I love quotes. I could sit on Pinterest all day and just go through pages and pages of them. I have a lot of favorites, some that make me laugh, others that help put things in perspective, and so on. These 15 quotes are ones I think we should refer back to everyday, especially when life gets a little too complicated or frustrating. These are quotes to live by and quotes to remember.
1. "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
I think sometimes in life we get so caught up worrying about what other people think. And as cheesy as it may sound, this quote is extremely accurate; if someone doesn't accept you for the person you truly are or the person you're genuinely aiming to become, they aren't people you want in your life. As hard as it may be to accept that, in the long run, you'll see how true it really is.
2. "When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new." -Dalai Lama
Oh the Dalai Lama with his wise words....From a young age, I think we all learned to close our mouths and open our ears; open them to our teachers, friends, and parents to name a few. Yet somehow we seem to forget this life lesson as we get older. It's so easy to be stubborn and close off any ideas or perspectives others may have because people don't like to be wrong. But it's also so easy to talk about ourselves, and it's so easy to complain about our problems. If we stop, and listen, we can start to understand things we may have not thought about enough, or we may learn that we might have been looking at it the wrong way. We can help a friend who is having a hard time or just have a nice, mutual conversation with someone rather than a one-sided lecture. A time needs to come when we will stop caring about being wrong, because we'll never learn anything unless we let others in and hear what they have to say.
3. "Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do." -Oprah Winfrey
It takes hard work and determination to get anywhere good in life. But all the studying, reading, office hours, and every other seemingly miserable thing we'll have to go through in life will be worth it when we can afford to do anything we want in this world.
4. "Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder." -Rumi
Having any kind of disagreement with anyone can escalade to a screaming match. I hope this is rare for most people, but I understand how frustrating it can be when people aren't understanding your side or willing to see things from another perspective. I get it. But this quote is true. Yelling isn't going to make the other person more responsive, making a better argument is. Say things in a different way, or throw some facts out on the table; no matter what, yelling and getting mad or frustrated isn't going to help.
5. "You were born with the ability to change someone's life, don't ever waste it." -Unknown
Maybe you use a talent you have to teach someone something new, or you help someone conquer a fear; maybe you cause someone to fall in love, or you help a person in need....Any and all of these things can change someone's life. The smallest and the biggest things can matter so much more to someone than we could possibly imagine. When the opportunity to do something, or anything, arises, take advantage of it; you never know the wonderful affects your actions could have on another person.
6. "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made hem feel." -Maya Angelou
This quote goes along with two others on the list, but I think that being kind to everyone is something we should all strive for. Make people feel good; it doesn't hurt us to help someone else, so why not do it? This quote can also go the other way; we can say or do the meanest thing and as time passes the person who we hurt may not remember exactly what was said or done, but they will remember that we hurt them. That pain may stick around long after the words have drifted away and that's not something we should be okay with. We should always be aware of how what we say and do will will make others feel; and we should want them to feel good.
7. "It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself." -Eleanor Roosevelt
Basically, don't be hypocritical or expect the impossible- from anyone. I think this is especially important in relationships; if you take and take but never give, eventually your partner is going to get sick of it. So, if you ask someone to do something, be sure it is something you would be okay doing yourself. Additionally, if a person does things for you, be sure to return the favor.
8. "You can never be overdressed or overeducated." -Oscar Wilde
Never stoop down to less than you are; and even further, never act like someone you're not. Do what you want to do and do it without any regrets. These are all things that come to mind when I read this quote. It's important that we stay true to ourselves at all times and it's also important that we strive for the best.
9. "You don't always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens." -Mandy Hale
Coming from a person who loves plans, I couldn't agree more with this quote. Once I started to let go a little bit and make last minute decisions, I started to have a lot more fun. I'm a huge believer in "what's meant to be will be", but it's not always easy to put complete trust in destiny or God or whoever. But I think as long as we live in the moment, work hard, and always strive for more, we'll live the lives we're destined to have and we'll enjoy each second.
10. "Learn to love without condition. Talk without bad intention. Give without any reason. And most of all, care for people without any expectation." -Unknown
These are all things we should aim for in our lives. Let whoever is lucky enough to have your heart have it; speak kindly or not at all; do things for other people whether they need a pick me up or not; and give a helping hand to those who won't necessarily be able to help you back.
11. "Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody." -Kid President
Don't be selective in your friend group; talk to the person who looks like they need it. Notice the people who seem reserved or uninvolved in whatever is happening. Be the person everyone can rely on, make others feel good, give compliments to people, smile....It's easier than it looks to cheer someone up or make someone feel like you truly care, so do it.
12. "When you have a bad day, a really bad day, try and treat the world better than it treated you." -Patrick Stump
It's incredibly easy to get fed up with everyone and overreact to every situation when you've had a bad day. You may react to the person who cuts you off on the freeway like they actually hit you. But what good does holding onto that anger do? It just makes us more bitter and we'd obviously feel better if we just let it go; but it's hard. So we should practice it. Keep these things in mind when you start to lose it, eventually it'll get easier to let things roll off of your back. It also helps to do some good when we've had a bad day. Volunteer, listen to a friend, little or big, any form of a good deed will raise our spirits and will leave the world a little better off.
13. "If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done." -Thomas Jefferson
Nothing good in life comes easy, another great quote, but we need to be willing to step out of our comfort zones and say yes to what we're afraid to do. If we stay right where we are, we'll never accomplish any more than we already have. Doing new things will open so many doors and the possibilities will be endless.
14. "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is all you need." -Mae West
I think this quote speaks for itself; it embodies the attitude of living with no regrets and doing what makes us happy. If we do those things, we only need one shot at life. Live in a way that no matter how many more opportunities we get at life, we'll never be able to top our first time around.
15. "Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." -Dr. Seuss
Don't overthink anything and don't second guess yourself either. Overthinking and overcomplicating things just causes us to doubt everything and can cause us to go crazy. Relax. One question I always ask myself first is, "Will this matter in 10 years?" If the answer is no, I stop worrying about it. If it's yes, it's easy for me to get into my own head and make things worse. But I've learned to take a step back and then take another look. If I don't understand something, I ask for clarification or more details and that usually helps me figure out what's wrong. But overthinking and worrying just causes stress, and that's not fun for anyone.
