Inspirational Life Quotes
Inspiration is the process of being mentally and/or emotionally stimulated to act in a certain way.
When we become inspired we feel a strong need or desire to act.
We know when we’re inspired because we feel alive; we feel motivated.
We can be inspired by a variety of different stimuli, and we can become inspired to do almost anything.
The inspirational life quotes listed below are split into categories depending on the type of inspiration you need right now.
Inspiration To Work Hard
“A year from now you may wish you had started today.”
-Karen Lamb
We almost never regret the things we do that don’t end up working out. We almost always regret the things we didn’t do. And when we finally do something and find out we waited too long because it was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made, we always regret not having started earlier.
“Never give up on a dream because of the time it will take to accomplish. The time will pass anyways.”
-Earn Nightingale
Time is all we have. It is the only currency that has actual value. The space in between life and death contains the possibility of every opportunity, and every moment is one that can be made use of. We can let time pass or we can love and cherish it. Any effort put into working towards our life goals is an act of love from us to time.
“The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire, the size of your dream, and how you handle disappointment along the way.”
-Robert Kiyosaki
The question is really, what do you want and how hard are you willing to work for it? Can you accept that there is no such thing as a straight path to success? Can you accept that there are no such things as “problems” or “obstacles,” but rather that the path is simply different than you initially thought?
“Don’t count the days. Make the days count.”
Muhammad Ali
These days most people are simply waiting for the next exciting thing to happen in their life. Waiting for the weekend. Waiting for the workday to end. What the hell are you waiting for? This is your fucking life. Every moment of your life is a part of your existence. Stop waiting for what you might enjoy and find ways to enjoy right now. You want something, go out and get it NOW. The struggle, the effort, the adversity is all a part of what makes life so wonderful.
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
I love this quote because it speaks to one of the most important concepts ever thought. What we do is not important but how we do it. The way we give attention to the actions we take in our life and the circumstances of our lives determines the quality of our existence. Act with meaning, with love, and with passion.
Inspiration To Grow
“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And can you guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”-Jim Rohn
There comes a point where we have to ask ourselves whether we’re satisfied with the shape our life has taken thus far. It’s only when we realize that we’ve been dragged along until now do we have any power over the direction we want to choose to go in.
“Go as far as you can see and you will see further.”
-Zig Ziglar
If you think about that literally, its obviously true. When we understand that it applies psychologically to the way we view the world inside of ourselves is when we open up to an opportunity for growth.
“Someday is not a day of the week.”
-Denise Brennan-Nelson
Who you are in this very moment is exactly who you will be in your future unless you make the decision to change RIGHT NOW. For some reason we have this completely illogical tendency to believe that the future version of us will “feel like working harder, feel like overcoming fear, feel like changing.” Change right now and you alter the course of your entire life. Don’t and your entire life is already pre-determined.
“The tiny seed knew that in order to grow it needed to be dropped in dirt, covered with darkness, and struggle to reach the light.”
-Sandra Kring
All around us there are lessons to be learned. If you think its an accident that the natural world provides us with so many analogies of how growth happens then you need to start looking harder.
“Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
-Joshua J. Marine
When we remember to accept over and over that accomplishment feels good precisely because we worked hard to make it happen is when we’ll stop letting obstacles stop us from taking action.
Inspiration To Conquer Your Fears
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”
-Truman Capote
Without failure, success cannot possibly exist. Everything in life has an opposite. Stop seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. Accept life on all of its terms, and then work to expand your sense of who you are. When we fall in love with breaking through barriers of comfort we’ll understand that we can realize limitless growth.
“What we fear doing most is usually most what we need to do.”
-Tim Ferris
Are you happy with who you are? Do you have ideas for the person you envision yourself being ideally? The person you want to be needs YOU to do what you’re currently unwilling to face.
“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.”
-Herman Melville
All around us we’re being told what’s right and wrong. Family, society, friends… everyone has their own ideas about life. Listening to everyone else’s beliefs instills fear in us to be different. You have one opportunity at this life. Stop accepting who you think you should be and find out who you want to be.
“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
-Frank Herbert
Fear is an imaginary mental construct. Our brains instinctively seek pleasure and attempt to avoid pain and discomfort. Stop accepting thoughts that come with fear. Understand that you don’t have to believe in all of your thoughts. Your actions can change your beliefs about fear.
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
-Dale Carnegie
When you stop letting your automatic thoughts about fear control your actions you realize that you had nothing to be afraid of in the first place. Stare fear in the face and shut it up by not letting it control you.
Inspiration To Treat Others With Kindness
If we wait for the world and the people in it to be kind to us for us to decide to be kind to others then we’ll never understand one of life’s most important lessons. Kindness, love and gratitude are universal remedies for just about anything. You put out what you see, and you see what you put out. Being kind when others are kind is easy. You show up in the way you act when confronted with a lack of kindness.
“Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.”
-George Sand
“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.”
-Albert Schweitzer
“One who is kind is sympathetic and gentle with others. He is considerate of others’ feelings and courteous in his behavior. He has a helpful nature. Kindness pardons others’ weaknesses and faults. Kindness is extended to all — to the aged and the young, to animals, to those low of station as well as the high.”
-Ezra Taft Benson
“There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity.”
-Nathaniel Branden
“A human being is part of the whole called by us ‘universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
-Albert Einstein