Ah, life: You can't appreciate the good days without the bad.
In moments of deep frustration, sadness or stress, turn to these life quotes for that very reminder. Although our individual journeys come with unique trials and tribulations, these quotes focus on the one thing we all have in common: the unwavering desire for a happy, healthy life.
Whether you're going through a rough patch, struggling to make a hard decision or about to embark on a life-changing adventure, these wise words from Hoda Kotb, Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey and other thought leaders offer much-needed perspective on the importance of embracing every moment — even the most difficult ones — with gratitude and love.
Below, find positive affirmations about self-love, happy quotes that'll motivate you to look on the bright side and other beautiful messages about embracing life's inevitable curveballs.
Our advice: Keep this list handy, so you can take a peek whenever you need a pick-me-up (or, well, an inspiring Instagram caption).
- "Every man dies. Not every man really lives." — William Wallace
- "Life is a song — sing it. Life is a game — play it. Life is a challenge — meet it. Life is a dream — realize it. Life is a sacrifice — offer it. Life is love — enjoy it." — Sathya Sai Baba
- "Growth is the only evidence of life." — John Henry Newman
- "A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life." — Charles Darwin
- "The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge." — Bertrand Russell
- "We can't plan life. All we can do is be available for it." — Lauryn Hill
- "Life is a lot like jazz ... it's best when you improvise." — George Gershwin
- "Life is a succession of moments, to live each one is to succeed." — Corita Kent
- "I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches." — Alice Roosevelt-Longworth
- "We are here to add what we can to life, not to what we can get from life." — William Osler
- "My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can." — Cary Grant
- "Nobody got where they are today by living for tomorrow." — Tom Wilson
- "Do not ignore your intuition. There is an infinite intelligence within you; let it be your guiding light." — Cleo Wade, "Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life"
- "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough." — Mae West
- "There is no failure except failure to serve one's purpose." — Henry Ford
- "The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." — Oprah Winfrey
- "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, but just felt in the heart." — Helen Keller
- "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." — Maya Angelou
- "If you fall — and trust me, you will — make sure you fall on your back. Because if you fall on your back, you can see up. And if you can see up, you can get up. And you can keep going and going and going." — Hoda Kotb, "Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair and Kathie Lee"
- "There's power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice. And there's grace in being willing to know and hear others." — Michelle Obama, "Becoming"
- "To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone." — Reba McEntire
- "It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection." — Elizabeth Gilbert, "Eat Pray Love"
- "The middle is messy, but it is also where the magic happens." — Brené Brown
- "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." — Joseph Campbell
- "Whatever happens to you belongs to you. Make it yours. Feed it to yourself even if it feels impossible to swallow. Let it nurture you, because it will." — Cheryl Strayed, "Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar"
- "I make a point to appreciate all the little things in my life. I go out and smell the air after a good, hard rain. These small actions help remind me that there are so many great, glorious pieces of good in the world." — Dolly Parton, "Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You"
- "Gratitude is a celebration we are all invited to." — Cleo Wade, "Heart Talk"
- "Just to be alive is a grand thing." — Agatha Christie, "An Autobiography"
- "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." — Toni Morrison
- "Because you are alive, everything is possible." — Thich Nhat Hanh, "Living Buddha, Living Christ"
- "Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it." — James Baldwin, "Notes of a Native Son"
- "I'd rather regret the risks that didn't work out than the chances I didn't take at all." — Simone Biles
- "A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties." — Harry S. Truman
- "The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves." — Victor Hugo
- "Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." — Mark Twain
- "I don't make plans because life is short and unpredictable — much like the weather!" — Al Roker
- "I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go." — Langston Hughes
- "The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." — Eleanor Roosevelt
- "There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints." — Rita Dove
- "Many people worry so much about managing their careers, but rarely spend half that much energy managing their lives. I want to make my life, not just my job, the best it can be. The rest will work itself out." — Reese Witherspoon
- "Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me." — Carol Burnett
- "Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." — George Bernard Shaw
- "There is only one difference between a long life and a good dinner: that, in the dinner, the sweets come last." — Robert Louis Stevenson
- "Living is the art of getting used to what we didn’t expect." — Eleanor C. Wood
- "Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears." — Les Brown
- "Do your thing and don't care if they like it." — Tina Fey, "Bossypants"
- "In life, all things come hard, but wisdom is the hardest to come by." — Lucille Ball
- "You and you alone are the only person that can live the life that writes the story that you were meant to tell. And the world needs your story because the world needs your voice." — Kerry Washington
- "I can live without money, but I cannot live without love." — Judy Garland
- "In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on." — Robert Frost
- "Love doesn’t make the world go ‘round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." — Franklin P. Jones
- "Do what you can, with what you have, where you can." — Theodore Roosevelt
- "Life imposes things on you that you can’t control, but you still have the choice of how you’re going to live through this." — Celine Dion
- "Life is like a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you only spend it once." — Lillian Dickinson
- "Maybe that's what life is, a wink of the eye and winking stars." — Jack Kerourac
- "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage." — Anais Nin
- "I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom." — Rosa Parks
- "There’s something liberating about not pretending. Dare to embarrass yourself. Risk." — Drew Barrymore
- "Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday." — John Wayne
- "You only pass through this life once, you don’t come back for an encore." — Elvis Presley
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