45 Unexpected Quotes to Prepare You for the Unforeseen

If you like the saying “Expect the Unexpected”, you’ll love these unexpected quotes.

Unexpected things are just a part of life.

One of the only things you can be assured of is that many unexpected things will come your way throughout your life.

How you handle these unexpected things will determine who you become as a person.

How do you react to unexpected situations?

Do you become nervous, angry, scared, excited, or do you take anything thrown your way in stride?

At each stage of life you can plan all you want, but learn to expect the unexpected because whether you want it or not, the unexpected will be a part of your life!

Please enjoy the quotes below about the unexpected.

Don’t forget to also check out these leap of faith quotes to inspire you to live the life you want.

If you like this article, we suggest you explore our most popular quotes article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily encouragement. 

Read more related content on our inspirational quotes category page.

Unexpected quotes about overcoming the unknown

1. “Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive.” – Jamais Cascio

2. “Those who don’t know how to suffer are the worst off. There are times when the only correct thing we can do is to bear out troubles until a better day.” – Deng Ming-Dao

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3. “A creative train of thought is set off by the unexpected, the unknown, the accidental, the disorderly, the absurd, the impossible.” – Asger Jorn

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4. “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” – Moliere

5. “Don’t give up in times of difficulty. Persevere on as there will be an end to these.” – Edward Dunedin

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6. “Knowledge is power, and it can help you overcome any fear of the unexpected. When you learn, you gain more awareness through the process, and you know what pitfalls to look for as you get ready to transition to the next level.” – Jay Shetty

7. “Without being pushed to the wall, we will have remained in our comfort zone. But this circumstance challenges us to find the courage to move on.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

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8. “The twists and turns of your life can be so unexpected, and that’s a good thing to learn.” – Christina Baker Kline

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9. “Sometimes the best things in life are unexpected.” – Faith Sullivan

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10. “If you take control of those things you can, you are better able to negotiate the unexpected.” – Judy Sheindlin

11. “Some fish love to swim upstream. Some people love to overcome challenges.” – Amit Ray

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12. “You can’t make a recipe for something as complicated as surgery. Instead, you can make a recipe for how to have a team that’s prepared for the unexpected.” – Atul Gawande

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13. “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.” – George Bernard Shaw

14. “Never trust someone that claims they care nothing of what society thinks of them. Instead of conquering obstacles, they simply pretend they don’t exist.” – Tiffany Madison

Unexpected quotes that will inspire you to chase your dreams

15. “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” – Henry David Thoreau

16. “There are almost unlimited possibilities for making discoveries and to uncover the unknown. It is in the nature of the discovery that it can not be planned or programmed. On the contrary, it consists of surprises and appears many times in the most unexpected places.” – Bengt I. Samuelsson

17. “Take a limitation and turn it into an opportunity. Take an opportunity and turn it into an adventure by dreaming BIG!” – Jo Franz

18. “Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done, and why. Then do it.” – Robert A. Heinlein

19. “You are an artist when you make someone feel something deep and unexpected.” – Amanda Palmer

20. “Well, if it can be thought, it can be done, a problem can be overcome.” – E.A. Bucchianeri

21. “The best solutions are often simple, yet unexpected.” – Julian Casablancas

Doing the unexpected quotes

22. “All creative people want to do the unexpected.” – Hedy Lamarr

23. “We must stop regarding unpleasant or unexpected things as interruptions of real life. The truth is that interruptions are real life.” – C.S. Lewis

24. “Some of us, for better or worse, develop very stable, consistent, and largely predictable machineries of self. But in others, the self machinery is more flexible and more open to unexpected turns.” – Antonio Damasio

25. “Sometimes the most scenic roads in life are the detours you didn’t mean to take.” – Angela N. Blount

Unexpected Quotes on How Best to Deal With Things You Didn’t See Coming

26. “Success, like happiness, is the unexpected side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.” — Viktor E. Frankl

27. “Expect the unexpected, my mother once said. Because the unexpected most certainly will be expecting you.” — Marjorie M. Liu

28. “Positively dealing with the unexpected by looking for solutions, not excuses, is the choice you need to make.” — David Cottrell

29. “There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes.” — R. Buckminster Fuller

30. “The thing about love was that it caught you unawares, turned up in the most unexpected places, even when you weren’t looking for it.” — Sarra Manning

31. “For me it’s more fun to find an unexpected moment for a character to sing when you don’t expect them to.” — Stephen Sondheim

32. “Difference of opinion has never been sufficiently appreciated. It is the unexpected, the unknowable, the divine irrationality of life that saves us.” — Florida Scott-Maxwell

33. Regardless of your age, you will always have adventures, unexpected joys and unexpected sorrows.” — Betty Friedan

34. “With training and self discipline; clear focus and confidence; problems can be overcome and even lead to unexpected gains.” — Georges St-Pierre

35. “There is nothing that compares to an unexpected round of applause.” — Lynn Abbey

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to check out our collection of Elizabeth Warren quotes on capitalism, politics, and more.

36. What I don’t know is what the unexpected might be.” ― John McCain

37. “It’s the stuff that happens right in front of your face when there’s no routine and everything is unexpected. That’s what I want to write about.” ― Harvey Pekar

38. “I want to show the world there is life, surprising, wonderful, and unexpected life, after diagnosis.” ― Demi Lovato

39. It is often possible to decide the issue of a battle merely by making an unexpected shift of one’s main weight.” ― Erwin Rommel

40. “Love can achieve unexpected majesty in the rocky soil of misfortune.” ― Tony Snow

41. “Feedback is a pleasant thing. I get a lot of letters from unexpected people in unexpected places.” ― Brian Aldiss

42. “Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention.” ― Frederick Buechner

43. “The picture must be… a revelation, an unexpected and unprecedented resolution of an eternally familiar need.” ― Mark Rothko

44. “To write regular verses destroys an infinite number of fine possibilities, but at the same time it suggests a multitude of distant and totally unexpected thoughts.” ― Paul Valery

45. “The muddy moods of oil paints are the painter’s muddy humors, and its brilliant transformations are the painter’s unexpected discoveries.” ― James Elkins

What did you learn from these unexpected quotes?

Hopefully, after reading the quotes about the unexpected, you have an appreciation for the unforeseen things in life.

In fact, life would end up boring if nothing unexpected ever happened.

If you look back at your life are your favorite experiences and events all expected, or are some unexpected?

The roads of our lives are so twisted back and forth by the unexpected.

We don’t have this straight-line path and we are better off for it.

In fact sometimes the unexpected opens you up to new experiences that you are forced to try and often enough you find a new interest that you would have never found if not for the unexpected.

What’s your biggest takeaway from these unexpected quotes and sayings?

Do you have any other favorite quotes to add?

Let us know in the comment section below.