Because we can all use some inspiration, here are 50 inspirational quotes with some pictures that I thought were inspiring.

When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, never give up then, for that is just the time that the tide will turn. — Harriet Beecher Stowe

You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you. – Mary Tyler Moore

Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. There is no yesterday, no tomorrow, it’s all the same …. day. – Janis Joplin

Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today? – Mary Manin Morrissey

photo credit: John Hann

Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil. – James Allen

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. – Reinhold Niebuhr

If one advances confidently in the direction of one’s dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. – Henry David Thoreau

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than
unsuccessful people with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve
the problems of the human race. – Calvin Coolidge

photo credit: -NjuTIKA-

The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena, who strive valiantly; who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at the best, know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if they fail, fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain

You were born an original. Don’t die a copy. – John Mason

photo credit: swisscan

Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve. – Mary Kay Ash

Enthusiasm is the best protection in any situation. Wholeheartedness is contagious. Give yourself, if you wish to get others. – David Seabury

Everyone who has ever taken a shower has had an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it that makes a difference. – Nolan Bushnell

Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead. – Louisa May Alcott

photo credit: lotus8

I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. – Agatha Christie

I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning to sail my ship. – Louisa May Alcott

If you have made mistakes…there is always another chance for you…you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down. – Mary Pickford

photo credit: Jason A. Samfield

If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it. – Jonathan Winters

It is more important to know where you are going than to get there quickly. – Mabel Newcomber

Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. – George Bernard Shaw

I am not afraid…I was born to do this. – Joan of Arc

I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life. – Eleanor Roosevelt

photo credit: NorthernLightz

Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point. – Harold B. Melchart

Many of our fears are tissue paper thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them. – Brendan Francis

Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose — a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. – Mary Shelley

Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth. – Julie Andrews

photo credit: John Flinchbaugh

The abundant life does not come to those who have had a lot of obstacles removed from their path by others. It develops from within and is rooted in strong mental and moral fiber. – William Mather Lewis

The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live. – Elbert Hubbard

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. – Mark Twain

We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.?– Ralph Waldo Emerson

You must learn day by day, year by year, to broaden your horizon. The more things you love, the more you are interested in, the more you enjoy, the more you are indignant about, the more you have left when anything happens. – Ethel Barrymore

If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought. – Peace Pilgrim

photo credit: Bobby Chromik ~ Lawcrow

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

Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin. – Grace Hansen

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.  – Groucho Marx

photo credit: Flying Jenny

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these. – George Washington Carver

photo credit: Greg Vassie

If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. – Katharine Hepburn

Let go of your attachment to being right, and suddenly your mind is more open. You’re able to benefit from the unique viewpoints of others, without being crippled by your own judgment. – Ralph Marston

We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. – Fredrick Koeing

If you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain. – Dolly Parton

photo credit: Phillip Grondin

Mistakes are part of the dues that one pays for a full life. – Sophia Loren

Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.  – Author Unknown

The grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. – Allan K. Chalmers

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

It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere. – Agnes Repplier

photo credit: rickz

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today. – Dale Carnegie

Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish. – John Quincy Adams

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost. – Dalai Lama

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Tagged as: Inspirational Quotes, Personal Development