Inspirational Quotes

Here's a running list of some of our favorite inspirational quotes. We like to come back to this page every now and then for a dose of inspiration. We hope you do, too. Enjoy!

On Writing

“As an academic...you're a professional writer, just as you are a professional teacher.”

― Paul Silvia

“...the only way to write a lot is to write regularly, regardless of whether you feel like writing.”

― Paul Silvia

“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”

― Jodi Picoult

"You can make anything by writing.”

― C.S. Lewis

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”
— Stephen King

“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”
― Octavia E. Butler

“A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”
— Thomas Mann

“The best time to plan a book is while you’re doing the dishes.”
— Agatha Christie

“Write what should not be forgotten.”
— Isabel Allende

“Every day, when I wake up...I try to remember that to sit down and write is a gift.”
— Dani Shapiro

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
— Pablo Picasso

“I don't know what I think until I read what I wrote."
— Flannery O'Connor

On Productivity and Career

“People want to be engaged in performing productive work that is ideal for their talents, and be recognized for those contributions."
— Alan Weiss

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
— Walt Disney

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.”
— Bruce Lee

“Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.”
— Dale Carnegie

“Focus on being productive instead of busy.”
— Tim Ferriss

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
— Stephen Covey

“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. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
— Steve Jobs

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

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
— Anne Frank

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
— Winston Churchill

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
— Wayne Gretzky

"Do one thing every day that scares you.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt

"I really don’t think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don’t mind the failure but I can’t imagine that I’d forgive myself if I didn’t try.”
— Nikki Giovanni

“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse.”
— Florence Nightingale

"I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship."
— Louisa May Alcott

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”
— J. K. Rowling

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”
— Nora Ephron

“Procrastinators often believe that to do something one has to truly want to do it—to be in the right mood, to feel inspired. This is not the case. Usually, to get the job done, it is enough merely to begin doing it—the initial action kick-starts the process and often brings about more action.”

—  Tal Ben-Shahar 

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.”

— Helen Keller

“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”
— Babe Ruth

On Life

 "If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.”

—  C.S. Lewis

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." 

—  John F. Kennedy

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us." 

—  Joseph Campbell

"You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”

—  C.S. Lewis

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

—  Walter Winchell

"My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?”

—  C.S. Lewis

"When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.”

—  G.K. Chesterson