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Last updated on December 16th, 2023
With wind in your sails, the whole world is at your bow. I’m a firm believer in this, that the right guidance can change your life. These life-changing quotes have done exactly that for me: they’ve each literally changed my life, it both small and monumental ways.
These quotes have influenced many anxiety-filled hours spent checking the map, altering the course and sometimes throwing the map into the wind altogether.
I hope these life-changing quotes bring you some clarity, inspiration and guidance like they’ve brought me.
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9 Life-Changing Quotes
1. “People suffer more from imagining too little than too much.” – The Greatest Showman
For a long time, I wrestled with the question: is life supposed to be fun?
I asked people what they thought, searched through podcasts and documentaries looking for some idea.
This line from The Greatest Showman said it beautifully: life doesn’t have to be fun, but isn’t it better?
2. “You should be as alive as you can until you’re totally dead.” – Dylan Moran
Irish comedian Dylan Moran punctuated a rant about gardening with this line in his tour 2009 “What It Is.”
I carried this line in my mind with me as I booked a one-way plane ticket to South America, as I moved to another country for a guy I had only known for a few months (spoiler: he’s my husband now), and as I continually pursue a nonstandard life.
Also, for a good laugh: I highly recommend this 9-minute compilation of Dylan Moran’s stand-up material on dating, the difference between women and men, and how genitals were designed (it’s hilarious, and not gross I promise).
3. “You can always make more money, but you can never make more time.”
The original source of this quote is unknown; I remember hearing it for the first time from my mother.
4. “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” – Annie Dillard
This one is a doozy. Does reading this making your stomach drop? Terrify you? Make you feel all warm and rosy?
Your gut reaction to this quote could offer you a really honest barometer reading of your life right now. When I read this for the first time, I was really unhappy in my job and life choices and thought “well that’s extremely unpleasant.”
After making some changes, it’s much less unpleasant.
How do you feel about how you spend your days?
5. “If you really wanted to, you would.”
A personality test once characterized me as someone who does “exhaustive research” before ever beginning something new. It’s one of the most accurate things a personality test has ever revealed to me.
Have you ever found yourself doing this? Maybe believing the narrative that you’ll start once X, Y, Z all fall into place.
That was my story for 2 years before finally starting this blog. “Once I finish the branding guide, logo, potential media kit and have 6 months worth of content ready, I’ll go public.”
That mindset is a trap, and this quote helped force me out of that fruitless head space. I bought a magnet with this saying on it and looked at it every day in my cubical to help hammer the message home.
6. “The world only exists in your eyes. You can make it as big or as small as you want.” – Ernest Hemingway
A beautiful reminder from Hemingway.
7. Memento mori – remember that you will die
This may sound more like a downer than an upper, but I think this quote can actually be really encouraging.
Historically, this phrase reminded people to work on building for their afterlife, instead of their earthly life.
It brings me comfort when anxiety makes it feel like the sky is falling, or like one small bump in the road is ruining everything. It takes the power away from anxiety.
This forced perspective always helps me find my balance again.
8. “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers
The world just keeps on spinning, and we can’t stop either.
9. “If we did all the things that we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” – Thomas Edison
It’s easy to read this and think, “that was true for Edison, but he wasn’t talking about me.”
This does include you! I bet if you think back on your life, you’ll see a history of astounding things. Have you astounded yourself lately?
Did these quotes inspire you today? Wherever you’re at in your journey today, you’re doing great. It’s my hope that you feel even more energized and uplifted with these life-changing quotes.
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