We all need words of wisdom at certain points throughout our lives. Whether we’re going through life-changing events, making difficult decisions, or pushing through a tough day, guidance from those we trust is a must. The experiences and firsthand knowledge of mentors can serve as the spark that ignites a courageous inner spirit for making the right choices and remaining steadfast. After all, we learn the most through their incredible stories of both failure and success.
The following wise quotes and words of wisdom are sourced from some of the world’s greatest leaders both now and from the past. You’ll discover encouragement and practical advice from influential figures like Maya Angelou, Henry David Thoreau, Benjamin Franklin, and Nelson Mandela.
We hope these 75 wise quotes will uplift your spirit, provide you with a sense of direction, and help you live your best life—wherever you may currently be in your life journey.
Wise Quotes About Finding Your Purpose And Making An Impact
- “Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one’s aim.” — John D. Rockefeller
- “Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” — Henry Van Dyke
- “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” — Mark Twain
- “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes
- “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” — Nelson Mandela
- “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs
- “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson
- “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
- “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
- “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” — Mark Twain
- “Every morning you have two choices: continue to sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase them.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger
- “The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics, whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were, and ask why not.” — John F. Kennedy
- “When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.” — George Washington Carver
- “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” ― Dale Carnegie
- “As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.” — Carl Jung
Related: The Importance of Finding Your ‘Why’ and How to Make It Happen
Wise Quotes About Decision-Making And Moving Forward
- “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” — Henry David Thoreau
- “I have very strong feelings about how you lead your life. You always look ahead, you never look back.” — Ann Richards
- “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” — Nido Qubein
- “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
- “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
- “Life just doesn’t hand you things. You have to get out there and make things happen. That’s the exciting part.” — Emeril Lagasse
- “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” ― Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol
- “In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.” — Abraham Maslow
- “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
- “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”— Thomas A. Edison
- “There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “When a thing is done, it’s done. Don’t look back. Look forward to your next objective.” — George C. Marshall
- “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” — John F. Kennedy
- “It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
- “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- “The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day. After all, a movement is only people moving.” — Gloria Steinem
Related: 10 Aspirational Entrepreneurs to Keep an Eye on in 2024
Wise Quotes About Personal Growth And Achievement
- “High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.” — Charles Kettering
- “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
- “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “True abundance isn’t based on our net worth, it’s based on our self-worth.” — Gabrielle Bernstein
- “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” —Henry David Thoreau
- “All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.” ― Earl Nightingale
- “Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress.” — Nicholas Murray Butler
- “To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone.” — Reba McEntire
- “Every twist and turn in life is an opportunity to learn something new about yourself, your interests, your talents, and how to set and then achieve goals.” — Jameela Jamil
- “Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yard stick to your success is how you treat other people.” — Barbara Bush
- “The difference between winning and losing is most often not quitting.” — Walt Disney
- “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it — then I can achieve it.” ― Muhammad Ali, The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life’s Journey
- “Fear is an illusion. You think something is standing in your way, but nothing is really there. What is there is an opportunity to do your best and gain some success.” — Michael Jordan
Inspirational Wise Quotes To Help You Live Your Best Life
- “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” — Abraham Lincoln
- “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — A.A. Mine
- “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.” — Booker T Washington
- “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” — Walt Disney
- 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
- “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.
- “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” ― Helen Keller
- “If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough.” — Oprah Winfrey
- “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
- “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.” ― Unknown
- “Thinking always ahead, thinking always of trying to do more, brings a state of mind in which nothing is impossible.” — Henry Ford
- “Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.” — Dalai Lama
Short Wise Quotes Filled With Life Advice
- “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” — Mae West
- “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” — Dolly Parton
- “Success is falling nine times and getting up 10.” — Jon Bon Jovi
- “He that respects himself is safe from others.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- “Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.” — C.S. Lewis
- “It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius
- “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” — Aristotle
- “When you have a dream, you’ve got to grab it and never let go.” — Carol Burnett
- “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
- “A dead end is just a good place to turn around.” — Naomi Judd
- “Lost time is never found again.” — Benjamin Franklin
- “You can never plan the future by the past.” — Edmund Burke
- “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” — Robert Frost
- “Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.” — Elbert Hubbard
- “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” — Napoleon Hill
- “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” ― Michael Altshuler
- Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” — Jack Canfield
- “I don’t go by the rule book…I lead from the heart, not the head.” — Princess Diana
- “The secret to getting ahead is getting started.” — Mark Twain
Related: 10 Modern-Day Leaders in Personal Growth
Let These Wise Quotes Inspire You To Pursue Greatness
Wisdom can come from many sources, and even short quotes can give us some powerful life advice. Inspirational words and phrases from wise, successful people can provide motivation for pushing forward, give you a new perspective, and help you decide what’s most important to you. Wise sayings can help us focus on how to live life to the fullest, plus remind us on the hard days that things will get better when we seek wisdom first.
We hope these wise quotes will inspire you to achieve more and make the right choices each day. They serve as timeless pieces of advice and are sourced from some of the most influential figures in history, both in the past and now. No matter what you’re going through or aspire to do, these words of wisdom ring true.
This article was updated July 2024. Photo courtesy of Peopleimages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock.com
