Motivational Quotes
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Motivational Quotes
Take a second to imagine "Eye of the Tiger" playing in the background. Got it? Great. Now click on any motivational 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.
"A little less conversation, a little more action please."Source: A Little Less Conversation | Speaker: Elvis Presley
"And unto the uttermost part of the earth."Source: Acts of the Apostles | Speaker: Jesus of Nazareth
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."Source: The Book of Isaiah | Author: The Prophet Isaiah
"As long as the heart beats, as long as body and soul keep together."Source: Journey to the Center of the Earth | Author: Jules Verne
"Because only one thing counts in this life: get them to sign on the line which is dotted."Source: Glengarry Glen Ross | Speaker: Blake
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."Source: Matthew 11:28 | Speaker: Jesus
"Do…or do not. There is no try."Source: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back | Speaker: Yoda
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us."Source: The Great Gatsby | Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Get up offa that thing and dance 'till you feel better!"Source: Get Up Offa That Thing | Speaker: James Brown
"Happiness can be found in the darkest of times."Source: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Speaker: Albus Dumbledore
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."Source: The Diary of Anne Frank | Author: Anne Frank
"I am not afraid; I was born to do this."Source: Spoken as she left the town of Vancouleurs | Speaker: Joan of Arc
"I get by with a little help from my friends."Source: With a Little Help from My Friends | Speaker: The Beatles
"I have not yet begun to fight."Source: Spoken on September 23, 1779 | Speaker: Captain John Paul Jones
"I have observed this in my experience of slavery, that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only increased my desire to be free, and set me to thinking of plans to gain my freedom."Source: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass | Author: Frederick Douglass
"I think I'll try defying gravity, and you can't pull me down."Source: Wicked (2003 Musical) | Speaker: Elphaba
"I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am."Source: The Bell Jar | Author: Sylvia Plath
"I've got all my life to live and I've got all my love to give"Source: I Will Survive | Speaker: Gloria Gaynor
"It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."Source: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Author: J.K. Rowling
"It's been a hard day's night."Source: "A Hard Day's Night" | Speaker: John Lennon and Paul McCartney
"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."Source: The Great Gatsby | Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
"My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time."Source: David Copperfield | Author: Charles Dickens
"Nothing is hopeless; we must hope for everything."Source: A Wrinkle in Time | Author: Madeleine L'Engle
"Real courage is [...] when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what."Source: To Kill a Mockingbird | Author: Harper Lee
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me."Source: The Gospel of Matthew | Speaker: Jesus of Nazareth
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."Source: First Moon Landing | Speaker: Neil Armstrong
"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."Source: I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! | Author: Dr. Seuss
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."Source: FDR's Inauguration Speech | Speaker: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on."Source: The Old Curiosity Shop | Author: Charles Dickens
"They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end."Source: Psalm 107:27 | Author: Psalmist
"Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."Source: In Memoriam | Author: Alfred, Lord Tennyson
"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."Source: The Soul of Man Under Socialism | Author: Oscar Wilde
"We are not makers of history; we are made by history."Source: Strength to Love | Author: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"We are the champions, my friends, and we'll keep on fighting 'til the end."Source: We Are the Champions | Speaker: Queen
"Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."Source: John 3:16 | Speaker: Jesus
"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."Source: Spoken at Packers' Training Camp | Speaker: Vince Lombardi
"You don't have to live forever. You just have to live."Source: Tuck Everlasting | Speaker: The Narrator
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."Source: You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life | Author: Eleanor Roosevelt
"You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from."Source: No Country for Old Men | Author: Cormac McCarthy
"You're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so...get on your way!"Source: Oh, the Places You'll Go! | Author: Dr. Seuss