Short, Wise Quotes About Life

Wisdom need not always be verbose. In fact, some of the wisest, most memorable quotes by famous people are pretty darn short, yet they pack a lot of meaning in their punch. Keeping it short works well probably because of K.I.S.S.: "Keep it simple, stupid."

George Bernard Shaw: "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

Eleanor Roosevelt: "You must do the things you think you cannot do."

Frank Lloyd Wright: "The truth is more important than the facts.​"​

Mother Teresa: "If you judge people, you have no time to love them."

Lucille Ball: "Love yourself first, and everything else falls into place."

Stephen Colbert: "Dreams can change. If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses."

Oprah Winfrey: "Failure is another stepping-stone to greatness."

Stephen Hawking: "Be curious."

Mother Teresa: "If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."

William Shakespeare: "Love all, trust a few."​

Michelle Obama: "Success isn't about how much money you make. It's about the difference you make in people's lives."

Wayne Gretzky: "You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take."

Gabrielle Giffords​: "Be bold, be courageous, be your best."

Madeleine Albright: "Real leadership...comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond waiting to doing."

Babe Ruth: "Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back."

Seneca: "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

Anna Quindlen: "Don’t ever confuse the two: your life and your work. The second is only part of the first."

Thomas Jefferson: "He who knows best knows how little he knows."

Dolly Parton: "If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."

Francis David: "We need not think alike to love alike."​

John Quincy Adams: "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader."

Maya Angelou: "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." 

Malcolm X: "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."

Hillary Clinton: "Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward."

Thomas A. Edison: "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Katie Couric: "You can't please everyone, and you can't make everyone like you."

Jon Bon Jovi: "Miracles happen every day. Change your perception of what a miracle is and you'll see them all around you."​

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

Tina Fey: "There are no mistakes, only opportunities."

Francis Bacon: "A prudent question is one half of wisdom."​

Sheryl Sandberg: "If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat! Just get on."

Eleanor Roosevelt: "Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

Florence Nightingale: "I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse."

Edwin Land: "Creativity is the sudden cessation of stupidity."

Maya Angelou: "You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."

Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” 

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching: "When I let go of who I am, I become what I might be."

Rosa Parks​: "When one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear."

Henry Ford: "Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right."

Gloria Steinem: "Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.​​"​

Christopher Reeve: "Once you choose hope, anything's possible."

Kate Winslet: "Life is short, and it is here to be lived."

Mahatma Gandhi: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” 

Alice Walker: "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any."

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching: "Great acts are made up of small deeds."

Amelia Earhart: "The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity."

Ellen DeGeneres: "Sometimes you can't see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others." 

Walt Disney: "All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them."