Inspirational Quotes
Aim for the moon. If you miss, let's hope you weren't a NASA scientist.
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Inspirational Quotes
Pep talks from Lady Gaga, Patrick Henry, Dumbledore, and more. Click on any inspirational quote below to see it in context and find out where it falls on Shmoop's pretentious scale. We'll give you details on who said it, when they said it, and in some cases, why on earth they thought it was okay to say it.
"And they brought us whole binders full of women."Source: 2012 Presidential Debate | Speaker: Mitt Romney
"Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are."Source: The Alchemist | Author: Paulo Coelho
"Carpe… Hear it? Carpe… carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary."Source: Dead Poets Society | Speaker: John Keating
"Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world."Source: 2003 Speech | Speaker: Nelson Mandela
"Get busy living or get busy dying."Source: The Shawshank Redemption | Speaker: Andy Dufresne and "Red" Redding
"Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions."Source: Unknown | Speaker: Dalai Lama
"Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become."Source: Stanford Commencement Speech (2005) | Speaker: Steve Jobs
"Here comes the sun. And I say, it's all right."Source: "Here Comes the Sun" | Author: George Harrison
"How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?"Source: Blowin' in the Wind | Speaker: Bob Dylan
"I can't help falling in love with you."Source: Can't Help Falling in Love | Speaker: Elvis Presley
"I don't think that there's anything worse than being ordinary."Source: American Beauty | Speaker: Angela Hayes
"I have not yet begun to fight."Source: Spoken on September 23, 1779 | Speaker: Captain John Paul Jones
"I have work, and then I have a dinner thing. And then I am busy, trying to become who I am."Source: Girls | Speaker: Hannah Horvath
"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."Source: Spoken before his death | Speaker: Nathan Hale
"I said a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie, to the hip hip-hop."Source: Rapper's Delight | Speaker: The Sugarhill Gang
"I think to myself: what a wonderful world."Source: What a Wonderful World | Speaker: Louis Armstrong
"I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules."Source: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Speaker: Jefferson Smith
"I'm no hero. I put my bra on one boob at a time like everyone else."Source: Bob's Burgers | Speaker: Tina Belcher
"I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."Source: "Failure," a Nike TV Commercial | Speaker: Michael Jordan
"If you liked it, then you shoulda put a ring on it."Source: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) | Speaker: Beyoncé
"It's not the men in your life that counts. It's the life in your men."Source: I'm No Angel | Speaker: Tira
"Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."Source: Unknown | Speaker: Ella Fitzgerald
"Kids, you tried your best, and you failed miserably. The lesson is: never try."Source: The Simpsons | Speaker: Homer Simpson
"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."Source: Forrest Gump | Speaker: Forrest Gump
"Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"Source: Adventures of Superman | Speaker: Men and Women
"Nothing is hopeless; we must hope for everything."Source: A Wrinkle in Time | Author: Madeleine L'Engle
"Seize the moment. 'Cause tomorrow you might be dead."Source: Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Speaker: Buffy Summers
"Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it."Source: American Beauty | Speaker: Ricky Fitts
"Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation."Source: My Life with Martin Luther King Jr. | Author: Coretta Scott King
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."Source: First Moon Landing | Speaker: Neil Armstrong
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen nor even touched, but just felt in the heart."Source: The Story of My Life | Author: Helen Keller
"The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades"Source: The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades | Speaker: Timbuk 3
"The gift of a good liar is making people believe you lack a talent for lying."Source: House of Cards | Speaker: Frank Underwood
"The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way"Source: On Liberty | Author: John Stuart Mill
"The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe! You have to make it fall."Source: Libération | Speaker: Che Guevara
"The trouble with poetry is that it encourages the writing of more poetry."Source: The Trouble with Poetry | Author: Billy Collins
"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls."Source: The Sound of Silence | Speaker: Simon and Garfunkel
"They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!"Source: Braveheart | Speaker: William Wallace
"Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter."Source: Dr. Seuss | Speaker: Dr. Seuss
"What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?"Source: "Peace, Love, and Understanding" | Speaker: Elvis Costello
"When the dawn comes, tonight will be a memory, too."Source: Cats (1981 Musical) | Speaker: Grizabella
"Without faith it is impossible to please Him"Source: The Epistle to the Hebrews | Author: Anonymous
"You don't have to live forever. You just have to live."Source: Tuck Everlasting | Speaker: The Narrator
"You think I'm licked. You all think I'm licked. Well, I'm not licked."Source: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Speaker: Jefferson Smith