest minds ever known.

From Albert Einstein to Steve Jobs, there is a lot to learn from the most brilliant minds in history as well as modern-day influencers alike.

Hopefully, they gave you the boost you needed to make it through the day, face your challenges with determination, and lift your mood.

Tell us which rare inspirational quote resonated with you the most in the comment section below.