There seems to be many people who are feeling distraught following 2016 for multiple reasons. To some, 2016 has been the worst year to ever pass. However, that doesn't mean everyone should give up hope for a better future. 2017 is coming and, although a new year doesn't mean problematic and tragic things will stop occurring, it is really up to us to focus on staying positive to help inspire positive change in 2017. Although the future may be looking unclear, we should not give up hope for a better future for ourselves and others.

Here are 17 hopeful quotes to keep in mind and to help you stay motivated during 2017:

1. "Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future."

— Robert H. Schuller.

2. “If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down.”

— Mary Pickford

3. "We talk a lot about hope, helping, and teamwork. Our whole message is that we are more powerful together."

— Victoria Osteen

4. "Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope."

— Maya Angelou

5. “Don’t go through life, grow through life.”

— Eric Butterworth

6. "Never give up. Have hope. Expect only the best from life and take action to get it."

— Catherine Pulsifer

7. "It always seems impossible until it’s done."

— Nelson Mandela.

8. "When the world says give up, hope whispers, “Try it one more time.”

— Anonymous

9. "Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up."

— Anne Lamott

10. "Out of difficulties grow miracles."

— Jean de La Bruyère

11. "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

— C.S. Lewis.

12. "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning."

— Albert Einstein

16. “Forget all the reasons it won’t work and believe the one reason that it will.”

— Unknown

14. “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”

— Carl Bard

15. "We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided."

— J.K. Rowling

16. “The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow. For every challenge encountered there is opportunity for growth.”

— Unknown

17. "It is often when night looks darkest, it is often before the fever breaks that one senses the gathering momentum for change, when one feels that resurrection of hope in the midst of despair and apathy."

— Hillary Clinton