30 Quotes to Motivate You to Keep Going

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a positive quote“A quotation at the right moment is like bread to the famished,” says the Talmud. I guess that’s why I collect quotations and place them strategically around my desk. When I am emotionally famished —exhausted of trying every cognitive behavioral technique and mindfulness strategy to liberate myself from painful ruminations — I come across a quote that fills me with resolve, with determination, and most importantly, with hope.

Here are some of my favorite quotes that I go back to when I am tempted to roll over and give up. They are reminders that I am definitely not alone in my struggle. Much wisdom has been born out of suffering throughout the years. Writers, actresses, saints, philosophers, and luminaries of all kind offer nuggets of insight that give me the courage to go on.

1. “I am only one,
 but still, I am one. 
I cannot do everything, 
but still I can do something; 
And because I cannot do everything, 
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” — Edward Everett Hale

2. “Some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.”  — Gilda Radner

3. “Know what’s weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon, everything’s different.” — Bill Watterson

4. “The true heroes of life are not the triumphant victors, but the defeated who find a ray of hope.” —Elizabeth Lukas

5. “Hope doesn’t require a massive chain where heavy links of logic hold it together. A thin wire will do … just strong enough to get us through the night until the winds die down.” — Charles R. Swindoll

6. “Note to self: every time you were convinced you couldn’t go on, you did.” — Author Unknown

7. “I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.” —Hafiz of Shiraz

8. “You are enough. You are so enough, it is unbelievable how enough you are.” — Sierra Boggess

9. “We need never be hopeless because we can never be irreparably broken.” — John Green

10. “To have courage for whatever comes in life — everything lies in that.” — Teresa of Avila

11. “Do the next thing.” — Elisabeth Eliot

12. “You’re entirely bonkers, but I’ll tell you a secret, all the best people are.” — Lewis Carroll,  Alice in Wonderland

13. “On particularly rough days when I’m sure I can’t possibly endure, I like to remind myself that my track record for getting through bad days so far is 100% and that’s pretty good.” — Author Unknown

14. “Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always.” –Hippocrates

15. “The greatest and most important problems of life are fundamentally unsolvable. They can never be solved, but only outgrown.” — Carl Jung

16. “Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything

That’s how the light gets in.” — Leonard Cohen, “Anthem” lyrics

17. “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass … It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” — Vivian Greene

18. “Just remember in the winter,

Far beneath the bitter snows,

Lies the seed that with the sun’s love,

In the spring becomes the rose.”

— Bette Midler, “The Rose” lyrics

19. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.'” — Mary Anne Radmacher

20. “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” — Friedrich Nietzche

21. “The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost

22. “Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe.” — Saint Therese de Lisieux

23. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas Edison

24. “Where you stumble and fall, there you discover the gold.” — Joseph Campbell

25. “Fall seven times; stand up eight.” — Japanese proverb

26. “Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you’re alive, it isn’t.” — Richard Bach

27. “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — A. A. Milne

28. “Although the world is very full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” — Helen Keller

29. “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” — Viktor Frankl

30. “No feeling is final.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

Join Project Hope & Beyond, an online depression community.

PHOTO: Getty Images

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Therese Borchard
I am a writer and chaplain trying to live a simple life in Annapolis, Maryland.

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4 Responses
  1. Jason

    I like the quote from Deepak saying something about when you get there, there is no there. In other words when you get to the spot that you wished for in the mind, there is always another peaceful- enlightenment stage to shoot for. Lifelong learning, especially mentally is true.

  2. PsycApps

    Thank you for these inspiring quotes; I know that this tiny bit of inspiration and motivation can help anyone who may be suffering from symptoms of depression or anxiety/stress.