Ah, yes. Quotes. Why do we love them? Why do they move us in our gut so much?
It’s because they are the most condensed form of truth in existence, compiled from years of perspective. Almost like a perfectly packaged, sweet morsel that can be popped in your mouth for instant satisfaction… but with truth that can last a lifetime.
With that in mind, here are 16 of the wisest, most powerful quotes of all time. Regardless of what you believe spiritually or politically, the nuggets of truth in these words are powerful and can be applied in some great ways.
1. “He who fears that he will suffer, already suffers because he fears.”— Michel De Montaigne
2. “Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by jerks.†– Sigmund Freud
3. “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.†– Albert Einstein
4. Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.” – Aldous Huxley
5. “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
6. “For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone. – Audrey Hepburn
7. “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” – Thomas Jefferson
8. “In seeking happiness for others, you will find it for yourself.” – Unknown
9. “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms–to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.†— Viktor Frankl
10. “Wisdom begins in wonder.” – Socrates
11. “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
12. “If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap. If you want happiness for a day — go fishing. If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a life time — help someone else.”— Chinese proverb
13. “I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.” – Lucille Ball
14. “A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination” – Nelson Mandela
15. “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau
16. “When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”— Helen Keller
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