185 Self Discovery Quotes To Help You Understand Yourself

How would you describe yourself? What makes you unique? Who are you?

These questions are important because they help us define who we want to become. They also give us insight into our personality traits, values, and beliefs.

The following quotes will help you discover your true self.

You can use them as a guide for personal development or simply read them out loud to find the answers to these questions.

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185 Self Discovery Quotes To Help You Understand Yourself

“I am not what I do; I am what I think about.”
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice kindness.”
“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”
“We cannot control all circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.”
“It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”
“When you realize that there is only one person in this entire universe with whom you share an experience, it changes your whole perception of life.”
“What you seek is seeking you.”
“The way to happiness is freedom from desire.”
“Happiness depends on ourselves alone.”
“Do not wait until tomorrow to begin living today.”
“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.”
“To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.”
“Love is a decision.”
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth could ever keep him down.”
“In order to succeed, try just once. In order to fail, try anything.”
“Successful people don’t wake up thinking about themselves. They wake up thinking about their goals.”
“Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.”
“The secret of getting ahead lies in getting started.”
“The most common mistake is trying to please everyone.”
“If you look hard enough, you’ll find someone who looks exactly like you.”
“People often say that time heals all wounds. But sometimes, wounds need time to heal.”
“No matter where you go, no matter what you do, no matter who you meet, the number one thing you can count on is you.”
The best revenge is massive success.”
“Never tell anyone else how to live, but never forget how you lived.”
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
“You may encounter many defeats, but you should not be discouraged, for every victory comes too soon after a defeat.”
The greatest discovery of my generation has been the discovery that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.
“You can’t fall off the edge of the world and survive. The world falls off you.”
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
You can easily forgive your enemies, but it takes more effort to forgive your friends.”
“The key to happiness is learning how to give yourself completely to something bigger than yourself.”
The happiest people aren’t the ones with the perfect bodies, they’re the ones with the perfect hearts.
“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
I am convinced that life does not consist primarily of facts, figures, or events, but in the depth of our relationships with others, in the quality of our love and friendship, in the joys and sorrows of family life, in the meaning and purpose of our existence.
“You will never reach your destination if you stop to throw stones at every dog that barks.”
“A smile costs nothing but gives much.”
“It’s not what we have that counts, but what we contribute to others that makes us rich.”
We must learn to re-examine the values we inherited from our parents and grandparents, because they were formed under different circumstances.
“The measure of intelligence is not how many answers you come up with, but how many questions you ask.”
“The person who says it cannot be done should get out of the way of the person doing it.”
“What you see depends very largely upon where you are standing.”
“There is no such thing as failure – there are results which failed to satisfy some expectations and succeeded in satisfying others.”
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change.”
“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.”
To thine own self be true.
“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
“Nothing so needs reforming like other people’s habits.”
“Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”
“An optimist sees the glass half full; an pessimist sees the glass half empty. An engineer sees both.”
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
“He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.”
“No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”
The secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life, and in elevating them to art.
“The best revenge is massive retaliation.”
“The most important decision you’ll ever make is whether you believe you deserve good things.”
“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.”
“The first step toward solving any problem is recognizing that you have one.”
“Don’t live for today – live for yourself and tomorrow will take care of itself.”
“Love is when you do something for someone else without expecting anything in return.”
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.”
“I’m not interested in being remembered as the man who saved the world. I just want to save myself.”
“Never let go of anyone who is holding onto you.”
“The price of greatness is responsibility.”
“The only reward worth having is loving service rendered to humanity.”
“Sometimes two roads diverge and you’ve got to choose the one less traveled by, sometimes you can cut through an obstacle course on a narrow footpath.”
“Actions speak louder than words.”
“Knowledge doesn’t mean wisdom. Wisdom is knowing more than you need to know. Knowledge means figuring out what you already know.”
“You never fail if you try to succeed.”
“It is easier to forgive others than to forgive ourselves.”
“You cannot solve problems in isolation; you have to deal with them in context.”
I am learning about tolerance, love, and compassion for this person whom I once hated. It is now very difficult for me to hate him.”
“Happiness does not depend on outward conditions, but on the inward disposition.”
“There are no failures, there are only lessons.”
“When you see clearly, you begin to look differently at everything.”
Some days we are too busy to sleep & then we die before we get to sleep.
“If you’re going to do something, do it right the first time.”
To thine own self be true.”
“Doing nothing has never been my style.”
“I do not pretend to understand the mystery of life. I am not even sure that I prefer its mysteries.”
One of the penalties of an education which masquerades as knowledge is that one begins to doubt the validity of experience.
“If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right.”
“We must develop strength of mind enough to accept our limits.”
“Our goal isn’t to win every battle, but to fight fair, so we can still be proud of ourselves after the loss.”
“We can either find joy in making each day count, or we can spend our lives waiting ’til next year.’ “
“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
“Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”
When I was young I thought that someday I would marry a beautiful woman and settle down to a wonderful family life. Now that seems silly.”
“It’s not who you are that matters, it’s what you become.”
“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that crushed it.”
“Heaven knows I don’t want to appear pious. But I seem to remember hearing somewhere that He likes people who like themselves.”
“What we are trying to do is make sense of life, and where better to start than by looking within oneself?”
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
“In order to enjoy living you first must learn to live.”
The way you treat your body, your health, is the way you treat your soul.”
“Everyday is a new beginning.”
“The secret of happiness lies in taking full advantage of everyday opportunities.”
“You can always use some encouragement.”
“Don’t be discouraged when all looks dark: The darkest hour is just before dawn.”
“The best things in life aren’t things.”
“Life is a great big canvas upon which everyone gets their own special painting.”
“We should be thankful for what we have, instead of complaining about what we don’t have.”
“Life is what happens while you are making other plans.”
“I’d rather regret my mistakes than regret my non-mistakes.”
“There are few things more powerful than a single human being willing to take responsibility and step forward into the light.”
No matter how much money you earn, it won’t buy you a moment’s peace of mind unless you are happy with yourself.
“It takes less effort to keep up appearances than to create them.”
“Happiness is the reward we give to our successes.”
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
“My success doesn’t depend on me; it depends on the goodness of God. So it’s not really mine anyway.”
What we have done is to have attempted to define the meaning of life by creating a set of rules that could help us live by.
“We cannot change direction without first deciding on the course to follow. There is method in this madness.”
“To be good is to do good. To love is to be loved. And if you can do one, you can do the other.”
“Everyone has his reasons for doing what he does. I’ve found out that there’s no accounting for them.”
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
“What makes man noble is that he puts himself last.”
“A good person is hard to find.”
“There comes a time when your work speaks louder than your words.”
Your friends are the air that surrounds you, the ground beneath your feet, the water at your side, the fire inside you. They are everything.”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way!”
“When faced with adversity, the key to maintaining positive momentum is to focus on the process, not the outcome.”
“The most important thing in life is self-discipline.
“The world is too complex to be easily understood. A simple explanation may be beyond our reach.”
“Whatever the future holds for me, I’m ready for it now.”
“You’re only given a little spark of madness every day. You mustn’t let it go or put it back into its bottle. You must alight on it, fan it into life and see what happens.”
Some people come into your life and leave footprints on your heart, and then they go forever.
“Our past is what shapes who we become. Our present is what drives us toward the future. And our future is what gives our lives purpose and value.”
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
“Love is the power behind all creation. It is the force that binds the galaxies together.”
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference between the two.”
“In order to succeed, you need to enjoy the process more than the outcome.”
“All beauty is fleeting, but those exquisite moments make it worth living through the pain.”
Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.
“Dependability: The quality of being trustworthy or reliable in action, attitude, etc., and in keeping promises or commitments.
“Life is about choices. The choice you make today determines your tomorrow.”
“I believe that each of us is here to learn something, to grow from experience, and to achieve fulfillment – individually and collectively. That is my vision for humanity and the planet.”
“Each of us has a destiny waiting to be fulfilled. Let’s just take care of ourselves so that we can fulfill ours.”
“Don’t worry about your problems. Worry about your solutions.”
“We should always strive to improve our own character instead of trying to fix others’ faults.”
“Never tell someone their dreams are impossible, because they won’t ever know until they try.”
“Don’t go where the path may lead; go instead where there isn’t a path and leave a trail.”
“You have to give up some of yourself to gain more of yourself.”
“Make peace with your past, for your memory is the bridge linking your old life to your new life.”
“Take responsibility for your life. Know who you really are, and live honestly and courageously. Then you’ll never have to face the fact that you could die.”
“The best kind of intelligence is intuitive, creative, insightful, intelligent, spiritual. Intelligence alone is not enough. But without it, nothing great can happen. We need both.”
“The greatest discovery of any generation is when a person sees himself as he really is.”
“What’s right is right even if no one else does it.”
“If you want to find out whether you like your job, ask yourself whose interests you’re serving.”
“It pays to be flexible. If you don’t fit in anywhere else, try the library.”
A successful life is measured by how much love you gave and received.
“You’ve got to do what you feel is right at the moment. Otherwise, you will end up doing what everybody around you wants you to do.”
“Only you can judge yourself. You have no one else to answer to.”
Your true friends are people who come into your life and unexpectedly depart.
“There are times when an individual must act and times when a community must act. When only individuals can solve problems, then the community has failed.”
When you dream, it shows that you have fears.”
“Forget about success and failure, you’re going to fail regardless of your effort. So why waste time worrying?”
“The most important thing to remember is that as long as you keep moving forward, everything else takes care of itself.”
“Dream big. Start small. Work hard. Be patient. Take chances. Learn from mistakes. Get help. Never quit. And above all, have fun!”
“What you think is yours is also theirs. What you say is yours is also theirs.”
“Be willing to change the way you look at things, so that you can see them differently.”
“No matter how many years pass, you will always be young, and life is still ahead of you.”
If you wish to find happiness, be thankful for the things you already have.
“To achieve excellence, you have to work very hard at it, but if you put in the hours of work, you will eventually get the rewards.”
“Happiness comes from within, if you want it to come from without, you have to bring it inside.”
“In order to become happy oneself, one must first learn to be happy for other people.”
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”
“The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open mind.”
“Somebody once said that success doesn’t consist of getting what you want, but wanting what you get.”
“Remember that you are unique, just like everyone else.”
You can’t be too careful in your relationships, because you never know which ones might turn against you someday.
“Life is what happens while you’re busy making plans.”
“It can be difficult to accept compliments on something you truly believe makes you unworthy.”
“Never go back-going back means giving up and letting someone win.”
“Even though we often complain about our shortcomings and lack of knowledge, this shouldn’t stop us from learning new skills or acquiring more knowledge.”
“Don’t wait until everything is perfect before you start; don’t let perfectionism stand between you and success.”
The most valuable asset anyone can develop is self confidence. It will take you where you want to go.”
“Keep striving towards higher goals every day, and you will eventually reach them.”
We all face opposition and adversity in our lives. No one gets through life without feeling pain and frustration. The difference between those who overcome these challenges and rise above them, and those who wallow in their misery, is merely a question of attitude.”
“Success does not depend solely upon money or power, but rather upon the quality of the thoughts we think and the feelings we feel.”
“A person should not live by bread alone, but he should eat bread along with good food and wine.”
“I don’t enjoy being told I’m right. I love it even more when I am wrong.”
“You can accomplish anything you set your mind to do. There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you really set out to do it.”