20 Inspiring Quotes to Keep Things in Perspective

Do you recall hearing a song, phrase, or passage that resonated with you in some profound way that articulated exactly how you're feeling? As if the author was glimpsing into your mind. Quotes, in particular, have the power to echo the state of your being with only a few words. The power behind quotes, I believe, is that they can offer just the right kind of perspective for whatever emotions you may be experiencing.

I have been a collector of quotes for years. I collect them from books I read, lyrics to songs I listen to, excerpts from articles, or sayings from famous people. To honor the wisdom that many have passed on to us, I am sharing with you some of my personal favorites that I have found particularly comforting. And I hope you will find that some of these can offer reassurance and validation, help amplify joy and excitement, or ignite an inner sense of peace and light.

Change

1. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference." – Reinhold Niebuhr (Serenity Prayer)

Friendship

2. "Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it’s all over." – Gloria Naylor

Life

3. "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." – Maya Angelou

Perseverance

4. "One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself." – Lucille Ball

Happiness

5. "Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings."– Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

Making Every Minute Count

6. "Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another." – Ernest Hemingway

Passion

7. "Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you." – Oprah Winfrey

Humor

8. "A day without laughter is a day wasted." – Charles Chaplin

Going For It

9. "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover." – Mark Twain

Dreams

10. "Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true." – Judy Garland, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz

Self-Discovery

11. "No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path." – Buddha

Strength

12. "You feel your strength in the experience of pain." – Jim Morrison

Soul Mates

13. "The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along." – Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Self-Perception

14. "A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes." – Mahatma Gandhi

Beauty

15. "I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains." – Anne Frank

Letting Go

16. "Letting go doesn’t mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are things that cannot be." – Unknown

Being Yourself

17. "When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." – Lao Tzu

Optimism

18. "A pessimist sees the difficult in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." – Winston Churchill

Gumption

19. "I want to put a ding in the universe." – Steve Jobs

Faith

20. "Present time can be hard, but life unfolds as it will and the universe will wait as we make our way into the unknown." – Unknown