Life Quotes: Short, Deep, & Funny​

By Kelsey Schultz, Ph.D. Candidate
​Reviewed by Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D.
Some distilled wisdom can come in handy when life comes at you hard. Keep reading for life quotes that might be just the thing you need.​
*This page may include affiliate links; that means we earn from qualifying purchases of products.
The human experience is perhaps the most puzzling phenomenon in the universe. What it means to live a good life has stumped our species since at least the beginning of recorded history. One could argue that philosophy as a whole came about in response to just how perplexing it is to be alive. Over the course of millennia, we’ve still yet to figure it out. The confusions and frustrations of being human are still with us today. ​
Luckily, we are not alone in this. Many great minds have distilled some of the biggest challenges we face in life into a few sentences. These quotes about life can help us feel seen and can make the pandemonium of our lives feel a little more manageable. Keep reading for a variety of life quotes that may help you as you navigate through life.
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Short Life Quotes​

  • "Life is short, and it is here to be lived." — Kate Winsle
  • "The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes." — Frank Lloyd Wright
  • "Every moment is a fresh beginning." — T.S. Eliot
  • "When you cease to dream you cease to live." — Malcolm Forbes
  • "Turn your wounds into wisdom." — Oprah Winfrey
  • "The unexamined life is not worth living." — Socrates
  • "Life is about making an impact, not making an income." — Kevin Kruse

Deep Life Quotes​

  • "You are the sum total of everything you've ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot—it's all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive." — Maya Angelou
  • “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people's thinking.” — Steve Jobs
  • "The best portion of a good man's life is his little nameless, unencumbered acts of kindness and of love." — Wordsworth
  • “Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” — Benjamin Franklin
  • "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." — Jackie Robinson
  • "Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." — Nido Qubein
  • "Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that held its ground." — Rosa Parks

Cute Life Quotes

  • "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." — Dr. Seuss
  • “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
  • “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” — Dr. Seuss
  • "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." — Albert Einstein
  • "Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once." — Lillian Dickson
  • "Find out who you are and do it on purpose." — Dolly Parton
  • "Despite the forecast, live like it's spring." — Lilly Pulitzer

Funny Life Quotes

  • “Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” — Margaret Mead
  • "The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." — Dolly Parton
  • "Life is really simple, but men insist on making it complicated." — Confucius
  • "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on." ― Robert Frost
  • “Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.” — Stephen Hawking
  • "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." — Mark Twain

Simple Life Quotes

  • “Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.” — John Lennon
  • “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
  • "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough." — Mae West
  • "I like criticism. It makes you strong." — LeBron James
  • "You never really learn much from hearing yourself speak." ― George Clooney
  • "Now it's the little moments that stop me in my tracks, because that's what life is all about." — Joanna Gaines
  • "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." — Zig Ziglar
  • "Life has no limitations, except the ones you make." — Les Brown

Life Quotes for Motivation​

  • “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” — Walt Disney
  • “Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” — Robert Louis Stevenson
  • "Don’t settle for what life gives you; make life better and build something." — Ashton Kutcher
  • "Everybody wants to be famous, but nobody wants to do the work. I live by that. You grind hard so you can play hard. At the end of the day, you put all the work in, and eventually it’ll pay off. It could be in a year, it could be in 30 years. Eventually, your hard work will pay off." — Kevin Hart
  • "When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life or the life of another." — Helen Keller
  • "The older you get, the more fragile you understand life to be. I think that's good motivation for getting out of bed joyfully each day." — Julia Roberts
  • "It's your life; you don't need someone's permission to live the life you want. Be brave to live from your heart." ― Roy T. Bennett
  • “Success only comes to those who dare to attempt.” — Mallika Tripathi

Inspirational Life Quotes

  • "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” — Babe Ruth
  • “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” — Helen Keller
  • "Live for each second without hesitation." — Elton John
  • "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." – Anais Nin
  • "You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." — A.A. Milne
  • "You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore." — William Faulkner
  • "You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try." — Dolly Parton
  • "If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way." — Napoleon Hill

Life Quotes on Change

  • "If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you'll never enjoy the sunshine." — Morris West
  • If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor. — Eleanor Roosevelt
  • "The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves they find their own order the continuous thread of revelation." — Eudora Welty
  • “A dead end is just a good place to turn around.” — Naomi Judd
  • "It takes a deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow." — Ralph Ellison
  • "I've been around a long time, and life still has a whole lot of surprises for me." — Loretta Lynn
  • "To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often." — Winston Churchill

Life Quotes on Happiness

  • “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” — Mother Teresa
  • "Whoever is happy will make others happy too." — Anne Frank
  • "If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things." — Albert Einstein
  • "The healthiest response to life is joy." — Deepak Chopra
  • “Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.” — Marilyn Monroe
  • “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • "If you can do what you do best and be happy, you're further along in life than most people." — Leonardo DiCaprio
  • “If you look at what you have in life, you'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, you'll never have enough.” — Oprah Winfrey
  • "When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life.  When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I wrote down ‘happy’.  They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life." — John Lennon

Life Quotes About Friends

  • “Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” — Mark Twain
  • “Life is a flower of which love is the honey.” — Victor Hugo
  • “The greatest pleasure of life is love.” — Euripides
  • “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart.” — Helen Keller
  • "The best thing to hold onto in life is each other." — Audrey Hepburn
  • "So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good." — Helen Keller
  • "Things are never quite as scary when you've got a best friend." — Bill Watterson
  • "Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." — Franklin P. Jones

Life Quotes About Moving On

  • "If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person." — Bill Clinton
  • "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." — Mahatma Gandhi
  • “Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.” — Grandma Moses
  • "If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one." — Dolly Parton
  • "The difference between winning and losing is most often not quitting." — Walt Disney
  • "You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." — Margaret Thatcher
  • "Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway." ― John Wayne

Life Quotes on Success

  • “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” — Thomas A. Edison
  • “If you set your goals ridiculously high and it's a failure, you will fail above everyone else's success.” — James Cameron
  • "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." — Michael Jordan
  • "To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone." — Reba McEntire
  • “Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own.” — Michelle Obama
  • "Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yard stick to your success is how you treat other people." — Barbara Bush
  • "Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again." — Nelson Mandela
  • "Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor." — Truman Capote

Life Quotes About Challenges

  • “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle
  • “You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.” — Maya Angelou
  • “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Nelson Mandela
  • "Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” — Soren Kierkegaard
  • "Life imposes things on you that you can’t control, but you still have the choice of how you’re going to live through this." — Celine Dion
  • “Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.” — Charles Swindoll
  • "Sometimes, when things are falling apart, they may actually be falling into place." — Unknown
  • "Every strike brings me closer to the next home run." — Babe Ruth

Articles Related to Life Quotes​

​Want to learn more? Check out these articles:

Books Related to Life Quotes​

If you’d like to keep learning more, here are a few books that you might be interested in.

Final Thoughts on Life Quotes​

Quotes on life are abundant because the struggles we face as humans are universal. Life can be brutal and can be beautiful and everything in between. Some well-phrased summaries of our experiences can be helpful while we work toward living our best lives. For more life quotes, check out this video:​

Video: 100 Life Changing Quotes on Life, Love, Success & Adversity (Centuries of Wisdom)​

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