Our Favorite
Inspirational Quotes
These are my Favorite Inspirational Quotes. Many are classics. Each has the power to inspire, motivate, encourage, and empower us to be the best we can be.
If you have a quote you feel belongs in this listing, you are invited to pass it along. Simply e-mail the quote and the author’s name (and source if possible) to Marta@JoyofQuotes.com If you sent me an e-mail but got no response, please use this new e-mail address. Sorry for any inconvenience, but the old address was corrupted. Create a joyful and inspired day. And thank you for getting inspired and passing it on!
Your personal joy, inspiration and creativity coach,
“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”
Aristotle
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
Buddha
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.”
Robert Byrne
“It isn’t what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.”
Dale Carnegie
“Compassion is not religious business, it is human business. It is not luxury. It is essential for our own peace and mental stability. It is essential for human survival.”
Dalai Lama
“To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - that is to have succeeded.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that 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
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
Gandhi
“Never, never, be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I promise myself…to be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind; to talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person I meet; to make all my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them; to look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true; to think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best; to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own; to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future; to wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature I meet; to give so much time to improving myself that I have no time to criticize others; to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble; to think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds; to live in the faith that the whole world is on my side, so long as I am true to the best that is in me.”
Christian D. Larson
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Plato
“Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness - great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy.”
Jim Rohn
“Everyone has unique gifts and talents. What you love is what you're gifted at. To be completely happy, to live a completely fulfilled life, you have to do what you love.”
Barbara Sher
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from out own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Williamson
“The purpose of our lives is to give birth to the best which is within us.”
Marianne Williamson
“You are not here merely to make a living, you are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself when you forget that errand.”
Woodrow Wilson
