My Favourite Inspirational Quotes From History

During this time of uncertainty and isolation, we all need a good old pick me up! I’ve put together a list of my favourite inspirational quotes from history to give us all a boost of positivity!

“Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you”. – Jesus

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot

There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. –Aristotle

“I pay no attention whatever to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.” – Mozart 

 “If you’re going through hell, keep going”. – Winston Churchill

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” – Mark Twain

“One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.” – Joan of Arc

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” – Albert Einstein

“Experience is the teacher of all things.” – Julius Caesar

“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.” – Oscar Wilde

“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.” – Arthur C. Clarke

“One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” – Steve Jobs

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” – Aristotle

The best revenge is massive success. – Frank Sinatra

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” – Mother Teresa

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” –  Nelson Mandela

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein

“Always keep your eyes open. Keep watching. Because whatever you see can inspire you.” – Grace Coddington

“It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time.” – Winston Churchill

“First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.” – Aristotle

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” – Michelangelo

 “The mind is everything. What you think you become.” – Buddha

“As a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about what they can.” – Julius Caesar

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb

“The courageous do not lie down and accept defeat. Instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future.” – Queen Elizabeth II

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” –Michael Jordan

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou

I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse. – Florence Nightingale

“It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.” – Howard Ruff

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – John F. Kennedy

“What is better than wisdom? Woman. And what is better than a good woman? Nothing.” – Geoffrey Chaucer

“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.” – Dr Seuss

“I didn’t fail the test. I just found 100 ways to do it wrong”. – Benjamin Franklin

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it dressed in overalls and looks like work.” – Thomas A. Edison

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain

“No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.” – Isaac Newton

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein

“You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Christopher Columbus

“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” –Aristotle

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King

“We shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us.” – Winston Churchill

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar Wilde

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” –Amelia Earhart

“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 safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” – Mark Twain

“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” – J.R.R. Tolkein

I hope you enjoyed some of my favourite inspirational quotes from history. If you have any inspirational quotes you’d like to share, please add them in the comments below.

For a similar post, see ‘Inspirational Quotes for Mental Health Awareness Week’.