Life’s true gift lies in your freedom to design it beautifully. With each rise of the sun, you get to chase the opportunity to fill your days with meaning—to live your life the way you choose.
Push yourself to pursue a life worth living with these 60 uplifting, beautiful quotes about life.
Do things that make you happy
- “The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”—Dalai Lama
- “I think being in love with life is a key to eternal youth.”—Doug Hutchison
- “Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.”—Jim Rohn
- “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”—Steve Jobs
Be present
- “The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.”—Thich Nhat Hanh
- “You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”—Walter Hagen
- “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.”—Bil Keane
- “The more you live in the present moment, the more the fear of death disappears.”—Eckhart Tolle
Spend your time wisely
- “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”—Charles Darwin
- “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”—Michael Altshuler
- “Your time is limited; don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”—Steve Jobs
- “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.”—William Penn
Embrace uncertainty
- “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it and join the dance.”—Alan Watts
- “If life were predictable, it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.”—Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”—Helen Keller
- “Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won’t have a title until much later.”—Bob Goff
Try new things
- “In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.”—Lewis Carroll
- “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”—Neale Donald Walsch
- “The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.”—Arthur C. Clarke
Find a balance
- “All of life is peaks and valleys. Don’t let the peaks get too high and the valleys too low.”—John Wooden
- “Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.”—Thomas Merton
- “The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man.”—Euripides
Enjoy the journey
- “Life is a journey, not a destination.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.”—Emily Dickinson
- “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”—Albert Schweitzer
- “The important thing to you is not how many years in your life, but how much life in your years!”—Edward J. Stieglitz
Stop living on autopilot
- “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
- “Wake up. Live your life on purpose. You have a purpose. You are here for a reason.”—Germany Kent
- “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.”—Robin Sharma
Identify your strengths
- “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”—Marcel Proust
- “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.”—Stephen Hawking
- “Discover your strengths, and then use them in the service of others.”—Donald O. Clifton
- “Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.”—Leo Buscaglia
Put one foot in front of the other
- “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”—Lao Tzu
- “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”—Albert Einstein
- “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”—Confucius
- “Every step you take is a step away from where you used to be.”—Brian Chargualaf
Celebrate your wins
- “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”—Eckhart Tolle
- “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”—Oprah Winfrey
- “Celebrate your victories. Be verbal about it. Hug people. High-five them. Dance a little. I don’t care. It’s worth celebrating.”—Neil Pasricha
Choose joy
- “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”—E. E. Cummings
- “The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it’s all that matters.”—Audrey Hepburn
- “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy, and keep choosing it every day.”—Henri Nouwen
- “Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy.”—Ralph Marston
Embrace the ups and the downs
- “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”—Charles R. Swindoll
- “I enjoy life when things are happening. I don’t care if it’s good things or bad things. That means you’re alive.”—Joan Rivers
- “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
Fill your time with the things you love
- “Cherish yesterday, dream tomorrow, and live today.”—Richard Bach
- “Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet.”—Sarah Louise Delany
Try your best
- “Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.”—Og Mandino
- “Life doesn’t require that we be the best, only that we try our best.”—H. Jackson Brown Jr.
- “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.”—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Choose a positive perspective
- “I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.”—Walt Disney
- “Your perspective is always limited by how much you know. Expand your knowledge and you will transform your mind.”—Bruce H. Lipton
- “The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude.”—Oprah Winfrey
- “Happiness is an attitude of mind, born of the simple determination to be happy under all outward circumstances.”—J. Donald Walters
Get comfortable with the unknown
- “The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”—Oprah Winfrey
- “The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.”—Eminem
- “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
This article was updated May 2024. Photo by Song_about_summer/Shutterstock.com
