67 Must-Read Quotes On Valuable And Significant Lessons To Learn In Life

Life is a journey that presents us with an array of positive and negative experiences along the way. 

Every experience holds the potential for personal growth and self-awareness.

By examining each experience, our reaction to it, and how it impacts ourselves and others, we become more enlightened and emotionally intelligent people. 

This awareness is especially profound for challenging or uncomfortable experiences.

We become stronger and wiser through our pain and discomfort and discover parts of ourselves we want to improve or change. 

We’ve curated a list of 67 of life’s lessons quotes to remind you (or introduce you) to some of the most valuable lessons you’ll bump into throughout your life. 

67 Life Lesson Quotes for Inner Growth 

As you read through these quotes on life’s lessons, make a note of those that speak to a particular situation or experience that has profoundly changed or enlightened you. 

You can use these quotes as prompts for writing in your journal about the life lessons, as daily reminders to maintain healthier thoughts and actions, or as affirmations to begin your day on a positive note. 

Meaningful Life Lesson Quotes

1. “‎Though nobody can go back and make a new beginning… Anyone can start over and make a new ending.” ― Chico Xavier

2. “Don't be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” ― Roy T. Bennett

3. “You only struggle because you’re ready to grow but aren’t willing to let go.” – Drew Gerald

4. “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”– Lyndon B. Johnson

5. “It’s not the mistake that matters, it’s how you interpret the lesson.” – Michelle C. Ustaszeski

6. “Every day is a new day, and you’ll never be able to find happiness if you don’t move on.” –  Carrie Underwood

7. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” ― Richard Branson

8. “Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.” ― Steve Maraboli

9. “You’ve gotta know when it’s time to turn the page.” – Tori Amos

10. “To be successful, you must act big, think big and talk big.” – Aristotle Onassis

11. “A man who wakes up and finds himself a success hasn’t been asleep.” – Dave Thomas

12. “Fear is not a good teacher. The lessons of fear are quickly forgotten.” – Mary Catherine Bateson

Positive Life Lesson Quotes

13. “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.” ― Maya Angelou

14. “If there's a single lesson that life teaches us, it's that wishing doesn't make it so.” ― Lev Grossman

15. “Think of each failure, each heartache, and each loss in your life as a lesson in courage and resilience.” — Kate Anderson

16. “Make improvements, not excuses. Seek respect, not attention.” – Roy T. Bennett

17. “In this life, when you deny someone an apology, you will remember it at time you beg forgiveness.” – Toba Beta

18. “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” — Soren Kierkegaard

19. “You've got to get obsessed and stay obsessed.” ― John Irving

20. “Courage is feeling fear, not getting rid of fear, and taking action in the face of fear.” ― Roy T. Bennett

21. “Knowing when to forgive yourself and correct yourself is a blessing.” – Angel Moreira

22. “Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing.” — Denis Waitley

23. “Avoid doing the same you always do or the day will fill like an incoming tide.” – Allan Jenkins

24. “In every success story, you will find someone who has made a courageous decision.” – Peter F. Drucker

Inspiring Quotes about Life Lessons

25. “I have learned all kinds of things from my many mistakes. The one thing I never learn is to stop making them.” ― Joe Abercrombie

26. “The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which bridge to burn.” — David Russell

27. “Don't let anyone ever make you feel like you don't deserve what you want.” — Heath Ledger

28. “How hurtful it can be to deny one's true self and live a life of lies just to appease others.” ― June Ahern 

29. “You don’t have to like someone, but you have to treat them as you wish to be treated.” ― Roy T. Bennett

30. “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill

31. “Help someone, you earn a friend. Help someone too much, you make an enemy.” ― Erol Ozan

32. “Just like there's always time for pain, there's always time for healing.” ― Jennifer Brown

33. “Give out what you most want to come back.” ― Robin S. Sharma

34. “Your time is way too valuable to be wasting on people that can't accept who you are.” ― Turcois Ominek

35. “What I was chasing in circles must have been the tail of the darkness inside me.” ― Haruki Murakami

36. “You can't wait around for something to become good, it either is, or isn't.” ― Toni Aleo

37. “There is no tomorrow and there was no yesterday; if you truly want to accomplish your goals you must engulf yourself in today.” ― Noel DeJesus

38. “Sometimes just getting through each day requires almost superhuman strength.” ― Jojo Moyes

39. “Being safe doesn't mean you won't be sorry.” ― Katerina Stoykova Klemer

Deep Quotes about Life Lessons

40. “Forgive but do not forget, or you will be hurt again. Forgiving changes the perspectives. Forgetting loses the lesson.” ― Paulo Coelho

41. “You think you know someone. But mostly you just know what you want to know.” ― Joe Hill

42.. “The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” ― Aristotle

43. “In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.” — Robert Frost

44. “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” — Rita Mae Brown

45. “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” — Zig Ziglar

46. “Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.” ― Erica Jong

47. “You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.” ― Joss Whedon

48. “Betray a friend, and you'll often find you have ruined yourself.” ― Aesop

49. “Don't bite off more than you can chew because nobody looks attractive spitting it back out.” ― Carroll Bryant

50. “What a waste my life would be without all the beautiful mistakes I've made.” ― Alice Bag

51. “And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.” — Abraham Lincoln

52. “Actions speak louder than words, and a smile says, ‘I like you. You make me happy. I am glad to see you.” ― Dale Carnegie


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Wise Sayings about Life Lessons

53. “There came a time when you realized that moving on was pointless. That you took yourself with you wherever you went.” ― Stephen King

54. “To overcome fear is the quickest way to gain your self-confidence.” ― Roy T. Bennett

55. “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” — Oprah Winfrey

56. “No matter how hard you kick, no matter how high you get, you can't go all the way around.” — John Green

57. “Your fear is 100% dependent on you for its survival.” ― Steve Maraboli

58. “Focus on making yourself better, not on thinking that you are better.” ― Bohdi Sanders

59. “Time management is about life management.” ― Idowu Koyenikan

60. “Emotion without reason lets people walk all over you; reason without emotion is a mask for cruelty.” ― Nalini Singh

61. “Wisdom is the reward for surviving our own stupidity.” ― Brian Rathbone

62. “You can’t make someone feel good about themselves until you feel good about yourself.” ― Robin S. Sharma

63. “Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again.” ― Joseph Campbell

64. “You just can't let life happen to you, you have to make life happen.” ― Idowu Koyenikan

65. “But one of the big lessons I have learned from my journey is you can’t please everyone, so don’t try.”― Chris Colfer

66. “If plan A doesn't work, the alphabet has 25 more letters – 204 if you're in Japan.” ― Claire Cook

67. “What to do with a mistake – recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it.” — Dean Smith

Why You Should Read These Quotes About Life Lessons 

You love quotes — but why?

Believe it or not, there’s a biological reason. 

While the science is a lot more complicated than the scope of this article, the basic concept is easy to wrap your head around. The main factor is the brain’s neuroplasticity — its ability to change. Thoughts create neural pathways, and the ones that most often pop into your mind build deeper grooves, giving them more control over your moods.

It follows that repeated negative thoughts put us in poor moods; conversely, good thoughts let in the proverbial sun and positively impact our physical and mental health. As such, reading affirming life lesson quotes:

  • Decreases stress, anxiety, and depression
  • Lowers blood pressure and improved cardiovascular health
  • Fosters better emotional balance
  • Improves cognitive function

How to Use These Life Lesson Quotes

How can you use these life lesson quotes to boost your motivation and help you navigate any rough terrain life throws in your path?

  • Share Quotes on Social Media: Nearly everyone loves a memorable quote. So why not make graphics of your favorite sayings and post them? Making the images will be meditative and affirming in and of itself, and you may inspire others to look up rather than down.
  • Meditate on Them: Choose a quote to dissect for an analytical meditation. Think about it from all angles.
  • Use Them as Journal Prompts: Using quotes as journaling prompts is an excellent way to internalize their messages and incorporate them into your worldview.
  • Write Them on Post-It Notes: Leaving post-it reminders around the home is a time-honored tool used by many people in the midst of self-development work. Post them on mirrors around the house, cartons you see upon opening the fridge, and cabinets as reminders.

The best life lesson quotes inspire and motivate you to seek out opportunities for learning in all of the ups and downs of life.

As you accumulate this learning, you will grow in wisdom and discernment. You’ll become more resilient in the face of future challenges and more grateful during times of ease and happiness.