Life is short and fragile so it’s important to live it in the best way you can. These wise quotes about life provide advice and inspiration about how to do just that.
Wise Quotes About Life
The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That’s the day we truly grow up. ~ John C. Maxwell
We never understand how little we need in this world until we know the loss of it. ~ James M. Barrie
Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. ~ Soren Kierkegaard
In this life, when you deny someone an apology, you will remember it at time you beg forgiveness. ~ Toba Beta
Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it. ~ Lou Holtz
Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact. ~ William James
The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward. ~ Amelia Earhart
Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact. ~ Henry James
But one of the big lessons I have learned from my journey is you can’t please everyone, so don’t try. ~ Chris Colfer
The only disability in life is a bad attitude. ~ Scott Hamilton
We are made wise not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future. ~ George Bernard Shaw
In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. ~ Abraham Lincoln
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. ~ Socrates
You can’t wait around for something to become good, it either is, or isn’t. ~ Toni Aleo
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. ~ Leo Buscaglia
Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. ~ John Wooden
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. ~ Confucius
Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. ~ George Bernard Shaw
A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them. ~ John C. Maxwell
There is more to life than increasing its speed. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. ~ Al Franken
A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work. ~ John Lubbock
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them. ~ Dalai Lama
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. ~ Lao Tzu
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~ George Bernard Shaw
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
Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. ~ Albert Einstein
We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far. ~ Swami Vivekananda
When life is too easy for us, we must beware or we may not be ready to meet the blows which sooner or later come to everyone, rich or poor. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. ~ Steve Jobs
A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. ~ Nelson Mandela
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds. ~ Wayne Dyer
God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well. ~ Voltaire
The opinion which other people have of you is their problem, not yours. ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing. ~ Denis Waitley
A great attitude becomes a great day which becomes a great month which becomes a great year which becomes a great life. ~ Mandy Hale
Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who’ll argue with you. ~ John Wooden
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~ Winston Churchill
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
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. ~ William Arthur Ward
Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life. ~ John F. Kennedy
I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it. ~ Estee Lauder
People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy. ~ Anton Chekhov
There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. ~ Nelson Mandela
If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much. ~ Jim Rohn
Thou must now at last perceive of what universe thou art a part, and of what administrator of the universe thy existence is an efflux, and that a limit of time is fixed for thee, which if thou dost not use for clearing away the clouds from thy mind, it will go and thou wilt go, and it will never return. ~ Marcus Aurelius
I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed. ~ Michael Jordan
The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. ~ Oprah Winfrey
Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens. ~ Jimi Hendrix
Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become. ~ C. S. Lewis
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. ~ Henry Ford
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. ~ John Wooden
There are three constants in life… change, choice and principles. ~ Stephen Covey
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. ~ Thomas A. Edison
The longer the explanation, the bigger the lie. ~ Chinese Proverb
People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure. ~ Paulo Coelho
Our character is what we do when we think no-one is looking. ~ Unknown
Our greatest happiness does not depend on the condition of life in which chance has placed us, but is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits. ~ Thomas Jefferson
The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. ~ Vince Lombardi
Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak. ~ Sun Tzu
Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life. ~ Brian Tracy
Today is life – the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto. ~ Dale Carnegie
Speak when you are angry – and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret. ~ Laurence J. Peter
The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you. ~ Tony Robbins
In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on. ~ Robert Frost
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. ~ Mark Twain
We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner. ~ Les Brown
Common sense is not so common. ~ Voltaire
Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all. ~ Helen Keller
The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival. ~ Aristotle
Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all they have. ~ Unknown
Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll never get out of it alive. ~ Elbert Hubbard
Each life is made up of mistakes and learning, waiting and growing, practicing patience and being persistent. ~ Billy Graham
Don’t worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try. ~ Jack Canfield
Each person must live their life as a model for others. ~ Rosa Parks
My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose–somehow we win out. ~ Ronald Reagan
The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible. ~ Arthur C. Clarke
Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb, but how well you bounce. ~ Vivian Komori
Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It’s a journey of discovery – there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair. ~ Rick Warren
Many of life’s failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. ~ Thomas Edison
Live life to the fullest, and focus on the positive. ~ Matt Cameron