Positive Quotes | Examples & Citation Tips

Positive quotes are excerpts from books, song lyrics, speeches, or other pieces of writing that contain inspiring messages.

Write your own positive quotes and affirmations using QuillBot’s free AI Text Generator.

What are positive quotes?

Positive quotes include any selected lines of writing that motivate or inspire you.

Saving and rereading positive quotes can set the tone for your day or serve as affirmations to help shift your mindset when you’re feeling stuck.

Here are some positive quote ideas for inspiration:

• Positive good morning quotes
• Positive quotes for work and motivation
• Positive quotes for women
• Positive quotes for life
• Short positive quotes

Positive good morning quotes

Reading a positive quote each morning will help set the intention for your day. You can keep a written list in a favorite journal, or stick one on your bathroom mirror to read while brushing your teeth.

Here are 10 positive good morning quotes to get you started:

1. “Every morning, we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” —Buddha
2. “There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.” —Bernard Williams, English philosopher
3. “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist
4. “The scent of the morning is prepared by the night; the scent of the night is prepared by the day; everything helps everything!” —Mehmet Murat Ildan, Turkish writer
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, Roman Emperor
6. (i who have died am alive again today, / and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth / day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay / great happening illimitably earth) —e.e. Cummings, American poet

7. “‘Are you always up this early?’ I asked him. ‘Almost always,’ he said without looking up. ‘It’s beautiful here, but morning light can make the most vulgar things tolerable.’” ―Donna Tartt, author of The Secret History
8. “Even if you cover the whole world with darkness, you can never stop the sun from rising.” ―Debasish Mridha, American physician and author
9. “Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.”  ―Walt Whitman, American poet and essayist
10. “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” —Mark Twain, American author and satirist

Positive quotes for work and motivation

Positive quotes for work and motivation can shift your mindset when you’re feeling stuck, or help push you out of your comfort zone.

Read this list of positive quotes for work and motivation to get inspired:

1. “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” —William Shakespeare, English playwright
2. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” —Mark Twain
3. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” —Confucius, Chinese philosopher
4. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” —African proverb
5. “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” —Albert Einstein, German physicist
6. “The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” —Michael Bungay Stanier, Canadian-British author and coach
7. “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” —Stephen King, American author
8. “Success is falling nine times and getting up ten.” —Jon Bon Jovi, American musician
9. “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” —Paulo Coelho, Brazilian writer
10. “To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.” —Kurt Vonnegut, American author

Positive quotes for women

One popular genre of positive quotes focuses on women’s empowerment.

These excerpts from successful women focus on uplifting each other and finding self acceptance.

1. “Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, she stands up for all women.” —Maya Angelou, American writer
2. “The success of every woman should be an inspiration to another. We’re strongest when we cheer each other on.” —Serena Williams, American tennis champion
3. “Make your interactions with people transformational, not just transactional.” ―Patti Smith, American musician and writer
4. “Your no makes the way for your yes. Boundaries create the container within which your yes is authentic. Being able to say no makes yes a choice.” ―Adrienne maree brown, author of Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good
5. “I am my best work—a series of road maps, reports, recipes, doodles, and prayers from the front lines.” ―Audre Lorde, American writer and activist
6. “The urge to transform one’s appearance, to dance outdoors, to mock the powerful, and embrace perfect strangers is not easy to suppress.” ―Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy
7. “Learning to love our female selves is where our search for love must begin.” ―Bell hooks, American author
8. “I do everything the man does, only backwards and in high heels!” ―Ginger Rogers, American actress and dancer
9. “I take on a shape and an existence only if I first throw myself into the world by loving, by doing.” ―Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher and writer
10. “I am mine. / before Iam ever anyone else’s.” ―Nayyirah Waheed, poet and author of Nejma

Positive quotes for life

Positive quotes about life help you to shift your outlook when things get hard. They tend to offer wisdom and perspective on how to live with integrity and how to rise to life’s challenges.

Here is a collection of inspiring quotes about life:

1. “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” ―Eckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
2. “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” —William Shakespeare
3. “The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.” ―David Graeber, author of The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy
4. “This is the real secret of life—to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” ―Alan Watts, British-American writer and orator
5. “What you’re going to be asked to do is bigger than what you think you can do. It’s always bigger than what you think you can handle, but you’re never going to be given something you can’t handle.” —Sandra Cisneros, Chicano writer
6. “Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough” —Emily Dickinson, American poet
7. “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”  —Socrates, Greek philosopher
8. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. —Max Ehrmann, author of “Desiderata”
9. The rain will stop, the night will end, the hurt will fade. Hope is never so lost that it can’t be found. —Ernest Hemingway, American novelist and short story writer
10. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” —Dr. Seuss, American author and illustrator

Short positive quotes

Short positive quotes are perfect affirmations that you can keep in a journal or even memorize—so you have them when you need them.

How to cite positive quotes

If you want to incorporate a positive quote into a presentation or piece of writing, it’s important to cite it properly.

Here are some tips for how to integrate your favorite positive quotes into your writing:

• Use double quotation marks on either end of the quote (and single quotation marks if you’re citing a quote within a quote).
• Use ellipses (…) if you’re citing a part of a longer quote.
• Introduce the quote with a signal phrase (e.g., “According to,” or “In the words of,”).
• Include the period inside the quotation mark.
• Include your sources in your works cited page.

Frequently asked questions about positive quotes

What are quotes that will help you shift to a positive mindset?

Quotes that will help you shift to a positive mindset are those with motivational and uplifting messages.

One example would be the famous Wayne Gretzky quote, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Create your own motivational and positive quotes and affirmations using QuillBot’s free AI Text Generator.

Why use happy, positive quotes to start your day?

Starting your morning by reading a happy, positive quote can help set positive intentions for the entire day.

You can write one on a piece of paper and stick it on your mirror, or keep a list of happy quotes you like in a journal.

Make your own personalized affirmations and positive quotes using QuillBot’s free AI Text Generator.

Where can I find positive quotes for kids?

You can find positive quotes for kids on happiness and positivity in their favorite children’s books.

For example, Dr. Seuss is a great source. In his books you’ll find quotes like, “Be who you are, and say what you feel. Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

Cite quotes from children’s books using QuillBot’s free Citation Generator.