Words Of Encouragement: 55 Uplifting Quotes To Motivate And Inspire

Sometimes, all we need is a little encouragement in order to see just what we are capable of. A few well chosen words can be the difference between redoubling our efforts and giving up entirely.

When we face adversity, when obstacles cross our paths, and when we are overcome with doubts, it is in our minds that the battle is won or lost. If we can nurture the belief that it is better to try and fail than to fail to try, we can push the boundaries of growth and realize our greatest potential.

Whether you are looking for some words of encouragement for yourself, or for someone else in your life – your kids or a friend perhaps – you are guaranteed to find the right ones here.

These 55 uplifting quotes from authors, musicians, great leaders, and great thinkers will motivate you to banish negative thoughts from your mind, overcome hard times, and believe in your ability to achieve great things – both big and small.

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. – Maria Robinson

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. – Mary Pickford

Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle. – Christian D. Larson

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. – Henry Ford

Sometimes when you are in a dark place, you think you have been buried, but actually you have been planted. – Christine Caine

Don’t wait for something big to occur. Start where you are, with what you have, and that will always lead you into something greater. – Mary Morrissey

Life has two rules: #1 Never quit. #2 Always remember rule # 1. – Unknown

The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them. – Bernard Baruch

This too shall pass. – Persian Proverb

A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn. – Helen Keller

There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them. But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there. – Paulo Coelho

When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place. – Unknown

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. – Isaiah 43:2

Don’t be discouraged. It’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock. –Unknown

Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. –Winston Churchill

The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

I’d rather attempt to do something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and succeed. – Robert Schuller

Take pride in how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go. –Unknown

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

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. – John Wooden

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. – William James

If there is no struggle, there is no progress. – Frederick Douglass

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

If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again. – Flavia Weedn

Sometimes you don’t realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness. – Susan Gale

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. – Confucius

The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you find yourself. – Mark Caine

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Life has no limitations, except the ones you make. – Les Brown

It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. – Joseph Campbell

Always say ‘yes’ to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to what already is? What could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say ‘yes’ to life – and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you. – Eckhart Tolle

Fall seven times, stand up eight. – Japanese Proverb

You just can’t beat the person who never gives up. – Babe Ruth

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Often attributed to Mark Twain, although there is no clear evidence he ever said or wrote it

Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. – Romans 12:12

Instead of giving myself reasons why I can’t, I give myself reasons why I can. –Unknown

We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey. – Kenji Miyazawa

At any given moment you have the power to say: This is not how the story is going to end. – Christine Mason Miller

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. – Helen Keller

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. – Maya Angelou

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning. – Ivy Baker Priest

Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. – Samuel Beckett

The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible. – Arthur C. Clarke

In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity. – Albert Einstein

Every struggle in your life has shaped you into the person you are today. Be thankful for the hard times; they can only make you stronger. – Unknown

Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. – Og Mandino

The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. – Thomas Edison

Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. – Napoleon Hill

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. – Bob Marley

It always seems impossible until it is done. – Nelson Mandela

Tragedies do happen. We can discover the reason, blame others, imagine how different our lives would be had they not occurred. But none of that is important: they did occur, and so be it. From there onward we must put aside the fear that they awoke in us and begin to rebuild. – Paulo Coelho

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. – Edmund Hillary

You were given this life, because you are strong enough to live it. – Unknown

All progress takes place outside the comfort zone. – Michael John Bobak

If you fell down yesterday, stand up today. – H. G. Wells

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. – Robert F. Kennedy

Which of these words of encouragement is your favorite? Have any of them jumped out and spoken to your heart in a way that it can understand? Leave a comment below.