53 Positive Quotes to Brighten Your Day

By Lauren Phillips April 29, 2020

Positive quotes are just one tool we can use to improve our mood and mental health. These succinct sayings might increase your productivity at work, help you feel more optimistic about your life, or make a seemingly dark day a little brighter. However, it's true that some quotes resonate more than others.

We chose the following 53 positive quotes because they represent the most inspirational and uplifting quotes we could find. Sometimes all we need to feel better is a little perspective from another person who has been there and thrived. Nevertheless, if you find these quotes don't motivate you, don't fret. Sometimes it's better to lean into your negative moods, instead of trying to force toxic positivity.

Whether you share them in a text, as a social media post caption, or as a spoken mantra, these uplifting, motivating words and sayings are sure to bring good vibes to any situation.

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1 of 53

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."

Credit: Yeji Kim

– William James

2 of 53

"Believe you can and you're halfway there."

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– Theodore Roosevelt

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"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving."

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– Albert Einstein

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

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– C.S. Lewis

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"It is never too late to be what you might have been."

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– George Eliot

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"Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful."

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– Hazrat Inayat Khan

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"We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

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– Joseph Campbell

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"Happiness is not by chance, but by choice."

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– Jim Rohn

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"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way."

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– Martin Luther King, Jr.

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"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive."

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– Maya Angelou

11 of 53

"You are enough just as you are."

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– Meghan Markle

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"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot."

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– Michael Altshuler

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"You make a life out of what you have, not what you're missing."

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– Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden

14 of 53

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer."

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– Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

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"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

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– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

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"At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done—then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago."

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– Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

17 of 53

"Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done."

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– Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy

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"That is one good thing about this world ... there are always sure to be more springs."

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– L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea

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"These things are good things."

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– Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

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"Pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it."

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– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

21 of 53

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

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– Oscar Wilde

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"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."

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– Marilyn Monroe

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"You cannot change what you are, only what you do."

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– Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass

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"Thou must gather thine own sunshine."

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– Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

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"It is not enough to have a good mind; the important thing is to use it well."

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– Rene Descartes

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"People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be."

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– Harvey Mackay

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"Walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps."

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– Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

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"Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."

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– Babe Ruth

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"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The Sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."

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– Alexander Graham Bell

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"Lay plans for something big by starting with it when small."

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– Lao Tzu

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"No exact recipe for today. Gather all available ingredients and whip yourself up something delicious."

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– Lin-Manuel Miranda, Gmorning/Gnight

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"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."

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– Henry Miller

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"It's how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success."

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– David Feherty

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"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

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– Thomas A. Edison

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"It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan."

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– Eleanor Roosevelt

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"Do anything, but let it produce joy."

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– Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

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"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."

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– Desmond Tutu

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"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."

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– Charles Dickens

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"As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way."

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– Mary Anne Radmacher

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"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."

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– Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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"That's what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing."

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– Simone de Beauvoir

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"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose."

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– Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

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"You rarely win, but sometimes you do."

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– Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

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"I've got nothing to do today but smile."

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– Simon and Garfunkel

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"I believe great people do things before they are ready."

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– Amy Poehler, Yes Please

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"I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go."

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– Langston Hughes

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"If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done."

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– Bruce Lee

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"For me, becoming isn't about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn't end."

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– Michelle Obama, Becoming

49 of 53

"Anything is possible with sunshine and a little pink."

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– Lilly Pulitzer

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"Imagine this: What would happen if we were all brave enough to believe in our own ability, to be a little more ambitious? I think the world would change."

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– Reese Witherspoon

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"You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness."

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– Diane von Furstenberg

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"We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: We have the power to imagine better."

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– J.K. Rowling

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"Take your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don't settle for them."

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– Mia Hamm

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53 Positive Quotes to Brighten Your Day

1 of 53

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."

1 of 53

2 of 53

"Believe you can and you're halfway there."

2 of 53

3 of 53

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving."

3 of 53

4 of 53

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

4 of 53

5 of 53

"It is never too late to be what you might have been."

5 of 53

6 of 53

"Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful."

6 of 53

7 of 53

"We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

7 of 53

8 of 53

"Happiness is not by chance, but by choice."

8 of 53

9 of 53

"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way."

9 of 53

10 of 53

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive."

10 of 53

11 of 53

"You are enough just as you are."

11 of 53

12 of 53

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot."

12 of 53

13 of 53

"You make a life out of what you have, not what you're missing."

13 of 53

14 of 53

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer."

14 of 53

15 of 53

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

15 of 53

16 of 53

"At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done—then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago."

16 of 53

17 of 53

"Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done."

17 of 53

18 of 53

"That is one good thing about this world ... there are always sure to be more springs."

18 of 53

19 of 53

"These things are good things."

19 of 53

20 of 53

"Pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it."

20 of 53

21 of 53

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

21 of 53

22 of 53

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."

22 of 53

23 of 53

"You cannot change what you are, only what you do."

23 of 53

24 of 53

"Thou must gather thine own sunshine."

24 of 53

25 of 53

"It is not enough to have a good mind; the important thing is to use it well."

25 of 53

26 of 53

"People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be."