I don’t really know how and why I started collecting quotes . It just kind of happened and then soon enough I was carrying around a beaten up notebook with my everywhere in case I read of heard something inspiring. And when the notebook was almost full, I typed up all the quotes and made a nice categorized, color-coded word document to house them all.
The quote-collecting started when I was 14 and over a decade later it continues. My quote collection has helped me get through the bad and learn to really see and appreciate the good- breakups, breakdowns, identity questions, regrets, triumphs, tragedies, you name it and I have a quote that will help you get a better grip on it, some with laughter and others with immense wisdom.
Winter is here, the temperature is frigid, darkness comes way too early and a whopping case of seasonal affective disorder is all but inevitable. To help make these sad days a little shinier, I’ve decided to share some of my all time favorite quotes. Enjoy!
On Love:
“Unless it’s mad, passionate, extraordinary love, it’s a waste of your time. There are too many mediocre things in life–love shouldn’t be one of them”- Movie: Dream for an Insomniac
“To offer a man friendship when love is in his heart is like giving a loaf of bread to one who is dying of thirst. –Frank Frankfort Moore
“Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it’s better to leave them broken than try to hurt yourself putting it back together”- Author unknown
“Hearts will never be practical until they are made unbreakable”- The Wizard of Oz
“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves”- Victor Hugo
On Life:
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself” George Bernard Shaw
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take” Wayne Gretzky
“If you don’t get everything you want, think of the things you don’t get that you don’t want” Unknown
“Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you because you area vegetarian” Dennis Wholey
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow” – Mary Anne Radmacher
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be” Marcel Pagnol
“Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was” -Richard L. Evans
“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not”- Unknown
On Enemies and Forgiveness
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you” –African Proverb
“One thing you will probably remember well is any time you forgive and forget” ~Franklin P. Jones
“There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: Those who are afraid to try themselves and Those who are afraid that you will succeed”- Ray Goforth
Forgive your enemies but never forget their names” JFK
“Take care that no one hates you justly”- Pubilius Syrus
“To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it” ~Confucius
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned”- Buddha
On Experience
“In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been times like these” Paul Harvey
“No one can go back and make a brand new start, my friend, but anyone can start from here and make a brand new end” –Dan Zadra
“The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter”- Unknown
“Happiness is beneficial for the body but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind” ~Marcel Proust
“Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him”- Aldous Huxley
“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable”- Sydney J. Harris
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better” — Samuel Beckett
“It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere”- Agnes Repplier
“There is nothing noble about being superior to some other man. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self” Hindu proverb
Advice:
“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got” Janis Joplin
“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret” Ambrose Bierce
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. ~Dr. Seuss
“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.” John R. Wooden
“You will face many defeats in your life, but never let yourself be defeated”– Maya Angelou
Never tell your problems to anyone…20% don’t care and the other 80% are glad you have them. -Lou Holtz
When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the fire department generally uses water. -Unknown
Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience -Victoria Holt
On Friendship
“A true friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out” Walter Winchell
“I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar”- Unknown
“It’s sad when someone you know becomes someone you knew” – Henry Rollins
“Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer”-Ed Cunningham
“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher” Oprah Winfrey
“A friend is a person before whom I may think aloud” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do you have a favorite quote? Leave it in comments!
Written by Sabrina Alexis
