33 Inspirational Quotes to Get You Fired Up

It took me a year to write this blog post.

It started January 1^st, 2017.  Every year my mom gives my brother and me calendars for Christmas.  Usually, they’re wall calendars like photos from Downtown Abbey or photos of wildlife.   But in 2016, I asked my mom for a desk calendar with inspiring quotes.  I wanted to wake up every morning and read a quote that would encourage and excite me.  I was thrilled when I got my calendar.  I read it and chose inspirational quotes to fire me up, even on cold dreary January mornings.

I enjoyed reading these quotes every morning.  But, I wanted a place to save them.  So, I created an amazing (well amazing to me) inspirational quote board.  And yes, it took me a year to do it.

Starting an Inspirational Quote Board

So, what’s an inspirational quote board?  The photo here shows you mine.  I created a quote board because I liked the idea of a vision board.  But a vision board wasn’t the right choice for me.

My Inspirational Quote Board.

I love advice on how to create a vision and achieve your goals.  One of the “hot tips” success gurus promote is creating a vision board.  A vision board is where you collect images, photos and anything else that helps you dream about what you want to achieve in life.  Then you post that board somewhere you’ll see it every day.

It’s a wonderful concept.  But images and pictures don’t inspire me the way words do.  An image of a writer doesn’t inspire me to write.  But the words of a writer do.

Words repeat themselves in my head, sink in, and shape me.

So instead of a vision board, I created an inspirational quote board.  Every day, I read the quotes on my calendar.   I saved the ones that struck me.  Then I glued them on a white poster board.

This weekend, I’ll frame my inspirational quote board and hang it up in my home office.   There are many quotes on my board, but for this post, I selected my favorite ones.

33 Inspirational Quotes to Get You Fired Up

These quotes are from Sandra Magsamen’s 2017 Make Every Day Count: Boxed Calendar: 365 Ways to Inspire Your Days.  (I don’t know Sandra, and this isn’t an affiliate promotion.) 

1. “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, ‘I’m possible.’” –Audrey Hepburn“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, ‘I’m possible.’” –Audrey Hepburn Click To Tweet
2. “You’ve always had the power my dear, you just had to learn for yourself.” –The Wizard of Oz.
3. “We all have the ability. The difference is how we use it.” –Stevie Wonder
4. “You’re mad.   Off your head.  But I’ll tell you a secret…all the best people are.”—Alice in Wonderland“You’re mad. Off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret…all the best people are.”—Alice in Wonderland Click To Tweet
5. “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” –Marcus Aurelius
6. “Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.” –Mark Twain
7. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” –Nelson Mandela
8. “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” –Henry Miller
9. “Do your little bit of good where you are, it’s the little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” Desmond Tutu
10. “Be happy. It’s one way of being wise.”—Sidonie-Gabrielle Collete
11. “Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
12. “What if I fall? Oh, but darling what if you fly?” –Erin Hanson
13. “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” –Winston Churchill
    

    Inspirational Quotes from Winston Churchill, Hermann Hesse, and Salvador Dali

14. “Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat anytime.” –Hermann Hesse
15. “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” –Salvador Dali
16. “Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.” –Coco Chanel
17. “Remember you’re the one who can fill the world with sunshine.”—Snow White
18. “A well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well-spent brings happy death.” –Leonardo da Vinci
19. “There are flowers everywhere for those who want to see them.” –Henri Matisse
20. “The best way to cheer yourself is to cheer somebody else up.” –Mark Twain
21. “If you can dream it you can do it.” –Walt Disney
22. “There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.” –Buddha
23. “Try to be the rainbow in someone else’s cloud.” –Maya Angelou“Try to be the rainbow in someone else’s cloud.” –Maya Angelou Click To Tweet
24. “If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” –Roald Dahl
25. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” –Gandhi
    

    Inspirational Quotes from Gandhi and Theodore Roosevelt

26. “Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” –Theodore Roosevelt
27. “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”—Gandhi
28. “Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.” –Albert Schweitzer
29. “I dwell in possibility.” –Emily Dickinson
30. “We rise by lifting others.” –Robert G. Ingersoll
31. “Do what you will feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
32. “Do your thing and don’t care if they like it.” –Tina Fey
33. “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” –Dr. Seuss“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” –Dr. Seuss Click To Tweet

Conclusion

When I glued the last quote to my board, I felt a little sad.  I wanted more words.

I always want to write, read, see and listen to words.  I’ve kept a list and added quotes all my life.  I memorize them and internalize them.  (On Pinterest, I go crazy saving quotes to my Pinterest boards.)  But this little inspirational quote board feels like a masterpiece.  Well, for a person who loves words it is a work of art.

And now, my mom gave me another desk calendar.  Next year,  I’ll have another quote board.  Hmm…and probably another blog post.

Do you have a favorite quote?  What inspirational quote gets you fired up to start the day?  Share yours below!

Cover Photo by Christopher Campbell on Unsplash