When it comes to personal growth, we often seek guidance, motivation and inspiration from various sources. Whether it’s facing challenges, pursuing dreams or simply striving for self-improvement, words have a remarkable power to ignite and propel us forward.
Let these 55 transformative quotes inspire you on your own personal growth journey.
Personal growth and self-improvement
- “The only journey is the one within.” —Rainer Maria Rilke
- “Your life does not get better by chance; it gets better by change.” —Jim Rohn
- “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” —George Eliot
- “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” —William Shakespeare
- “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” —Mahatma Gandhi
- “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” —C.S. Lewis
- “Do one thing every day that scares you.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” —Roy T. Bennett
- “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” —C.S. Lewis
- “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” —Aristotle
Overcoming challenges and adversity
- “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” —Tony Robbins
- “Challenges are what make life interesting, and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” —Joshua J. Marine
- “Believe you can, and you’re halfway there.” —Theodore Roosevelt
- “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” —Nelson Mandela
- “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” —Winston Churchill
- “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” —Nelson Mandela
- “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” —Henry Ford
- “We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.” —Maya Angelou
Personal growth for taking action and motivation
- “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” —Sam Levenson
- “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” —Peter Drucker
- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” —Mark Twain
- “Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” —William Butler Yeats
- “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” —Mark Twain
- “Dream big and dare to fail.” —Norman Vaughan
- “It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.” —Confucius
- “Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.” —Walt Whitman
- “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” —Walt Disney
- “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” —Will Rogers
- “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” —Henry David Thoreau
- “Opportunities don’t happen; you create them.” —Chris Grosser
Personal growth for success and achievement
- “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” —Wayne Gretzky
- “The best revenge is massive success.” —Frank Sinatra
- “The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” —Arthur C. Clarke
- “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” —Albert Einstein
- “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”—Vince Lombardi
- “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” —Albert Einstein
- “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” —Chinese Proverb
Happiness and well-being
- “What we think, we become.” —Buddha
- “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” —Steve Jobs
- “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” —Oscar Wilde
- “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” —Charles R. Swindoll
- “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” —Winston Churchill
- “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” —William James
- “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” —Albert Schweitzer
- “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” —Robert Louis Stevenson
- “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” —Booker T. Washington
- “Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” —Dalai Lama
- “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.” —Maya Angelou
This article was updated May 2024. Photo by Golden Dayz/Shutterstock.com
