Culture and Lifestyle Quotes and Sayings 50 Inspirational Quotes About Life These quotes about life will motivate you, inspire you, and might make you tear up a bit, too. By Southern Living Editors Updated on July 27, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Sometimes, life can be a bit daunting. Between big life decisions, heartbreaks, tragedies, and even simple bad days when nothing seems to go right, it's easy to get down on your outlook on life. That's where these moving life quotes come in. When you (or a friend or family member) need a pick-me-up, these quotes about life will turn your day around. From some of our favorite famous authors, musicians, and public figures, these life quotes are beyond motivating. martin-dm/Getty Images These uplifting messages aren't reserved for just the not-so-good days, though! If you're about to make a big life change or know a friend who's about to, these life quotes are perfectly inspiring for any situation. If you want to make someone's day, write one of these inspirational quotes on a sticky note and put it somewhere you know it will be seen. Soon, you'll be spreading inspiration all around. Plus, we all know a good quote makes an amazing Instagram caption (admit it). Whatever situation you're in, these quotes about life will motivate you, inspire you, and we'll be honest, might make you tear up a bit. 01 of 50 Rosa Parks Southern Living "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 02 of 50 Lilly Pulitzer "Being happy never goes out of style." — Lilly Pulitzer 03 of 50 Helen Keller Southern Living "Life is either a great adventure or nothing." — Helen Keller 04 of 50 Maya Angelou "You are the sum total of everything you've ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot - it's all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive." — Maya Angelou 05 of 50 Mark Twain "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure." — Mark Twain 06 of 50 Ann Richards "I have very strong feelings about how you lead your life. You always look ahead, you never look back." — Ann Richards 07 of 50 Barbara Bush Southern Living "Never lose sight of the face that the most important yard stick to your success is how you treat other people." — Barbara Bush 08 of 50 Johnny Cash "All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love or hate…I choose love." — Johnny Cash 09 of 50 Princess Diana "I don't go by the rule book…I lead from the heart, not the head." — Princess Diana 10 of 50 Eudora Welty Southern Living "The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves they find their own order the continuous thread of revelation." — Eudora Welty 11 of 50 Martin Luther King Jr. "The time is always right to do what is right." — Martin Luther King Jr. 12 of 50 Audrey Hepburn Southern Living "The best thing to hold onto in life is each other." — Audrey Hepburn 13 of 50 Jackie Robinson "Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life." — Jackie Robinson 14 of 50 Dolly Parton "If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one." — Dolly Parton 15 of 50 Lilly Pulitzer "Despite the forecast, live like it's spring." — Lilly Pulitzer 16 of 50 Willie Nelson Southern Living "If I'd have done all the things I was supposed to have done, I'd be really tired." — Willie Nelson 17 of 50 Reba McEntire "To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone." — Reba McEntire 18 of 50 Rebecca Wells "Life is short, but it is wide. This too shall pass." — Rebecca Wells, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood 19 of 50 Mark Twain "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." — Mark Twain 20 of 50 William Faulkner "Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." — William Faulkner 21 of 50 Rosa Parks "Each person must live their life as a model for others." — Rosa Parks 22 of 50 Dr. Seuss "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose." — Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go 23 of 50 Jackie Robinson Southern Living "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." — Jackie Robinson 24 of 50 Julia Roberts Southern Living "The older you get, the more fragile you understand life to be. I think that's good motivation for getting out of bed joyfully each day." — Julia Roberts 25 of 50 Joanna Gaines Southern Living "Now it's the little moments that stop me in my tracks, because that's what life is all about." — Joanna Gaines 26 of 50 Oprah Winfrey Southern Living "The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams." — Oprah Winfrey 27 of 50 Helen Keller Southern Living "So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good." — Helen Keller 28 of 50 Maya Angelou "My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style." — Maya Angelou 29 of 50 Eudora Welty "All serious daring starts from within." — Eudora Welty 30 of 50 Emeril Lagasse "Life just doesn't hand you things. You have to get out there and make things happen. that's the exciting part." — Emeril Lagasse 31 of 50 Dolly Parton Southern Living "You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try." — Dolly Parton 32 of 50 Ralph Ellison "It takes a deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow." — Ralph Ellison 33 of 50 Loretta Lynn Southern Living "I've been around a long time, and life still has a whole lot of surprises for me." — Loretta Lynn 34 of 50 Martin Luther King Jr. Southern Living "Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are." — Martin Luther King Jr. 35 of 50 Joel Osteen "You're going to go through tough times - that's life. But I say, 'Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.' See the positive in negative events." — Joel Osteen 36 of 50 Beyoncé Knowles "If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow." — Beyoncé Knowles 37 of 50 Fannie Flagg Southern Living "Being a successful person is not necessarily defined by what you have achieved, but by what you have overcome." — Fannie Flagg, The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion 38 of 50 Barbara Bush Southern Living "You have two choices in life; you can either like what you do or dislike what you do. I have chosen to like what I do." — Barbara Bush 39 of 50 Billy Graham Southern Living "The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith." — Billy Graham 40 of 50 Johnny Cash Southern Living "You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space." — Johnny Cash 41 of 50 Dr. Seuss "You'll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut." — Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut 42 of 50 Eudora Welty "The excursion is the same when you go looking for your sorrow as when you go looking for your joy." — Eudora Welty 43 of 50 William Faulkner "You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore." — William Faulkner 44 of 50 Truman Capote "Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor." — Truman Capote 45 of 50 Mark Twain Southern Living "The secret to getting ahead is getting started." — Mark Twain 46 of 50 Ralph Ellison "Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat." — Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man 47 of 50 Rosa Parks Southern Living "Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that held its ground." — Rosa Parks 48 of 50 Maya Angelou "I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back." — Maya Angelou 49 of 50 William Faulkner Southern Living "Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." — William Faulkner 50 of 50 Jimmy Carter Southern Living "We should live our lives as though Christ was coming this afternoon." — Jimmy Carter If you're feeling lost or blue (or need to encourage a friend who might be), these inspirational quotes about life will pep you right up. And if you're feeling just fine today, bookmark these quotes for a time when you or a friend might need to hear them. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit