Positive people, those who choose a good mood over a bad day, have a powerful advantage over negative thinkers. While some people allow life’s problems to get them down, optimistic people remind themselves that bad times are only temporary. They find ways to practice positivity, and with a sunny outlook on life, their energy is wildly infectious.
If you want to be happy, and not just for one day, focus on the things that will help you remain positive over time. Because a positive attitude can do more than just make you feel good—it could also change your life.
You can train your mind to embrace the bright side of things. Here are 63 positive life quotes to get you started.
Positive thinking quotes
- “Live life to the fullest, and focus on the positive.” —Matt Cameron
- “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” —Colin Powell
- “It’s your outlook on life that counts. If you take yourself lightly and don’t take yourself too seriously, pretty soon you can find the humor in our everyday lives. And sometimes it can be a lifesaver.” —Betty White
- “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” —E. E. Cummings
- “A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.” —Wade Boggs
- “It’s actually cool to be positive and optimistic and idealistic. It’s cool to see yourself doing beautiful, great things.” —Tom DeLonge
- “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.” —Helen Keller
- “You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.” —Joyce Meyer
- “A positive attitude can really make dreams come true—it did for me.” —David Bailey
- “When the negative thoughts come—and they will; they come to all of us—it’s not enough to just not dwell on it…. You’ve got to replace it with a positive thought.” —Joel Osteen
- “Positive anything is better than negative nothing.” —Elbert Hubbard
- “There is little difference in people but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.” —W. Clement Stone
- “It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.” —Robert H. Schuller
- “Positive thinking is more than just a tagline. It changes the way we behave. And I firmly believe that when I am positive, it not only makes me better, but it also makes those around me better.” —Harvey Mackay
- “Start each day with a positive thought and a grateful heart.” —Roy Bennett
- “Your attitude is critical to success. If you expect things to be difficult, it will always be easier to solve problems, overcome adversity, and have an enthusiastic energy about how you go about and enjoy your work.” —Nick Saban, How Good Do You Want To Be?
Boosting self-esteem quotes
- “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” —Anonymous
- “Believing you are unworthy of love and belonging—that who you are authentically is a sin or is wrong—is deadly. Who you are is beautiful and amazing.” ―Laverne Cox
- “You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.” ―Stephen King, On Writing
- “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” —Michael Jordan
- “Failure is a great teacher and, if you are open to it, every mistake has a lesson to offer.” —Oprah Winfrey
- “When I’m not feeling my best I ask myself, ‘What are you gonna do about it?’ I use the negativity to fuel the transformation into a better me.” ―Beyoncé
- “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.”―Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
- “Confront the dark parts of yourself and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing.” ―August Wilson
- “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”―Sharon Salzberg
- “Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.”―Kurt Cobain
- “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.”―Mark Twain
- “The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.” ―Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays
- “By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before.” —Edwin Elliot
Believe in yourself quotes
- “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” —Carter Crocker and Karl Geurs, Pooh’s Grand Adventure
- “Having the positive belief that it will all be OK just means that you hustle and make it work because failure is not even an option in your own mind.” —Natalie Massenet
- “Virtually nothing is impossible in this world if you just put your mind to it and maintain a positive attitude.” —Lou Holtz
- “Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.” —Maggie Kuhn
- “Life has no limitations except the ones you make.” —Les Brown
- “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” —Thomas Edison
- “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” —Anais Nin
- “Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.” —Walter Wintle, “Thinking”
- “For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.” —Michelle Obama, Becoming
- “The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.” —Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
- “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” —Dolly Parton
- “If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.” —Napoleon Hill, The Law of Success
Feel better quotes
- “You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.” —Maya Angelou
- “In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” —Robert Frost
- “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” —Joseph Campbell
- “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
- “Success is falling nine times and getting up ten.” —Jon Bon Jovi
- “The key to life when things get tough is to just keep moving. Just keep moving.” —Tyler Perry
- “When you change your thoughts, remember to also change your world.” —Norman Vincent Peale
Inspirational life quotes
- “Love the life you live. Live the life you love.” —Bob Marley
- “If you own this story, you get to write the ending.” —Brené Brown
- “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
- “You do not find the happy life. You make it.” —Camilla Eyring Kimball
- “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
- “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.” —Oprah Winfrey
- “Don’t waste a minute not being happy. If one window closes, run to the next window—or break down a door.” —Brooke Shields
- “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come without leaving happier.” —Mother Teresa
- “If you can do what you do best and be happy, you are further along in life than most people.” —Leonardo DiCaprio
- “Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.” —Og Mandino
- “Always go with your passions. Never ask yourself if it’s realistic or not.” —Deepak Chopra
- “Say something positive, and you’ll see something positive.” —Jim Thompson
- “Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.” —Charles Kettering
- “Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.” —Mary Lou Retton
This article was updated May 2024. Photo by Ground Picture/Shutterstock.com
