When was the last time an English quote caught you by surprise or gave you butterflies?

The idea of reading and understanding English quotes can be educational, entertaining, and enlightening. A good quote travels across time and culture, and encompasses several fields like philosophy, religion, literature, and even famous speeches. In fact, some of the famous English quotes that we know of today are actually translations.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Through these nuggets of wisdom, we could gain hope, strength, and even laughter to change, one moment at a time. In this article, we invite you to discover some of the best and most memorable quotations for different themes in the English language!

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🌞 Exploring Life Quotes in English

Life is a journey filled with moments of joy, challenges, and growth. As we go through different experiences and emotions, we also encounter different thoughts, which will eventually lead us to make different decisions — some can make or break us.

A hand with a silver ring points to an open book page featuring a quote about mindfulness and happiness by William Morris.
Photo by by Anna Tarazevich

On one hand, the practice of pondering on quotes can be seen as pure information input, but it can also be a moment of recalibration and even liberation.

Sometimes, it allows us to pause and come out of our current mindset, especially when things feel like they are tumbling down.

Good quotes help us to reflect on the essence of living, encouraging us to embrace each moment, learn from our experiences, and cherish the beauty of existence.

Quote Author
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”Benjamin Franklin
"Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas."Marie Curie
Age is something that doesn’t matter, unless you are a cheese.”Luis Bunuel
"Don’t take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive."Elbert Hubbard
"If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”Dalai Lama
"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."Ralph Waldo Emerson
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”Robert Frost
“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”Mark Twain
“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”Elbert Hubbard
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”George Bernard Shaw
“Life must be understood backward. But it must be lived forward.”Søren Kierkegaard
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”Oscar Wilde
“Get busy living or get busy dying.”Stephen King (Different Seasons)
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.”Benjamin Franklin
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” Confucius

❤️ Discovering Love Quotes in English

Love is a universal language that transcends time and culture. It has long inspired poets, writers, and thinkers to capture its essence in words that resonate deeply within us.

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Love can be expressed and experienced in different forms and quotes. Photo by Agung Pandit Wiguna

Having said that, love takes many forms and finds expression in different ways, depending on the context and the bonds we share in our multifaceted relationships.

Couples

  • Valentine's Day
  • Anniversaries

Friends

  • Friendship Day
  • Life Milestones

Family

  • Parent's Day
  • Remembrance/ Birthdays

Similarly, you can use love quotes for different occasions and for special individuals in your life as a means of adoration, celebration, appreciation, and gratitude — through the beauty of written and spoken English quotes like the following examples.

Type of loveQuoteAuthor
Friendship"Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ."C.S.Lewis
Friendship"True friends never apart maybe in distance but never in heart. "Helen Keller
Friendship "A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails."Donna Roberts
Family "In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony."Friedrich Nietzsche
Family"My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."Clarence Budington Kelland
Family "When you look into your mother's eyes, you know that is the purest love you can find on this earth. "Mitch Albom

🔥 Romantic Love Quotes

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart. " — Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility
"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." — Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
“Love is like the wind, you can’t see it, but you can feel it.” — Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember
“We accept the love we think we deserve.” — Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” — Emily Brontë (Wuthering Heights)
“The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” — Audrey Hepburn
“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” — Dr. Seuss
“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” — Aristotle
“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.” — David Viscott
“I have waited for this opportunity for more than half a century, to repeat to you once again my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love.” — Gabriel García Márquez (Love in the Time of Cholera)
“There is no remedy for love but to love more.” — Henry David Thoreau
“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” — Nat King Cole (from Nature Boy)
"In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine." — Maya Angelou
"If I know what love is, it is because of you." — Herman Hesse
"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk through my garden forever." —Alfred Tennyson

Explore how English allows you to interact with the world.

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Jo
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Jo
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🚀 Applying Inspirational and Motivational Quotes

Inspirational and motivational quotes have the power to transform one's life. When applied aptly, they offer wisdom and encouragement in times of need. Most of the time, they are simple yet impactful words, born out of personal experience, direct observation, and reflection.

While both inspirational and motivational concepts are often used interchangeably, there is still a subtle difference between them and the need to have a balanced approach in order to have the best of both worlds.

accessibility
Inspiration vs Motivation

🔥Inspiration is a process where you feel connected to an idea, a dream, or even someone. It sparks something in you.

💪Motivation is a process where you are driven to continue and finish something that you've started. It sustains and keeps you going.

From the timeless words of historical figures to modern-day thought leaders, these quotes remind us of the resilience of the human spirit and the importance of perseverance.

💡Examples of Inspiration Quotes

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars"— Norman Vincent Peale
"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" — C.S. Lewis
"The only limit to our realisation of tomorrow will be our doubts of today" — Franklin D. Roosevelt
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — Nelson Mandela
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” — Dalai Lama
“Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.” — Walt Whitman
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt

💡Examples of Motivation Quotes

"Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going," — Sam Levenson
"The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities" — Stephen Covey
"Tomorrow becomes never. No matter how small the task, take the first step now!" — Tim Ferris
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” — C.S. Lewis
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” — Wayne Gretzky
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” — George Addair
“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” — William Butler Yeats
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill

📖 Reading Memorable English Literature Quotes

In the world of English Literature, there are many insightful quotes which offer us different perspectives to look at ourselves individually and as a society. Writers and poets across different generations may experience different things in terms of technology or the education system, but one thing remains — a shared human experience of love, loss, strength, and grief.

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The human experience can be shared across generations through words. Photo by MART PRODUCTION

Many literature is born out of in-depth research, analysis, and life lessons surrounding the society of that time, which still bears timeless wisdom that we can still apply and relate to today. Let's look at some examples below:

🔥 Personal Growth and Life Quotes

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.” — Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” — Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
“Not all those who wander are lost.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” — Oscar Wilde
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” — Albert Einstein
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” — Socrates
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” — André Gide
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” — Aristotle
“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” — John Lennon

🔥 Friendship Quotes

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." — J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you." — A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… it has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” — C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.” — Helen Keller
“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” — Thomas Aquinas
“Friends are the siblings God never gave us.” — Mencius
“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” — Walter Winchell

From the above English literature quotes, you can tell that they still remain popular and relevant today, especially in speeches or other writings. Reading them from their original sources not only adds credibility to what you're learning, but it also enriches your reading experience as you're able to understand why the author came out with that particular quote. For instance, the quote found in Winnie the Pooh is a reflection of A. A. Milne's view of companionship through his book's characters.

Having said that, applying these quotes not only adds depth and elegance to your overall communication skills, but they also serve as a tool of discussion and also self-reminder to ourselves when we need a paradigm shift, for instance.

Learn how English evolved as a language over the years.

🎯 How Can Quotes Help Improve Your English Language Skills?

Now that you have reviewed these English quotes, you might wonder what's next. Do you know that with the right mindset and method of studying these quotes, you can improve your English tremendously? Here are three major benefits that you can gain while learning new English quotes:

Vocabulary building and retention

  • Naturally learn and memorise new words and phrases

Enhance grammar and language

  • Naturally learn to form concise and impactful sentences

Refine pronunciation and speech

  • Naturally read and use it verbally with the right intonation and emotions

We highly recommend starting a Quotes Journal (physical or digital version) and compiling new English quotes every day, using this step-by-step guideline for a wholesome learning experience.

Step 1

Choose a quote (can be based on different themes every week, like karma quotes, family quotes)

Step 2

Write them down alongside the meaning and contexts

Step 3

List down new words and sentence structure (tenses, maybe)

Step 4

Come out with a new sentence using this new quote, write it side by side for comparison

Step 5

Record yourself saying the quote out loud to get the right pronunciation

💪 Elevate Your English Learning Experience With Superprof

Another way to learn new English quotes and use them effectively in your writing and speaking is to enhance your language skills with the guidance of an experienced English tutor. At Superprof, you can easily access a wide selection of qualified English tutors around you. Here, you can have one-to-one personalised tutoring according to your learning goals and pace.

An experienced English tutor will ensure that you master all the language learning components: listening, speaking, reading, and writing comprehensively, with the right teaching methodology and teaching resources.

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Private tutoring is a great way to master a language comprehensively at your own pace. Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

Before booking your first lesson, all you need to do is head to the Superprof UK homepage and start browsing the tutors' profiles to learn more about their teaching experience, teaching mode (physical or online lessons), qualifications, online reviews of past students, and hourly rates.

After confirming all the details, you can contact your desired tutor via the messaging feature. See, learning English has never been this easy! The best part of learning with Superprof? Most Superprof tutors offer their first lesson for free! Seize this amazing opportunity to enrich your English learning journey and master as many English quotes with ease!

Believe you can and you're halfway there.

Theodore Roosevelt

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Joycelyn Ong

An avid reader and writer, Joycelyn loves the art of communication and is passionate about all kinds of media.