Last Updated: October 25, 2022 by Quote.cc Team
Sometimes in life, you hit the metaphorical wall, or you’re about to step out and do what you’ve always dreamed of pursuing. Or maybe a global pandemic comes out of nowhere and threatens your sense of certainty or plans.
It’s normal to feel down and out. We need a bit of support and help to feel. But rest assured that you’ll be alright, whatever you’re facing now. All you have to do is keep moving forward. So lift your spirits and turn things around today!
No matter the reason, sometimes all it takes are some quotes of encouragement to remind us. Encouraging quotes have a fantastic ability to change the way we feel about life. These inspirational quotes will help you put one foot in front of the other and make the small or sweeping changes you desire. Whether a movie star, a thought leader, or a writer, you’re sure to find an inspirational quote that speaks to your drive and determination.
180 Encouraging Quotes
Top 10 Encouraging Quotes
“Get going. Move forward. Aim High. Plan a takeoff. Don’t just sit on the runway and hope someone will come along and push the airplane. It simply won’t happen. Change your attitude and gain some altitude. Believe me. You’ll love it up here.” – Donald Trump
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” – Elon Musk
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas A. Edison
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” – Hellen Keller
“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best.” – St. Jerome
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” – Mark Twain
“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.” – Henry David Thoreau
“Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because of your habit.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.” – Stephen Hawking
Short Encouraging Quotes
“Believe you can, and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” – H. G. Wells
“There’s something in you that the world needs.”
“Believe in yourself, and you’ll be unstoppable.”
“Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill
“You are gold, baby. Solid gold.”
“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.”
“Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett
“Never regret something that once made you smile.”
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” – Truman Capote
“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill
“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!” – Audrey Hepburn
“You’re allowed to scream, you’re allowed to cry but do not give up.”
“Be gentle with yourself. You’re doing the best you can!”
“You are amazing. You are brave, you are strong.”
“Don’t think, just do.” – Horace
“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth
“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” – Ben Spock
“Hey, little fighter, soon things will be brighter.”
“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” – Kenji Miyazawa
“I know it has been tough, but I still cheering for you.”
“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” – Bo Jackson
“It always seems impossible until it is done.” – Nelson Mandela
“Hold on to what is good, even if it’s a handful of earth.” – Hopi prayer
“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.” – Og Mandino
“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” – Albert Einstein
“We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein
“Train yourself to find the blessing in everything.”
“Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.” – George S. Patton
“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot, and hang on.”
“You only fail when you stop trying.”
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” – Christopher Reeve
“A little progress every day adds up to big results.”
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Edmund Hillary
“If I persist long enough, I will win.” – Og Mandino
“Defeat is simply a signal to press onward.” – Helen Keller
“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.” – Mark Twain
“Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.” – L.M. Montgomery
“The most effective way to do it is to do it.” – Amelia Earhart
“To succeed, we must first believe that we can.” – Nikos Kazantzakis
“Fortune knocks but once, but misfortune has much more patience.”
“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”
“Never complain and never explain.” – Benjamin Disraeli
“The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost
“The best revenge is a massive success.” – Frank Sinatra
“Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end, and aim of weak ones.”
“Rise above the storm, and you will find the sunshine.” – Mario Fernandez
“You are capable of amazing things.”
“Don’t give up. Don’t lose hope. Don’t sell out.” – Christopher Reeve
“True happiness involves the full use of one’s power and talents.” – John W. Gardner
Best Encouraging Quotes
“I’ve always been very happy. I’ve always been easy going and I’ve always been very encouraging; it’s just my personality.” – Joel Osteen
“I’ve always been – you know, my personality is motivating and encouraging. And so I’m just being who God made me to be.” – Joel Osteen
“I’ll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there’s evidence of any thinking going on inside it.” – Terry Pratchett
“Strive not to be a success but rather to be of value.” – Albert Einstein
“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
“Be thankful for what you have, and you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey
“If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.”
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”
“Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go. Just remember how far you have come. Remember everything you have faced, all the battles you have won, and all the fears you have overcome.”
“Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement – and we will make the goal.”
“In my books and romance as a genre, there is a positive, uplifting feeling that leaves the reader with a sense of encouragement and hope for a brighter future – or a brighter present.” – Debbie Macomber
“You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality in mind next to honor.” – Aristotle
“Just be yourself. Let people see the real, imperfect, flawed, quirky, weird, beautiful, magical person you are.”
“We are each gifted uniquely and importantly. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our special light.” – Mary Dunbar
“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails always to reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean
“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.”
“Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” – Dale Carnegie
“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” – Greg Anderson
Funny Encouraging Quotes
“Wake up. Kickass. Repeat.”
“Be a pineapple stand tall wear a crown and be sweet on the inside.”
“Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.” – Victor Kiam
“In case you forgot to remind yourself this morning: Your butt is perfect. Your smile lights up the room. Your mind is insanely cool. You are way more than enough. And you are doing an amazing job at life.”
“Each morning, when I open my eyes, I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, and tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy.” – Groucho Marx
Encouraging Quotes For Students
“Like success, failure is many things to many people. With a positive mental attitude, failure is a learning experience, a rung on the ladder, a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order and prepare to try again.” – Clement Stone
“It doesn’t matter how many say it cannot be done or how many people have tried it before; it’s important to realize that whatever you’re doing, it’s your first attempt at it.”
“Someday everything will make perfect sense. So, for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason.”
“Nine-tenths of education is encouragement.” – Anatole France
“High-quality early-childhood programs and health coverage have expanded, and the number of mentoring relationships for at-risk youth has risen dramatically. That progress is encouraging, but it’s not evenly distributed.” – Colin Powell
Encouraging Quotes For Men/Women
“‘I Won’ is not a love song. It’s just me uplifting women in general. I’m giving women the power to treat themselves as a trophy – to show that and know it in yourself and be confident – because when they do that, whoever they’re with is winning.” – Nayvadius Cash
“Often, women are risk-averse. I needed the push. Now, more than ever, young women need more seasoned women to provide that encouragement, to take a risk, to go for it. Once a glass ceiling is broken, it stays broken.” – Jennifer Granholm
“There is in every true woman’s heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.”
“I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles.” – Audrey Hepburn
“You are stronger than you know. More capable than you ever dreamed. And you are loved more than you could possibly imagine.”
“I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.” – Martha Washington
“Everyone has inside them a piece of good news. The good news is you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is.” – Anne Frank
“Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning are where the miracle process all begins.” – Jim Rohn
“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” – Wayne Dyer
“You can make positive deposits in your own economy every day by reading and listening to powerful, positive, life-changing content and by associating with encouraging and hope-building people.” – Zig Ziglar
“If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.”
“It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you. Always.”
“Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.” – Alice Walker
“‘Precious’ is strangely uplifting. It goes down into the valley, but it also goes to the mountain tops. A lot of painful realities are explored in ‘Precious,’ but the peaks make the valleys and the valleys make the peaks.” – Geoffrey S. Fletcher
“Somehow, I can’t believe that there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.” – Walt Disney
“Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.” – Napoleon Hill
Encouraging Quotes For Work
“Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” – Tony Robbins
“Stop beating yourself up you are a work in progress, which means you get there a little at a time, not all at once.”
“With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.” – Max Ehrmann
“Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed – there’s so little competition.” – Elbert Hubbard
“Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess. Just breathe and have faith that everything will work out for the best.”
“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without humble but reasonable confidence in your powers, you cannot be successful or happy.” – Norman Vincent Peale
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” – Tony Robbins
“It is time for us all to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever – the one who recognizes the challenges and does something about it.” – Vince Lombardi
Encouraging Quotes For Hard Times
“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” – Thomas Paine
“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” – Stephen King
“Look for something positive in each day even if some days you have to look a little harder.”
“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.”
“Beautiful girl, you were made to do hard things. So believe in yourself.”
Encouraging Quotes About Life
“A productive, useful life, good works, and good relationships are as valid as writing poetry or inventing the machine. Anything that one does well and obtains satisfaction from is a good enough reason for living. To be a decent human being that people like and feel better for knowing is enough.” – Robert Gould
“Soon, when all is well, you’re going to look back on this period of your life and be so glad that you never gave up.” – Brittany Burgunder
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.” – Harvey Fierstein
“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
“Your destiny is to fulfill those things upon which you focus most intently. So choose to keep your focus on that which is truly magnificent, beautiful, uplifting, and joyful. Your life is always moving toward something.” – Ralph Marston
“Life has no limitations, except the ones you make.” – Les Brown
“You’re not going to master the rest of your life in one day. Just relax. Master the day. Then keep doing that every day.”
“I decided, very early on, to accept life unconditionally; I never expected it to do anything special for me, yet I seemed to accomplish far more than I had ever hoped. Most of the time, it just happened to me without my ever seeking it.” – Audrey Hepburn
“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the worthwhile things, it can be done.” – Vince Lombardi
“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” – Helen Keller
“I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.” – Joseph Campbell
“I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life, and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” – Georgia O’Keeffe
“Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It’s transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment, certain things happened in your life. It’s uplifting, it’s encouraging, it’s strengthening.” – Aretha Franklin
“Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll
“When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up.” – Les Brown
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein
“When you feel like you’re drowning in life, don’t worry – your Lifeguard walks on water.”
“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.” – Joseph Campbell
“Take a deep breath; it’s just a bad day, not a bad life.”
“What can a pencil do for all of us? Amazing things. It can write transcendent poetry, uplifting music, or life-changing equations; it can sketch the future, give life to untold beauty, and communicate the full-force of our love and aspirations.” – Adam Braun
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be a reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu
“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think about how precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored.” – Earl Nightingale
“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“A memoir should have some uplifting quality, inspiring or illuminating, and that’s what separates a life story that can influence other people.“ – Mitch Albom
“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.”
“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” – John Lennon
“I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself. To cut yourself out of stone.” – Henry Rollins
Encouraging Quotes For Pastors
“And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” – Jeremiah 3:15
“…but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:31
“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” – Hebrews 13:17
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” – Corinthians 15:58
“For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages.’” – Timothy 5:18
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” – Corinthians 15:58
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19
Encouraging Quotes From The Bible
“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
“but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:31
“God uses suffering as a whetstone to make men sharp with.”
“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”” – Mark 10:27
“God is not punishing you, and he is preparing you. Trust his plans, not your pain.”
“God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them.”
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11
“God changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls, and coal into diamonds using time and pressure. He’s working on you too.”
“What an encouraging thought that Jesus – our beloved Husband – can find comfort in our lowly feeble gifts! Can this be, for it seems far too good to be true? May we then be willing to endure trials or even death itself if through these hardships we are assisted in bringing gladness to Immanuel’s heart.” – Charles Spurgeon
“The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still.”
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”” – Deuteronomy 31:6
“When you get to your wit’s end, you will find, God lives there.”
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28
“Never let a bad situation bring out the worst in you. Choose to stay positive and be the strong person that God created you to be!”
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” – Psalm 23:4
“The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” – Proverbs 18:10
“God knew your life would come to this, and he has a plan for you.”
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13
“There’s a reason for everything. This one may look like a setback. It doesn’t mean you’re failing but that God is growing you in a new way.”
Final Thoughts
We hope you enjoyed these encouraging quotes. Which of the quotes was your favourite? I’d love to hear your top picks! If you have any words of encouragement to share that aren’t listed above. Let us know in the comment section below.