45 Inspirational Quotes That Will Get You Through the Work Week

When life gets miserable, a well-constructed quote can get us right back into the game. Every quote has a deeply embedded meaning that requires the reader to have an open mind to decipher. As human beings, we live on the motivation of others and draw energy from the positivity of people around us. Without positivity, the human mind can become a victim of depression or worse — lose hope in life itself.

Hence, it’s extremely important to train our minds to absorb as much inspiration as we can through insightful quotes. Awaken the senses by reading at least one quote a day to achieve the necessary push needed to complete our lifelong goals.

WHAT ARE INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES AND WHY DO THEY HOLD A SPECIAL PLACE IN OUR HEARTS

What are Inspirational Quotes? 

Imagine having a friend that’s with you throughout the day, available for motiving you when life isn’t looking good — if that friend could be converted into words, it would be defined as an inspiring quote.

Inspiring quotes affect the way we think and react to situations. For example, you could be defined as an angry person by society, and you wish that somebody would understand you and give you direction in calming down. By reading an inspiring quote such as — “The greatest remedy for anger is delay.”, you immediately begin to analyze that anger leads to nothing but disaster and try to become a better person over time.

It’s necessary to continue with the habit of reading inspiring quotes daily to heal our minds. Regular reading is equivalent to taking a dose of medicine to cure an illness, in this case, we do away with our laziness and go out into the world to achieve our dreams.

Where can we find Inspirational Quotes? How do They Benefit Us? 

Inspiring quotes can be found everywhere in the world — in magazines, newspapers, wall-art, televisions, social-media, support groups, etc. Inspiring quotes are usually created by the greatest of thinkers that understand the logic of uplifting moods with just a few words.

Hence, if you ever find a great quote that inspired you, do share it with your friends and family and enjoy the big smile that erupts from them. This is you doing your bit and adding positivity to someone’s life, by encouraging others to join in on the motivational train, you’ve just become a part of the system.

Do you know of someone that suffers from depression? 

Or maybe a lazy friend that just wouldn’t stop procrastinating his daily goals?  

Perfect! Read them a few quotes from some of your favorite influential figures and watch the magic of positivity unravel. People with mental distress have poor judgment skills, by introducing inspiring quotes into their lives, you can bring them onto the path of creative development.

A good quote can act as a motivating speech 

Have you ever wondered why some movies start or end with an inspiring quote?

Filmmakers understand the use of a powerful phrase, and the psychological effect it can have in the minds of the audience. By placing a quote into the movie, they expect the message of their movie to be conveyed through the imagination of the audience.

For example, at the beginning of the movie if you were to see a quote like — “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” — you know there’s a deep love story embedded within the tone of the film. Similarly, when an influential figure such as Martin Luther King Jr. addresses a crowd, he uses the power of quotes to tell a story and to make his dream a reality.

A single inspiring quote has the power to change the way we think and hence, many political leaders throughout history have made use of this practice. It’s not uncommon to see famous historical leaders such as John F. Kennedy or Mahatma Gandhi lead an entire country of people by routinely quoting phrases. Even companies use quotes as a rallying cry to lead their employees into understanding their motto.

Here is a short video depicting the usage of quotes in everyday life to bring in the required positive change into your life.

45 INSPIRATION QUOTES THAT CAN HELP YOU FIND YOUR INNER VOICE

1. A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. — Albert Einstein

The phrase showcases that people shouldn’t be ashamed of committing mistakes and failure is a critical component of success. It’s important to try new and distinct things without letting the weight of failure get in the way.

2. You Can’t Use up Creativity. The more you use, the more you have. — Maya Angelou

Creativity is infinite like the light, there is no end to conjuring up new creations. An innovative mind will always come up with something artistic to astonish everyone. Let your creative juices flow and always aim to be a visionary.

3. A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes. — Mahatma Gandhi

The meaning is straightforward — Nothing is impossible for the human mind if one can set their mind to a task, they can achieve it by creating a plan and acting on it.

4.  I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. — Stephen Covey

Life can throw a lot of hardships your way, but it’s necessary to always focus on achieving your goals and reaching your destination, no matter what. There’s no excuse for your goals to change midway.

5. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. — Steve Jobs

There’s no way you can ever hope to achieve perfection in your field if you don’t share the passion for the subject. It’s important to understand your passion and work towards it.

6. Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs. — Farrah Gray

You either plant the seeds in someone else’s orchard and see them reap the benefits or you can begin by planting your own seeds and witness your orchard come to life.

7.  Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears — Les Brown

As humans, we always fear the worst when it comes to executing our plans. We fear failure and hence, keep our dreams locked deep inside our minds. We need to be confident in our decisions and execute our strategies.

8. If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on. — Sheryl Sandberg

When a big opportunity presents itself, don’t waste time thinking about it. Life doesn’t wait for us, it’s now or never.

9. We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. — Ronald Reagan

By trying to help everyone in the world, we are aiming for an impossible feat. Instead, if everyone in the world could help even a single person, then the world would truly be a better place.

10. I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples. — Mother Teresa

By being a leader and following your path, you can inspire followers to join your mission. The same followers will later go on to become leaders themselves, in turn inspiring more followers to unify for your cause.

11. Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless. — Jamie Paolinetti

Our human minds are a vast space of opportunities and ideas, we limit ourselves by trying to lock these ideas within ourselves. If we were to execute our creativity to bring forth these ideas, only the sky is the limit.

12. If you don’t value your time, neither will others. Stop giving away your time and talents–start charging for it. — Kim Garst

Time is a valuable resource that can’t be produced after it has been expended. Hence, it’s necessary for us to value our talents and be compensated through adequate remuneration. As a professional, it’s critical to determine the accurate value of your profession.

13.  Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. — Nathaniel Hawthorne

Happiness is highly sought after but those that actively pursue it, rarely get to experience it. By trying to follow our dreams, aspirations, and goals, we end up gaining happiness without having to constantly chase after it.

14. People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing–that’s why we recommend it daily. — Zig Ziglar

The motivational essence is a finite resource that requires us to replenish it by daily procuring inspirational knowledge. Just like when we shower daily to keep our physical body clean, a daily dose of motivational knowledge is just as important to remain focused on our goals.

15. When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. — Helen Keller

By wasting time in regretting about a tragic incident, we waste the precious years filled with opportunities ahead of us. It’s important to let go of wasted opportunities and focus on the present to experience a new opportunity knocking at our door, every day.

16. Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. — Dale Carnegie

There is no human being alive that hasn’t witnessed failure during his or her success story. If you pursue success than be ready for failure and mental harassment. Use them to make you stronger and step into the light of success eventually.

17. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. — Vidal Sassoon

Apart from being alphabetically placed in the dictionary, success always follows work and not the other way around. Work meaning short for “hard work” — without the necessary efforts, success is rarely guaranteed.

18. Thinking should become your capital asset, no matter whatever ups and downs you come across in your life.  — A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Whether you are experiencing the happiest moment of your life or the most miserable one, you should always think before you act. Otherwise, you are likely to regret your irreversible choices.

19. I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well. — Diane Ackerman

There is absolutely no reason to live a long and boring life when there are plenty of exciting adventures for the human soul to dive into. Life is an extremely fleeting resource and one can best experience it by living it large not just by its longevity.

20. Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference. — Robert Frost

Many individuals like to take the road to success that has been achieved by other influential figures. It takes a mighty heart to set out to do something distinct from the usual and reap the success of it.

21. If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work. — Thomas J. Watson

To achieve perfection in your work, you must stop wasting time and put in the efforts at this very moment. Don’t plan on tomorrow for what you can today.

22. If you are not willing to risk the usual you will have to settle for the ordinary. — Jim Rohn

Every venture in life requires a lot of personal effort and sacrifices, there is no way for you to enjoy the good life without putting the necessary push into it.

23. You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction. — George Lorimer

To reap the success of your goal, it’s important to repeat each day with the same level of energy and effort and never stop trying. In this way, you will ensure that you go to bed satisfied with yourself and renew yourself with vigor every morning.

24. If you genuinely want something, don’t wait for it–teach yourself to be impatient. — Gurbaksh Chahal

Have you seen kids at the convenient store that are stubborn enough to make their moms buy them the candy bar by making a ruckus? We should aim to be these kids while our passion is the candy bar. By being impatient to reach our dreams, we can get there at a much faster pace.

25. I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. — Leonardo da Vinci

In life, we have a plan that we set out to do but we don’t take it seriously enough to commit towards it and it soon ends up drifting away from our minds. If one wants to be successful, then there is no other way other than to create an action plan and have the will to execute it immediately.

26. If you hear a voice within you say, “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced. — Vincent Van Gogh

We are used to hearing people say that we aren’t going to make it big or sometimes our inner voice makes us believe we are too weak to accomplish an activity. Don’t listen to the negativity around us, if you’ve set your mind to doing something, then do it.

27. 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

Human beings have the constant thirst to desire more even when we have it all. While the desire for passion isn’t a bad thing, it can be a bad affair while comparing yourself to another. Be content with what you have, others may just be wishing for a life such as yours.

28. The Pessimist Sees Difficulty at Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees Opportunity in Every Difficulty. — Winston Churchill

Take a glass which is half filled with water and show it to two different people. The one with a negative mindset will complain as to the glass being near empty, while the person with a positive mindset will thank you for the glass of water.

29. It’s Not Whether You Get Knocked Down, It’s Whether You Get Up. — Vince Lombardi

Life can play a villainous role and try to knock us on our backs. While many choose to stay on their backs and complain, the chosen few learn to pick themselves up and get back on their tracks. It’s important to never lose focus on your goals even after repeated failures.

30. Imagine Your Life Is Perfect in Every Respect; What Would It Look Like? — Brian Tracy

This mind exercise helps us visualize the kind of person we would like to become or see ourselves as. What is your idea of a perfect lifestyle? Now that you have a visual picture, make a mental note of it and make that dream come true by adding efforts every day.

31. Security Is Mostly a Superstition. Life Is Either a Daring Adventure or Nothing. — Helen Keller

Life is an extremely fragile piece of glass that is constantly at risk of being toppled over. Hence, it’s important to stop trying to protect ourselves and go out and have a rocking adventure with our life. Fear holds us back while courage provides the necessary development.

32. You Are Never Too Old to Set Another Goal or To Dream a New Dream. — C.S. Lewis

No age is considered too late for you to try and achieve. Life is like a bus stop, the moment you miss the first bus of opportunity, you wait for the second and hop on.

33. For Every Reason It’s Not Possible, There Are Hundreds of People Who Have Faced the Same Circumstances and Succeeded. – Jack Canfield

If a specific task felt impossible to complete, know there are several others who have taken up the challenge to devote their time to complete it. Nothing is impossible to the human mind, through innovation even the most difficult task can be achieved.

34. A Room Without Books Is Like a Body Without a Soul. – Marcus Tullius Cicero

Books contain valuable information that has been written by famous and intellectual beings. By not reading, you deny yourself the knowledge to understand truth from fiction. It’s important to read if you want to grow and develop as a person.

35. You Don’t Have to Be Great to Start, But You Have to Start to Be Great. – Zig Ziglar

Greatness isn’t achieved overnight and it’s certainly not a title given to someone by birth. Anyone can pursue greatness, but the most important step is “to take action”.

36. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above it.  — Washington Irving

Whenever we face a difficulty of any sort, we tend to either give up or take it as a challenge and move forward. The ones who give up are considered to have a small mind while the ones who are powerful enough to weather the storm are among the greatest minds.

37. Success is … knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential and sowing seeds that benefit others. — John C. Maxwell

Success isn’t about personal achievement but it’s about attaining insightful knowledge and the ability to do good for others by either providing an opportunity or by inspiring them.

38. Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. — Robert Louis Stevenson

By waking up each day to check the results of your efforts, you won’t make much progress. However, by continuing to double your efforts, the chances of your success increase exponentially. Focus on continued efforts rather than measuring desired results.

39. Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. — George Herbert

There is no such thing as the “right time to start”, the best time to start is — Now. It’s not the resources you have on hand that is important, it’s what you do with the current resources that play a major role in achieving success. Once you begin your path to success, you are bound to upgrade your tools to serve you better.

40. Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going. — Sam Levenson

The clock’s job is to continuously measure time by moving at a singular pace. Similarly, we as humans should aim to keep our efforts in a forward moving direction and never stop, just like the clock.

41. Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground. — Theodore Roosevelt

Aim your goals as high as the stars and never forget to dream big, but it’s all important to not lose ourselves in the path of success by planting our feet firmly on the ground. In short, dream big and maintain a realistic plan to get there.

42. Why should you continue going after your dreams? Because seeing the look on the faces of the people who said you couldn’t… will be priceless. — Kevin Ngo

There are many people who would like to see us fail and are likely to laugh at our misfortune. It’s important to convert the frustration into intensity to achieve our goals and in the end, convert rivals into followers. There’s no better way to win this fight.

43. A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at. — Bruce Lee

The goal in a football game is the ultimate destination for both teams pursuing victory, the team that gets the maximum number of balls into the goal takes the trophy. Life isn’t much different — the goals are our ambitions and we must tackle the enemy team (difficulties) to get to our destination.

44. Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. — Theodore N. Vail

Difficulties that occur in our lifetime can be overcome by simply enduring the stormy weather. However, the doubts and uncertainties that arise within ourselves can never be defeated until we are confident in our ability to make it large in life.

45. As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others. — Bill Gates

Leaders are meant to instill confidence in their followers and not throw the power of command. The leaders of the current century will no longer look to be in command but rather share the duty with their followers.

If you are still hungry for more quotes and can’t seem to satiate your inner thirst, here’s a video providing 10 quotes from 10 influential historical figures.

CLOSURE

A healthy and sound mind is prepared to tackle any amount of challenges that are thrown at it. To maintain this state of mind it’s necessary to inject our brain with a daily dose of inspiration. Just like how we utilize vitamins to supplement our physical portion of the body, it’s a necessity to inspire ourselves to achieve greater heights frequently by putting ourselves in the shoes of influential figures.

Start by reading one or two quotes a day and gradually increase it to about 5 quotes a day. Also, don’t forget to share these quotes with your friends and family and encourage them to join in on this healthy habit.