I’ve long been a collector of motivational quotes. And just like lyrics to a favorite song, I can recite from memory quotes that have provided an endless source of inspiration for me.
When I sat down to begin this ambitious quest for 100 notable quotables, I initially planned to curate contenders from my personal collection. I’ve got hand-written lists, documents saved on my laptop, and more than a few in the notes app on my mobile phone.
Instead, to make it more fun and engaging, I posted a call for quote submissions on social media.
I was thrilled to learn I wasn’t the only quote collector in my social media circles. In addition to several great single entries, I received an email chock-full of quotable gems, and I’m happy to say more than a few of those are included here.
I’ve done my best to attribute every quote to a single, vetted source. Enjoy these inspirational nuggets, and remember to share generously!
10 best motivational quotes:
Research shows that people love “best of” posts and lists. Yet, even with that knowledge, the hardest part of aggregating this list came down to choosing the 10 best among the rest. Elevating copy, whether personally created or curated, flies in the face of the best journalistic advice I’ve ever received which was, “Don’t marry your words!”
Journalistic judgment be damned, here are the finalists for the coveted 10 best list:
- “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” ― Albert Einstein
- “Good things, when short, are twice as good.” ― Baltasar Gracián
- “The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.” ― Robert Frost
- “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” ― Dr. Mae Jemison
- “If your dreams don’t scare you, they are too small.” ― Richard Branson
- “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein
- “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” ― Anaïs Nin
- “There’s a way to do it better. Find it.” ― Thomas Edison
- “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” ― Arthur Ashe
- “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” ― Neale Donald Walsh
10 daily motivational quotes:
Some days you wake up, immediately find your groove, and proceed to crank out some of your best work. And then there are those days when you need to get your groove back. If you have the time to unplug for an hour or two, that’s great. But if you only have enough time to take a deep breath before pushing ahead, take a moment to savor a good motivational quote to help you make it through the day.
- “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” ― Robert L. Stevenson
- “Do not seize the day and see it only as it is. Instead, welcome the day and see it as it can be.” ― J. Carter McKinley
- “This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” ― Maya Angelou
- “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.” ― Neal Peart
- “Do something today that your future self will thank you for.” ― Sean Patrick Flanery
- “The future starts today, not tomorrow.” ― Pope John Paul II
- “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” ― Jim Rohn
- “You’ve got today, and today is all you need to start.” ― Jon Acuff
- “The good we do today becomes the happiness of tomorrow.” ― William James
- “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” ― Albert Einstein
10 short motivational quotes:
As freelancers, when it comes to our relationship with time, to quote social media: it’s complicated. From cranking out deliverables to taking out the trash, we wear all the hats. And in between, we’re always in search of tips to help increase productivity while trying to save time. Still, if you’re as short on time as you are on motivation, here are 10 quotes that are short on words and long on meaning.
- “The most effective way to do it is to do it.” ― Amelia Earhart
- “No is a complete sentence.” ― Anne Lamott
- “Good things, when short, are twice as good.” ― Baltasar Gracián
- “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” ― Jack Canfield
- “We become what we think about.” ― Earl Nightingale
- “Creativity takes courage.” ― Henri Matisse
- “Do or do not; there is no try.” ― Yoda
- “He who is brave is free.” ― Seneca
- “Have a vision. Be demanding.” ― Colin Powell
- “Character is power.” ― Booker T. Washington
10 funny motivational quotes:
The saying “laughter is the best medicine,” has been attributed to Random House co-founder, Bennett Cerf, while others believe the saying has roots in the biblical book of Proverbs. Source wars aside, whether used as a way to tell a better brand story, or captured in a motivational quip, there’s nothing like a little levity to brighten your day.
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- “Pizza makes me think that anything is possible.” ― Henry Rollins
- “To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.” ― Reba McEntire
- “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” ― Douglas Adams
- “The road to success is always under construction.” ― Lily Tomlin
- “Age is of no importance unless you’re a cheese.” ― Billie Burke
- “Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.” ― Josh Billings
- “Next time you’re afraid to share ideas, remember someone once said in a meeting, ‘Let’s make a film with a tornado full of sharks.'” ― Jon Acuff
- “You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.” ― Sam Levenson
- “Bad decisions make good stories.” ― Ellis Vidler
- “The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.” ― Robert Frost
10 Monday motivational quotes:
Unless you’ve figured out the secret to working a four-day workweek that starts on Tuesdays, nothing ruins the weekend like the impending doom of Monday. For those of us who are still on that five-day workweek grind, here are 10 #MotivationMonday quotes to get your week off to a good start.
- “Two things you are in total control of in life are your attitude and your effort.” ― Billy Cox
- “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” ― Zig Ziglar
- “Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.” ― Dalai Lama
- “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ― Martin Luther King, Jr.
- “Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” ― Dr. Mae Jemison
- “A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.” ― Nelson Mandela
- “If you can clearly articulate the dream or the goal, start.” ― Simon Sinek
- “Hope is tenacious. It goes on living and working when science has dealt it what should be its deathblow.” ― Paul Laurence Dunbar
- “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” ― Ruth Bader Ginsburg
10 motivational quotes for work:
When it comes down to getting your work done, let’s face it: some days are easier than others. For some, all that’s needed is a cup of coffee and the perfect playlist to get the creative juices flowing. But for others, reading words of inspiration does the trick. Here are 10 motivational quotes to help you live your best 9-to-5 life.
- “The things you regret most in life are the risks you didn’t take.” ― Farhan Masood
- “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” ― Steve Jobs
- “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” ― Marc Anthony
- “You can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.” ― Shonda Rhimes
- “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ― C.S. Lewis
- “I start where the last man left off.” ― Thomas Edison
- “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” ― Michael Porter
- “Hard work is not punishment. Hard work is the price of admission for the opportunity to reach sustained excellence.” ― Jay Bilas
- “There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.” ― Brené Brown
- “If your dreams don’t scare you, they are too small.” ― Richard Branson
10 motivational quotes for artists:
Traditional or digital. Paint or pixels. Canvas or screen. No matter the medium, some people just seem to be born to bring visual beauty into the world. Whether you’re a seasoned, sought-after artist or an aspiring visual storyteller, here are 10 quotes to help you envision your next work of art.
- “Without great solitude no serious work is possible.” ― Pablo Picasso
- “The great artist is the simplifier.” ― Vincent Van Gogh
- “I don’t think about art when I’m working. I try to think about life.” ― Jean-Michel Basquiat
- “You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.” ― George Bernard Shaw
- “If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.” ― Émile Zola
- “I shut my eyes in order to see.” ― Paul Gauguin
- “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” ― Albert Einstein
- “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed at imitation.” ― Herman Melville
- “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” ― Aristotle
- “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” ― Edgar Degas
10 motivational quotes for writers:
Where visual creatives employ elements of color, light, and shade to create contrast and make their art, writers create pictures with words, weaving texture from text, and creating stories with well-written copy. Still, even the most seasoned word workers experience a slump that only a solo writing retreat can fix. But if you’re tight on time and facing down a deadline, here are 10 quotes to help you find your focus.
- “I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.” ― Audre Lorde
- “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” ― Anaïs Nin
- “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” ― Anne Lamott
- “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” ― Louis L’Amour
- “A writer is a world trapped in a person.” ― Victor Hugo
- “You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.” ― Saul Bellow
- “Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depth of your heart; confess to yourself you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke
- “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can’t allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.” ― Elmore Leonard
- “Writing is its own reward.” ― Henry Miller
- “I believe myself that a good writer doesn’t really need to be told anything except to keep at it.” ― Chinua Achebe
10 motivational quotes for marketers:
Modern-day marketers need just the right mix of hard and soft skills to bring products and services to the marketplace. Whether taking a deep dive into analytics or considering creative concepts, a successful marketer has to be adaptable, flexible and ready to achieve success for their customers and clients. Here are 10 quotes to help you in your quest for identifying the next big thing.
- “The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” ― Tom Fishburne
- “Don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment with your marketing.” ― Mike Volpe
- “Good marketers see consumers as complete human beings with all the dimensions real people have.” ― Jonah Sachs
- “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” ― Simon Sinek
- “Today it’s important to be present, be relevant and add value.” ― Nick Besbeas
- “Marketing’s job is never done. It’s about perpetual motion. We must continue to innovate every day.” ― Beth Comstock
- “There’s a way to do it better. Find it.” ― Thomas Edison
- “The person who gives the value first has the leverage.” ― Gary Vaynerchuk
- “Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.” ― Joe Chernov
- “Content is King but engagement is Queen, and the lady rules the house!” ― Mari Smith
10 motivational quotes for entrepreneurs:
Entrepreneurs are idea generators and risk-takers. They’re builders of businesses large and small, and visionaries who anticipate — and meet — the needs of consumers. Often entrepreneurs are entirely self-driven, but even the most successful ones can use a little help. As you grow your business to the point where you’re ready to outsource work and take on larger clients and projects, let these 10 quotes motivate you along the way.
- “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” ― Henry Ford
- “The only thing worse than starting something and failing… is not starting something.” ― Seth Godin
- “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” ― Arthur Ashe
- “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” ― Neale Donald Walsh
- “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” ― Milton Berle
- “Action is the foundational key to all success.” ― Pablo Picasso
- “There is never a bad time to start a business — unless you want to start a mediocre one.” ― Gary Vaynerchuk
- “Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” ― Farrah Gray
- “Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.” ― Chris Grosser
