Many of the best poets, authors, and famous people throughout the ages have given us quotes about life and how they perceived it. Here you’ll find some of the best and most famous quotes on life, from life advice, to spiritual takes on life, and the best ways to get the most out of it.
You’ll also find these funny life quotes helpful (if you need a good laugh) or inspirational quotes about life healing (when you’re going through a hard time and struggling).
1. Seneca on the Quality of Life
“Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.” ~ Seneca
Big deal if you live 100 years and don’t actually do anything during that time. It’s better to live 20 years packed full of things that make life worth living. So don’t worry about the years that have gone by, worry about filling your remaining years with so many fun things that you simply can’t stand it. They don’t have to be really exotic things either, you can enjoy all of your life moments no matter what it is you’re doing or where you are. So regardless of what is you’re doing, be sure to do it well and don’t worry about how long you’ll live.
Also read: Positive Life Quotes
2. John Lennon Know What Life Really Is
“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” ~ John Lennon
Lennon may not have been the first person to ever put these words together, but he’s the one that put the lyric in a song and now it’s one of the most popular quotes on love of all time. Lennon wrote so many poignant lyrics that he ends up on many of our quote lists here and on other quote sites. It’s amazing that one person can come up with so many good quotes, and have such a keen view of life that speaks to so many people, whether or not they’re fans of the Beatles. Try not to make too many plans for the future today and take time to enjoy life.
Also read: 36 Happiness Quotes to Make Your Day Better
3. Charles Swindoll on Responding to Life
“Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.” ~ Charles Swindoll
This is an important quote to remember whenever that you think life is against you. Life presents you with neutral experiences and it’s you that makes them positive and negative. Don’t get into the mentality that life is against you and is only providing you things that are bad, you have to realize that you’ve gotten into the habit of making neutral things bad in your own mind and responding to them in a negative way. Change the way you perceive what is happening and you can respond better and have better experiences.
4. Churchill on How to Live Life
“Keep calm and carry on.” ~ Winston Churchill
This quote may not have come directly from Winston Churchill, but it’s often attributed to him, and seems like the sort of thing he’d say. It was actually part of a campaign to keep the spirits of the British people up during wartime. It does say a lot about life though, and how to simply keep calm and get on with your life rather than freaking out about the state of things. When you make decisions and live your life out of a state of calm, good things are bound to happen.
5. Forrest Gump Says It All with Chocolate
“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” ~ Forrest Gump
Perhaps one of the most famous quotes about life came from the 1994 film Forrest Gump. Forrest offers a woman a chocolate while waiting for a bus, and tells her “My momma always said, ’Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’”. It was just one of several quotes he attributed to his mother, but one of the most poignant, and a quote that spread through mainstream consciousness for years. There’s something about the innate wisdom of the quote and the slow drawl delivered by Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump that resonates with people.
6. Ghandi on Life and Love
“Where there is love there is life.” ~ Mahatma Ghandi
It’s easy to see the strong connection between life and love, and see how where there isn’t any love there isn’t any life. Many books have been written about the power of love and how it is interwoven into life, and some have even stated that love and life are one and the same, they are the same energy. Here Ghandi is pointing out that wherever you see love, you’re seeing life, and that is a very beautiful thing, and something to keep in mind the next time you see a touching scene, or live out a loving moment in your own life.
7. Stephen Kings Wants You to Get Busy
“Get busy living or get busy dying.” ~ Stephen King
These words were muttered on screen by Andy Dufresne played by Tim Robbins in the film The Shawshank Redemption. But Stephen King gets the credit for penning these words years before in the novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. A flower is only growing or dying, and we’re the same way. You always want to be pushing yourself and growing, moving into new areas, learning new things, and having new experiences. If you’ve been feeling stagnant or haven’t been branching out and evolving, now is the time. There’s no standing still, so get busy living!
8. Thoreau on Living the Life of Your Dreams
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
From the tome Walden comes this quote on living life to the fullest. It’s about daring to follow the direction your dreams have laid out for you. You have the perfect life already imagined in your head, and surely there have been times when you’ve followed that path, and other times when you haven’t. What Thoreau is saying here is that you have to boldly go where your dreams are leading you, without being afraid and far from that with a bit of confidence. Only then will you be able to live the life that you’ve imagined and feel the most fulfilled.
9. Kerouac on the Magic of Life
“Maybe that’s what life is… a wink of the eye and winking stars.” ~ Jack Kerouac
Leave it to Kerouac to put life into such pretty terms. Could it really be that simple? There’s just no way to know, but the overall message here is that life is a beautiful thing, short but amazing and full of wonder. There’s also that word maybe that says that he doesn’t really know, and none of us really know we’re all just taking our best guess. It’s nice to leave that wiggle room instead of stating that you know all about what life is.
10. Swift on Truly Living Your Life
“May you live all the days of your life.” ~ Jonathan Swift
It’s totally possible to take a few days off from living and let them slip by. Swift’s toast is very helpful for those that want to get the most out of life and make sure that they don’t miss a beat. For those that feel like they’re stuck, or are depressed, or unhappy for long periods of time, this is a sort of wake up call that you need to live your life and not just get through it, or sleepwalk through it. There’s no pause button or rewind button, life happens in one continuous push, day after day, so you have to be there pushing your own limits and getting the most out of it.
11. Ben Franklin on Time and Life
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Ben Franklin was a master wordsmith, and here he hits the nail on the head when it comes to life and how not to waste it. All too often we miss the connection between time and life. How many times do you use the phrase “I’ve got some time to kill.” or others like it. How often do we roll our eyes when there’s a long line somewhere or figure out how we’re going to make the time go by quicker so we can do what we really want to do. All time is our life time.
12. Nathan Hale on Regrets and Life
“I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” ~ Nathan Hale
This is a great quote because it shows the value of life and how many people have given their lives for the freedoms that we enjoy today. Life is precious and fragile and many of us take it for granted, when there are those that have come before us that have given their lives to get us where we are today. In this quote he is saying that he would give another life for his country if he had another to give. This shows an amazing dedication to his country and surely he understood the value of his life.
13. Helen Keller on the Daring Adventure of Life
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” ~ Helen Keller
Helen Keller definitely has a leg to stand on when it comes to opining about life and what it means to live it. Born deaf and blind she was able to earn a bachelor’s degree after learning how to read and write. If you’ve been sitting back and playing the wallflower for too long it’s time to get out there are have your own daring adventure. The beauty of this quote is that a “daring adventure” can mean all things to all people, so you don’t have to bungee jump or skydive, just make sure that you’re getting out of your comfort zone regularly.
14. Hugo Waxes Poetic on Life and Love
“Life is a flower of which love is the honey.” ~ Victor Hugo
Viewing life as a flower creates such a beautiful image in the mind that the quote could have ended there and still been amazing. But he goes a step further and says that love is the honey, which makes it even more awesome. Flowers provide the nectar for honey to be made, so this quote is saying that life is the source of love, yet another quote that draws the connection between life and love. Other authors have said that life comes from love, but here he’s saying love comes from life in a most poetic way.
15. Mae West Invents YOLO
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” ~ Mae West
With the recent YOLO craze going on it’s amazing that more people don’t bring up this quote. Once is enough if you do it the right way, and that includes seeing all the places you want to see, falling in love, and reaching some major goals in your life. Once you have achieved plenty of the things that you’ve set out for yourself, you’ll start to see YOLO as a positive thing rather than something to get down about.
16. Frost Tells All He Know of Life
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” ~ Robert Frost
This is a great quote about life because it’s true and it’s one of those quotes that gets used all the time to this day. Life does go on, even though it seems sometimes like it won’t. No matter what happens to us or what we’re going through life will go on. Life always goes on, and if we’re not careful it will go on without us. That’s why sometimes it seems like life is passing you by, because it actually is. If you don’t keep up with it you might miss it.
17. Einstein on a Worthwhile Life
“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” ~ Albert Einstein
Einstein spent a lot of his time thinking about life and what it means in the grand scheme of things. For him to look around and determine that a life lived for others is the only way to live, speaks volumes. This is a man that knew much about how the universe works, and was able to see into the vastness of space and make calculations that our modern scientists today are still expanding on. When a literal genius gives life advice it’s often a good idea to listen, or at least try to understand what he was saying.
18. Ray Bradbury on What Life Really Is
“Life is trying things to see if they work.” ~ Ray Bradbury
So many times we think life has to work out just the way we’ve got it planned, and we place too much stock in any one idea. But the best way to view life is alike a grand experiment where you’re always adding in new things to see how it works. Sometimes the experiment will blow up in your face and other times it will be an amazing success, but the point is that you’re trying new things and not putting a ton of emotion into the outcome. That way you can be lighthearted and carefree without stressing out and going crazy.
19. Marilyn Monroe on Smiling About a Beautiful Life
“Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.” ~ Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe really got it right with this quote on life. It is beautiful and there are a ton of things to smile about. It’s so easy to forget this during tough time or when things aren’t going the way we want them to. If you haven’t smiled about something in a long time, take a moment to think of something that you can smile about in your life. There is so much to choose from that you might have trouble coming up with just one, but that’s perfectly okay.
20. Mandela on the True Glory of Living
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” ~ Nelson Mandela
As long as you get up one more time that you fall down, you’ll come out the victor. Instead of worrying about making a mistake or having things turn into a disaster, it’s best to remember that it’s the getting up that counts, not the falling down. If you’re down and you stay down then you’re sure to remain a failure, but if you get up and try again you’ll already have reached the glory, because it’s not in reaching the destination but refusing to give up trying that counts.
21. Mother Teresa on Doing Great Things
“In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.” ~ Mother Teresa
How true! If you look at anyone that’s ever done great things, it was never that they did any one thing great, but that they did a lot of little things with great care and love and attention. It’s so easy to get hung up on wanting to do great work and accomplish big things, but lose sight of the fact that you can make a difference in your own way doing the things that need to be done in a great way. Leave it to Mother Teresa to provide this sort of insight.
22. Sinatra Gives a Big Life Lesson
“The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.” ~ Frank Sinatra
Here’s a way to live life that will never let you down. Why be scared of anyone or anything? We’re all created equally and you there’s nothing out there that can hurt you really, so it only makes sense to live fearlessly and go for what you want. In life there is definitely plenty to be afraid of, but his point here is that you shouldn’t be scared of people or things, even if they do seem scary at first. A modern way to look at this is that you should never let fear get in the way of living the life you want to live.
23. Shakespeare on How to Live Life
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” ~ William Shakespeare
Shakespeare quotes provided wisdom and still hold true in modern times. Here he lays out the way to live life, by loving everyone, trusting only a few, and doing wrong to no one. If everyone lived like this the world would be a better place. The Golden Rule still trumps it, because it handles the whole trust thing better, and if everyone lived according to that rule we’d all be set. But this is still a good life lesson from the original wordsmith.
24. Buddha on Being Content in This Life
“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.” ~ Buddha
This is a nice quote to remind us that without health we really have nothing, and without being content all the riches in the world matter not. There are a lot of people out there that are sick and ailing that would trade anything for good health. And there are plenty of rich people in the world that are absolutely miserable and resort to drugs and alcohol to make up for an empty life. It’s easy to think that riches bring true wealth and that there’s a gift better than health, but when you stop to consider it further you realize that this quote is right on.
View more: Buddha Quotes
25. Dr. Seuss Being Dr. Seuss About Life
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” ~ Dr. Seuss
Only Dr. Seuss had the way with words that makes life advice so fun to read. Here he lays out a few facts, you do have a brain in your head and you have feet in your shoes if you’re currently wearing shows. His next statement must be equally factual, that you can steer yourself in any direction you’d like to go. This is a great way to look at life, since all too often it seems like life’s forces are keeping us in places we don’t really want to be, or we feel obligated to do things we don’t want to do.
View more: Dr. Seuss Quotes
26. Tony Robbins on the Impossible Journey
“The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” ~ Anthony Robbins
There’s no impossible journey, except for the one you never take. That makes a lot of sense, because many times the greatest journeys never even get off the ground due to fear, lack of finances, or laziness. In order to have a great journey and a great life experience you have to battle through these limitations and push past that fear, find the money, and make things happen so you can look back and know that you had an incredible journey during this thing we call life.
“Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved.” ~ D. H. Lawrence
Don’t be a miser with your life, constantly worrying so much about losing it that you don’t ever have any fun or do anything exciting. You don’t want your life to end and think about all of the things that you didn’t do, didn’t try, or were too afraid to experience. You want to put yourself out there, spend your life by doing things that make you feel amazing. You’ll be able to look back and know that you spent your life rather than spent your time protecting it.
28. Bob Marley on Living Your Love
“Love the life you live. Live the life you love.” ~ Bob Marley
Here’s a classic Bob Marley quote that sums it up really eloquently. Live the life you love, and love the life you live. If you follow both of these steps you’ll be able to wake up each morning with a big smile on your face and you’ll know that you’re in line with the larger you, the one that is the still small voice inside that guides you were to go. If you’ve spent too long ignoring that voice spending time doing things that you don’t enjoy, or living a life that you’re not in love with, it’s time for a change.
29. Twain Tells His Idea of a Great Life
“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” ~ Mark Twain
If you’ve got a group of good friends, a stack of good books, and a conscience that has grown bored with how well you’re living you life, you are doing something right. The first two are something that you can work on directly, and if you do that long enough your conscience will work itself out. When it comes to friends the old adage of making new friends but keeping the old holds true. It’s easy to get into a rut and rely on the same friends you’ve always had but it’s exciting to meet new friends and discover what they’re like.
30. Poe Goes Inception on Us
“All that we see and seem is but a dream within a dream.” ~ Edgar Allan Poe
Life isn’t always what it seems, and here Poe is challenging us to question what life really is, what’s real, and what isn’t. The phrase “life is but a dream” takes on a new meaning here, and this quote is left open for interpretation. It’s good to realize that you create your own reality, and that perception plays a large part in what we consider reality. If your view of life is what you call your reality, it’s always good to question how much of it is real, and how much of it is in your head.
31. John Wooden on Work and Life
“Do not let making a living prevent you from making a life.” ~ John Wooden
Spending 40, 50, or even 60 hours or more at a job you don’t really like just to make a living will definitely get in the way of making a life for yourself. It’s been said that no one on their deathbed regrets that they should have worked more, so be sure to take time out to stop, rest, spend time with loved ones, and do activities that make you feel amazing. We weren’t put here to struggle and suffer, we were put here to enjoy our lives and feel great. It’s easy to lose sight of that, and even easier to get it back.
32. Babe Ruth on Winning the Game of Life
“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” ~ Babe Ruth
No one would know the name Babe Ruth if he was afraid of striking out. The only reason he hit so many home runs is that he struck out a lot. He would have to have the mindset of not being frazzled in the least by striking out. Outside of baseball this is great life advice because the game of life involves striking out a lot before you finally get that home run. Striking out may be embarrassing, but it’s nothing compared to the trot around the bases when you finally hit that dinger.
Also read: 55 Most Famous Inspirational Sports Quotes of All-Time
33. Maya Angelou on Defeat and Life
“You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.” ~ Maya Angelou
Defeats aren’t a big deal unless you let them define you. Life is going to present to you a series of obstacles and challenges, and if you let them get the best of you you can be defeated by life. However, a good way to look at these obstacles and challenges is as opportunities. You don’t have to take it personally if you get defeated, because it’s just a temporary thing. You only let it become permanent in your own mind, and that’s when “life gets you”. It’s never life that has defeated you it’s always you defeating yourself.
View more: Maya Angelou Quotes
34. Confucius on the Simplicity of Life
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ~ Confucius
There really isn’t too much to life, but the more advanced our society gets the more complicated we seem to be making things. It seems that technology is supposed to be making it easier for us, but we find reasons to complain about how hard life still is. When you consider that we’re at the top of the food chain and nothing is going to come along and eat us, we’ve got it made compared to the way our ancestors had it. Life is really simple, so do your best not to complicate it.
35. James Barrie Talks Humility and Life
“Life is a long lesson in humility.” ~ James M. Barrie
Life will continually show you just how small you are in this grand universe. The lessons will be repeated until they are learned. Just when we think we have our place in the world, astronomers are able to show us that the universe is even bigger than we thought it was, and we’re probably part of a multiverse, with a potentially infinite number of other universes out there. So it’s alright to feel big and proud, just remember that it’s all relative and we’re just a tiny speck in the grand scheme of things.
36. Hemingway on Life and Writing
“In order to write about life first you must live it.” ~ Ernest Hemingway
This is true for everyone, even if they’re not a writer. In order to gain knowledge about life you have to get out there and live it. There’s just no substitute for a first hand experience, so if you’ve lived vicariously through others, it’s time you went and had your own adventure. The best way to know about life is to try new things, go to new places, and see how other people are living. This gives you a broader view on what life really means, and how it relates to your own life.
37. The Dalai Lama on Life and Happiness
“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” ~ Dalai Lama
The purpose of life is to be happy! That’s easy enough to remember, so why is it so hard for most people to achieve? The United State’s constitution even has it as a pursuit, as if it’s something that needs to be chased down instead of something that just is. Take a moment today to focus on your happiness, because so often it gets swept under the rug as something you’ll get around to later, or that you can just defer it until you retire, or until you win the lottery, or get a new car.
View more: 26 Beautiful Dalai Lama Quotes on Everything
38. Tom Cochrane On How to Spend Your Nights
“Life is a highway. I want to ride it all night long” ~ Tom Cochrane
With the release of his most popular song Life is a Highway, Tom Cochrane gave a new view on what life is all about, and how to treat it. If life is a highway, the best way to approach it is to drive along all day and all night and make the most out of it. The reason this song achieved more success than all of his other songs is because the message is something we can all sing along with. The rest of the song goes into detail about world travel and falling in love so it’s clear that he’s showing how to live and ride down the highway of life.
39. Hans Christian Anderson and Life as a Fairy Tale
“Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.” ~ Hans Christian Andersen
From an author that wrote many a fairy tale, this quote is extra meaningful. He’s trying to point out that as engaging as his books are, life itself is far more interesting and better than anything he could have written. If your life hasn’t been looking like much of a fairy tale, perhaps it’s time to make some changes. If it is like a fairy tale, that’s great you just want to do your best to keep things going great so you can live happily ever after.
40. Stephen Hawking and Life as a Tragedy/Comedy
“Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.” ~ Stephen Hawking
Even though he’s been bound to a wheelchair for so long, Stephen Hawking has a great sense of humor and is able to see that life is funny rather than tragic. This is from mind that has made some amazing calculations and postulated some impressive theories about how the universe works and what it’s all about. It’s always interesting to see how his mind works and what he thinks about life itself. He has a knack for taking big concepts and making them easy to understand.
41. Emerson Gets Poetic About Living Life
“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Only a poet could make such a beautiful quote like this one. It’s the sort of life advice you don’t mind taking because it encourages you to go out and get back in touch with nature. If it’s been too long since the last time you’ve been out in the sunshine, swam in the ocean, or smelled some good fresh air out in the country, make a spot in your schedule and be sure to get out there and commune with nature once again. It’s the stuff of life!
42. Euripides on the Pleasure of Life
“The greatest pleasure of life is love.” ~ Euripides
Again we see that life and love are very closely connected, almost to the point of being hom*onyms. Few can argue that the greatest pleasure in life is love, which is why the Beatles sang All You Need Is Love, and Can’t Buy Me Love. It’s the one thing that we all can have as much as we want of, and it doesn’t matter what walk of life you’re living, it’s one thing that life gives to us all in amounts as great as we can stand. How much love have you been giving or receiving lately?
43. Oscar Wilde Shows How Life Is Not Fair
“Life is never fair, and perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not.” ~ Oscar Wilde
People talk a lot about life being unfair, but at the same time if you think of it these same people are probably living a better life than most of the people on the planet. It’s easy to forget that the standard of living in the richest countries is so much better than in other parts of the world, even if you’re not rich. You still get to live in a comparatively nice house and have clean water to drink and plenty of food around. Life is unfair, but the people it is most unfair to you’ll probably never meet.
44. George Sand on Life Love and Happiness
“There is only one happiness in life – to love and to be loved.” ~ George Sand
It’s so important to love because it is the key to happiness, the other key is to be loved in return. When you get both to line up, you’re going to have a very happy life, and really that’s what life is meant to be like. If you’ve gone too long without loving, or just as worse, gone too long without being loved, it’s time to shake things up and take the steps needed to have love in your life. It’s that important, and something you can no longer neglect.
45. Grandma Moses on Making the Most Out of Life
“Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.” ~ Grandma Moses
Life really is what you make of it, and the thing is that no one is going to be there to make sure that you’re making the most of it. It’s up to you to get the get up and go to make your life one that you love. If you look back at the times of your life when you made the most if it, it was all you doing the work, and the same goes for now and in the future. Keep pushing yourself and give it everything you’ve got so you’ll never have any regrets.
46. Ben Franklin on the Tragedy of Life
“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Here’s an interesting quote along the lines of youth is wasted on the young. The tragic part of life is that we don’t get wise fast enough to put that wisdom to use. It’s as if we learn the answers we needed 10 years ago, and can’t go back to put them into practice. It seems like there are those old souls out there that have everything figured out from day one, but for the rest of us we’re learning our lessons after the moment has passed.
47. Eleanor Roosevelt on the Unpredictability of Life
“If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Life is definitely unpredictable, and if you’ve ever found yourself lamenting this fact, just stop to consider how boring life would be if it were predictable. She points out that this unpredictability is what gives life its wow factor, and almost everything you hear in the news is due to that unpredictable nature of life. We’d all be lottery winners if we knew what was going to happen, so really there’s no sense in wishing that you knew what was coming in life. You just have to take it as it comes.
48. Shaw on Creating Your Best Life
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
Everyone always talks about finding themselves, but the true realization comes when you know that it’s not about searching for something that was never lost. It’s about creating the you you want to be from the ground up. Create the life you want, create the things you want to have in your life, the people you want to spend your life with. You don’t have to go on some cross global trek to find out that you had the creative power all along. Get busy today creating the you that you want to be.
49. Aristotle on Life and Energy
“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” ~ Aristotle
The energy within your own mind is the sort of thing that life itself is made of. Did you ever stop to wonder where we get our energy from? We have no power cords to plug into a wall when our batteries get low. What powers us? It’s life itself, found within each of us and all living things. The mind is a conduit for this energy, which is why we get inspiration and flashes of ideas racing through our minds. Tap into this energy on a regular basis to charge up!
50. Søren Kierkegaard on Life and Reality
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” ~ Søren Kierkegaard
Try not to view life as a problem that you need to fix, it’s not that at all. It’s just here for you to experience it. Taste delicious food, see beautiful sights, travel to new places, learn new languages, really strive to be the best you can be. Don’t look at it as a thing that needs to be solved. If you get into that mentality you’re going to spend a lot of your energy in pursuit of something that doesn’t really exist. You’ll be barking up the wrong tree, and all the while there are experiences you’re not having.
51. Emerson Has More to Say on Life
“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Living life is all about learning, and the best way to learn is to live the lesson. You can read a lot in books and spend a lot of time in your head, but eventually you’ll have to put what you learn into practice in the real world and see if life has decided that you’ve learned the lesson or not. There’s another saying that says life’s lessons are repeated until they are learned, so it’s best to pay attention and try to learn the the first or second time.
52. Dickens Knows What Life Is Like
“Life is made of ever so many partings welded together.” ~ Charles Dickens
Kind of a sad way to look at things, but it’s true, during your life you’re going to have to say goodbye to a lot of people. It’s akin to the Wizard of Oz quote from Dorothy of “My! People come and go so quickly here!”. But it’s always good to get the full picture of life, and not just focus on the happy parts. Validate the people in your life today and let them know just how special you are. Life is fragile and unpredictable and you never know when your next parting is going to come.
53. Hepburn on Enjoying Your Life
“The most important thing is to enjoy your life — to be happy — it’s all that matters.” ~ Audrey Hepburn
If you’re not happy with your life what does it matter how long it lasts? Happiness is what we’re after and you want to make sure that you’re enjoying your life as you go along. You can’t have a happy ending if you’re not having a happy journey along the way. So try not to get into the habit of saying that things will be better later. That keeps you stuck in this sort of deferred happiness cloud that’s hard to get out of once it’s been set up.
View more: Audrey Hepburn Quotes
54. Lincoln Knows About Living a Great Life
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
It doesn’t matter how long you live, but how much you lived during the time that you were here. So many of us get caught up with age and aging and forget that it’s not about turning back the clock or staying young forever, but trying to get the best feeling that you can out of each moment of your life.
Abraham Lincoln was known for being handy with words, so it’s no surprise that he was able to make a quote like this, especially since he was able to pack a lot of life in his 56 years.
55. T. S. Eliot and an Amazing Description of Life
“The dream crossed twilight between birth and dying.” ~ T. S. Eliot
A great way to end our list is with this amazing description of life. It hints at the phrase that life is but a dream, and it really can be viewed as a sort of twilight, and dream state. Be sure that you’re living the life of your dreams and making the most of your life each and every day. That’s the sum of what our best poets, authors, and famous people of all time have said about what life is and how to live it. Carpe diem!
