Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist, established the concept of the collective unconscious, a term to describe innate symbols all humans recognise from birth. He believed the collective unconscious helped explain why similar mythological themes emerge across the globe. We might apply this logic to motivational and inspirational quotes. Around the world, philosophers, authors, and leaders deliver quotes that represent universal ideas that move and encourage us.
Short and Inspiring Quotes to Use Today
- "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill
- "Believe you can and you're halfway there." Theodore Roosevelt
- "Do what you love and you won't work a day in your life." Various attributions, including Confucius
- "The secret to getting ahead is getting started." Mark Twain
- "Don't try, do!" Yoda
The Power of Motivational Quotes
No man is an island.
John Donne
Though neither motivating nor particularly inspiring, this is the right quote to start our discussion. Individuals develop ideas, but they do so in the context of their situation. Across societies, members rely on one another for clues on how to behave, what to strive for, and, most importantly, how to find one's place within their group.
Punch, the Japanese snow monkey that recently won hearts around the world, is a prime example of this phenomenon. Rejected by his mother, he found comfort in a plush toy and learnt behavioural norms by observing other monkeys.
Today, Punch is finding his place in his troop.
According to the journal Psychology Today, motivation is a driving force of behaviour. Punch needs to fit into his society as much as we humans need to fit in ours; in itself, the need to fit in is a motivating factor. But fitting in isn't the whole story. We (and Punch) also compete for position and social connection, all of which are validating markers of our self-worth1.
1. Social connection: you feel a sense of belonging when you embrace universal ideas about struggles and goals that quotes represent.
2. Activates behaviours: quotes act as calls to action.
3. Psychological reframing: quotes shift your mindset from doubtful to determined.
4. Dopamine triggers: quotes activate the brain's reward centres.
Motivational Quotes and Personal Development
Growth lies in the space between stimulus and response.
Viktor Frankl, logotherapy founder
As explained above, it's a clearly established fact: we look to each other and our society to figure out how we should be. But how we get to that place is up to the individual. As Viktor Frankl points out, this is where motivational and inspirational quotes in English come in.
Everywhere in the world, people have all-time favourite quotes to rely on that address the challenges particular to their society and culture. Inspirational quotes in English tend to reflect English-speaking societies' norms and goals. Furthermore, these quotes address challenges that people face at varying stages of life2.
Top quotes for teens
- "Never dull your shine for somebody else." Tyra Banks
- "Everyone you admire was once a beginner." Jack Butcher
- "You can do anything you set your mind to." Eminem
Top quotes for professionals
- "Opportunities don't happen; you create them." Chris Grosser
- "Whether you think you ca or think you can't, you're right." Henry Ford
- "Success is the sum of small efforts..." Robert Collier
You'll note how the quotes differ in their focus. For younger people, they key into how kids see themselves while, for professionals, the expressions are more goal-oriented. This shift is due to the challenges each group faces. Professionals compete in the 'real world' while teens are learning how to define themselves.
No matter how rich and famous anyone may be, they still draw inspiration from others. Many people we consider leaders in their fields have their own inspirational quotes to rely on. For instance, Richard Branson's go-to motivational quote is one of Steve Jobs' most famous: "The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."
Top Motivational Quotes in English
Motivational and inspirational quotes in English don't just break along the age groups. We find these sayings for every aspect of the human experience, like recovering from grief at one end and thinking positive thoughts at the other. Here, we present them in their respective categories.
Inspiring Quotes to Overcome Challenges
The term 'challenges' is so vague! People facing food insecurity live under very different conditions than people trying to figure out what they're craving for dinner and which restaurant to enjoy it at. Yet, both situations fall under the 'challenges' banner.
As targeted as they may be, quotes tend to be general in nature. Choosing phrases that resonate with you in the moment you need motivation is the trick to finding the right quote for your particular challenges. These popular quotes can help you power through a range of challenges you might face.
| 📝 Quote | 🎩 Author |
|---|---|
| Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. | Confucius |
| It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up. | Vince Lombardi |
| Tough times never last, but tough people do. | Robert Schuller |
| Many of life's failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up. | Thomas Edison |
| Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. | Joshua Marine |
| Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit. | Napoleon Hill |
| In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. | Albert Einstein |
| Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. | Michael Jordan |
| Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. | Nelson Mandela |
| Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. | Arnold Schwarzenegger |
| You show me anybody that's great in anything they do, I'll show you somebody that's persevered, demonstrated that mental toughness to overcome some obstacles and adversity. | Sean McVay |
| Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about learning how to dance in the rain. | Vivian Greene |
| Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. | Booker T. Washington |
| Hope begins in the dark. The stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. | Anne Lamott |
| In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. | Thomas Jefferson |
| Your fate has not been written until you pick up a pen. | Dean Bokhari |
| Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not. | Bobby Kennedy |
| We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. | Aristotle |
| People will forget what you said and did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. | Maya Angelou |
| Aim not just to survive what comes your way, but to thrive in spite of it. | Sophia Birk |
Inspirational Quotes to Guide You to Success
Success isn't just how much money you have in the bank and how popular you are. Defining success is a very personal journey; what you think of as success likely won't be the same as other people's ideas. In this category, quotes about life and its challenges can be helpful, too.
| 📝 Quote | 🎩 Author |
|---|---|
| The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself. | Mark Caine |
| The question isn’t who is going to let me, it’s who is going to stop me. | Ayn Rand |
| It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. | Herman Melville |
| Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out. | Robert Collier |
| Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great. | John D. Rockefeller |
| I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. | Thomas Jefferson |
| There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed. | Ray Goforth |
| Success is focusing the full power of all you are on what you have a burning desire to achieve. | Wilfred Peterson |
| Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don't wish it were easier; wish you were better. | Jim Rohn |
| Don't be distracted by criticism. Remember, the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you. | Zig Ziglar |
| Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time. | George Bernard Shaw |
| For every reason it’s not possible, there are hundreds of people who have faced the same circumstances and succeeded. | Jack Canfield |
| There is a powerful driving force inside every human being that, once unleashed, can make any vision, dream, or desire a reality. | Anthony Robbins |
| The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of will. | Vince Lombardi Jr |
| Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration and inspiration. | Evan Esar |
| Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness. | Napoleon Hill |
| Positive action combined with positive thinking results in success. | Shiv Khera |
| Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try. | John F. Kennedy |
| Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. | Abraham Lincoln |
| Success is not the absence of failure, it’s persistence through failure. | Aisha Taylor |
Inspirational Quotes for Work and Leadership
Over the last 40 years, workplace motivation has steered ever more towards teamwork and leadership, delivering quotes targeted at those two aspects of our working lives. You might not ever have wanted to take over the company CEO's position. But everyone needs inspiring quotes to help them face another day at the office every once in a while.
| 📝 Quote | 🎩 Author |
|---|---|
| Happiness is a direction, not a place. | Sydney J. Harris |
| If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. | Lao Tzu |
| Start your day in an upward direction, and the rest of the day will follow the uphill path. | Vernon Howard |
| The greatest thing in the world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving. | Oliver Wendell Holmes |
| Failure is an amazing data point that tells you which direction not to go. | Padal Kadakia |
| Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. | John Wooden |
| We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained. | Marie Curie |
| Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can. | Paul Tournier |
| Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye. | Helen Keller |
| Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do. | Benjamin Spock |
| Study the past if you would define the future. | Confucius |
| Skill and confidence are an unconquered army. | George Herbert |
| Have confidence that if you have done a little thing well, you can do a bigger thing well, too. | David Storey |
| You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them. | Michael Jordan |
| I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen. | Frank Lloyd Wright |
| Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is hard work. | Stephen King |
| I learned the value of hard work by working hard. | Margaret Mead |
| Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard. | Tim Notke |
| Success isn't always about greatness. It's about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come. | Dwayne Johnson |
| Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in. | Bill Bradley |
Positive Thinking: Short and Inspirational Quotes
Change your thoughts and you change your world.
Norman Vincent Peale
In more utilitarian language, that American author is advocating for a paradigm shift. We define 'paradigm' as 'an example of something', typically the way that something should be. But you don't have to model your thoughts on what others say they should be.
You can design your own thoughts and ideas to fit the world you're building for yourself. These short quips will help you find the motivation to carry on.
| 📝 Quote | 🎩 Author |
|---|---|
| For success, attitude is equally as important as ability. | Harry F. Banks |
| To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence. | Mark Twain |
| The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. | Stephen McCrainie |
| If it doesn’t scare you, you’re probably not dreaming big enough. | Tory Burch |
| I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. | Thomas Edison |
| Success is where preparation and opportunity meet. | Bobby Unser |
| There’s no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs. | Zig Ziglar |
| You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. | Martin Luther King, Jr |
| The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well. | John D. Rockefeller, Jr |
| Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning. | Robert Kiyosaki |
| I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse. | Florence Nightingale |
| I never dreamed about success, I worked for it. | Estee Lauder |
| The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success. | Bruce Feirstein |
| The successful warrior is the average man (or woman!), with laser-like focus. | Bruce Lee |
| Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. | Samuel Beckett |
| Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. | George S. Patton |
| Today’s accomplishments were yesterday’s impossibilities. | Robert H. Schuller |
| The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. | Vidal Sassoon |
| You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. | Zig Ziglar |
| Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. | Henry David Thoreau |
Good Motivational Quotes in English for Personal Growth
Often, quotes about time passing closely resemble personal growth quotes. It might have something to do with time and experience being the best teachers. Those two factors often deliver the lessons that foster personal growth. It doesn't matter where you are in your personal development, these famous quotes are bound to resonate with you.
| 📝 Quote | 🎩 Author |
|---|---|
| What we think, we become. | Buddha |
| Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. | Maya Angelou |
| Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change. | Jim Rohn |
| Fall seven times and stand up eight. | Japanese proverb |
| Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. | Oscar Wilde |
| Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again. | Abraham Maslow |
| The obstacle is the way. | Ryan Holiday |
| The only impossible journey is the one you never begin. | Tony Robbins |
| Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. | Aristotle |
| We cannot become what we want by remaining what we are. | Max DePree |
| The only journey is the journey within. | Rainer Maria Rilke |
| To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. | Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. | Ernest Hemingway |
| When we’re growing up, there are all sorts of people telling us what to do when really what we need is space to work out who to be. | Elliot Page |
| Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still. | Chinese proverb |
| Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together. | Marilyn Monroe |
| I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept. | Angela Davis |
| What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. | Jane Goodall |
| Tradition is nothing but ancestral peer pressure. | Indya Moore |
| Recognising that you are not where you want to be is a starting point to begin changing your life. | Deborah Day |
Using Inspirational Quotes in Daily Life
Using the same inspirational quotes on daily basis risks making them clichéd, like so many quotes about romance tend to be these days. So, your first, most important mission is to not rely on a handful of quotes or try to adapt them to every situation.
Variety isn't just the spice of life.
It is the key to keeping your motivational resources fresh and inspiring.
Equally important is determining which aspects of your current situation need motivation. If you have no problems heading to work or school, you don't need a motivational quote to get you out the door. Conversely, if you're currently experiencing trouble with a friendship, you might need an inspirational phrase to help you overcome the situation.
These helpful tips guide you in selecting the right quotes for your needs at the moment you need them.
Determining the Need for Motivational and Inspirational Quotes
What do you need motivational and inspirational quotes for? Specifically, which aspects of your life could do with a bit of motivation? Those questions are your first steps to determining the types of quotes you need and where they should appear in your daily routine.
Tech-savvy people may resort to apps that deliver daily motivational quotes to your device. These apps let you customise the type of quotes you prefer, the background they appear against, and the time of delivery. You might also take a longer-term approach to keeping yourself motivated.
I like to tuck notes in the pockets of freshly washed clothes. That way, even months later, when I put them on, an inspirational thought is ready to help me face whatever the day might bring.
Any one of these strategies - or several of them combined - will assure you the motivation you need anytime you need it. You might try them out to see which ones work the best for you. And nothing is stopping you from thinking up your own motivational strategies, either!
How to Create a Motivation Board
Did you know that creating a collage of touching friendship quotes makes a great gift for your bestie? In the spirit of being your own best friend3, you may create such a collage for yourself.
Lighted letter boards, such as the one pictured above, are all the rage of late. These miniature cinema marquees let you customise motivational messages as often as you like. They're a great solution to updating your major motivational board. You can source different coloured lights and letters to make your marquee even more attractive.
In time, you may find that you've hit your balance and no longer need daily motivations, just like Punch has, as seen in this video. Not everyone needs perpetual inspiration. When you need it again, this list of motivational quotes will be here for you.
References
- Cara, Alessia. “The Psychology of Inspirational Quotes: Why Do They Motivate Us?” Quotezenith.Com, 26 June 2026, https://quotezenith.com/psychology-of-inspirational-quotes. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.
- Kayla. 101 Best Inspirational Quotes for Teens – Motivation for Mom. 27 Apr. 2023, https://www.motivationformom.com/inspirational-quotes-for-teens/. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.
- Poole, Amy, and Dan Collinson. “Being Your Own Best Friend.” 10 Sept. 2018, https://www.thepositivepsychologypeople.com/being-your-own-best-friend/. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.
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