Do you wish to enhance your quality of life? Become your best possible self?
These are some of the best quotations about self-improvement to help you get started!
These words of wisdom from some of the world’s most renowned authors, philosophers, and prominent figures can motivate you to achieve your goals.
Simply read carefully and make an effort to apply their advice to your life, and I assure you, your mental growth will be enhanced.
I gathered these powerful statements about self-improvement from a variety of web sites, and I believe you will find them illuminating and instructive.
Let’s begin!
Top 20 Self-Improvement Quotes
1. “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” ― Ernest Hemingway
2. “Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Do not bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” ― William Faulkner
3. “Become addicted to constant and never-ending self-improvement.” ― Anthony J. D’Angelo
4. “Change equals self-improvement. Push yourself to places you haven’t been before.” ― Pat Summitt
5. “You are essentially who you create yourself to be, and all that occurs in your life is the result of your own making.” ― Stephen Richards
6. “The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential…these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.” ― Confucius
7. “Work on yourself more than you do on your job.” ― Jim Rohn
8. “Make the most of yourself….for that is all there is of you.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
9. “There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” ― Aldous Huxley
10. “Life improvement begins with self-improvement.” ― ATGW
11. “There is no challenge more challenging than the challenge to improve yourself.” ― Michael F. Staley
12. “Improvement begins with I.” ― Arnold H. Glasow
13. “The safest principle through life, instead of reforming others, is to set about perfecting yourself.” — B. R. Haydon
14. “Self-improvement is the name of the game, and your primary objective is to strengthen yourself, not to destroy an opponent.” — Maxwell Maltz
15. “Any man’s life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day.” — Booker T. Washington
16. “Personal development is the belief that you are worth the effort, time, and energy needed to develop yourself.” ― Denis Waitley
17. “If you are moving forward in your life, If you are progressing personally, professionally, emotionally, spiritually ― you will be happy.” ― Tony Robbins
18. “Commit yourself to constant improvement. Commit yourself to quality. Be persistent, persistent, persistent…and have a grateful heart!” ― H. Jackson Brown Jr.
19. “By improving yourself, the world is made better. Be not afraid of growing too slowly. Be afraid only of standing still.” ― Benjamin Franklin
20. “How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” — Seth Godin
See also: Top 90 Never Settle For Less Quotes To Encourage You
Inspirational Quotes On Bettering Yourself
1. “Things do not grow better; they remain as they are. It is we who grow better by the changes we make in ourselves.” ― Swami Vivekananda
2. “If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, then make that change.” ― Michael Jackson
3. “Do your best, and be a little better than you are.” — Gordon B. Hinckley
4. “Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.” ― Steve Maraboli
5. “No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you’ve come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself.” ― Madonna
6. “As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world ― that is the myth of the atomic age ― as in being able to remake ourselves.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
7. “If you continuously compete with others, you become bitter, but if you continuously compete with yourself, you become better. Choose the second, I got your back.” ― Unknown
8. “Don’t downgrade your dream just to fit your reality. Upgrade your conviction to match your destiny.” ― Stuart Scott
9. You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously. ― Sophia Bush
10. “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” ― Paulo Coelho
11. “Those who seek a better life must first become a better person.” — Jim Rohn
12. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” ― Maya Angelou
13. “Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends.” ― Brian Tracy
14. “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” ― Edith Wharton
15. “Do something today that your future self will thank you for.” ― Sean Patrick Flanery
16. “With self-discipline, most anything is possible.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
17. “Improve in private. Surprise everyone.” ― Unknown
18. “Don’t waste my time by making me judge other people. I am busy improving myself, and I have no time to criticize others.” ― Unknown
19. “Every morning starts a new page in your story. Make it a great one today.” ― Doe Zantamata
20. “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” ― Albert Einstein
21. “Gratitude, compassion, and kindness are pillars to make you a better person.” — Invajy
22. “Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” ― Bernice Johnson Reagon
23. “Permit yourself to change your mind when something is no longer working for you.” ― Nedra Glover Tawwab
24. “My life is constantly under construction. There’s always something to improve.” ― Unknown
25. “Don’t compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to the person from yesterday.” ― Jordan Peterson
See also: 80 Most Famous Jordan Peterson Quotes To Blow Your Mind
26. “At the time, my life just seemed too complete, and maybe we have to break everything to make something better out of ourselves.” ― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
27. “Beginning today, set an intention and a relentless focus on living your life as the greatest person you can be, in all situations.” — Brendon Burchard
28. “Focus on making yourself better, not on thinking that you are better.” ― Bohdi Sanders
29. “Never neglect an opportunity for self-improvement.” — Unknown
30. “Success comes from the inside out. In order to change what is on the outside, you must first change what is on the inside.” ― Idowu Koyenikan
See also: 220 Best Proverbs About Success To Give You Inspiration
Personal Growth Quotes
1. “Don’t go through life, grow through life.” ― Eric Butterworth
2. “One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” ― Abraham Maslow
3. “Be patient with yourself. You are growing stronger every day. The weight of the world will become lighter…and you will begin to shine brighter. Don’t give up.” ― Robert Tew
4. “Be so committed to your growth that it encourages the ones around you to grow as well. Be so committed to your growth that it sacres away ones that are tempted to drop you down to their level.” ― Unknown
5. “It only takes one person to change your life ― you.” ― Ruth Casey
6. “Every moment of one’s existence, one is growing into more or retreating into less.” ― Norman Mailer
7. “If you can dedicate yourself to asking questions to reveal your potential, you will discover your potential and start to fulfill your mission.” — Sunday Adelaja
8. “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” ― Amelia Earhart
9. “The power of imagination makes us infinite.” ― John Muir
10. “Improvement starts within you and depends on your efforts. So, make the effort.” ― Remez Sasson
11. “You complete me in a way that I’ve become the best version of myself. Thank you for being my inspiration.” — Unknown
12. “Growth is the great separator between those who succeed and those who do not. When I see a person beginning to separate themselves from the pack, it’s almost always due to personal growth.” — John C. Maxwell
13. “When you get into a tight place, and everything goes against you…never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” ― Harriet Beecher Stowe
14. “The important thing is that we must be constantly moving forward ― yes, the progressive realization of a predetermined goal. And our growth should never end.” ― Og Mandino
15. “You’re either green and growing, or you’re ripe and rotting.” — John Addison
16. “Don’t let anyone control your path. You are stronger than you think, and you are the charioteer of your life, always remember that. ” ― Unknown
17. “I would like to think that all of my successes in life are really just the fruit of my failures.” ― Yvie Oddly
18. “Determine that today you will overcome your self of the day before, tomorrow you will win over those of lesser skill, and later you will win over those of greater skill.” ― Miyamoto Musashi
19. “You can waste your life drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.” ― Shonda Rhimes
20. “It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.” ― Denis Waitley
21. “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experiences that reveal the human spirit.” ― e.e. Cummings
22. “I’ve got a theory that if you give 100 percent all the time, somehow things will work out in the end.” ― Larry Bird
23. “Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.” ― Niccolo Machiavelli
24. “The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred… Unforeseen incidents, meetings, and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
25. “What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
26. “You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness.” ― Diane von Furstenberg
27. “By doing the work to love ourselves more, I believe we will love each other better.” ― Laverne Cox
28. “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” ― Babe Ruth
29. “You are who you decide to be. If you want to be a positive person, decide to be. If you want to be a successful person, decide to be. You have to create the life you want and cut off people who prevent you from achieving it.” — Unknown
30. “The key to happiness is really progress and growth and constantly working on yourself and developing something.” — Lewis Howes
Self-Development Quotes
1. “The swiftest way to triple your success is to double your investment in personal development.” ― Robin Sharma
2. “Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” ― Les Brown
3. “Investing in your own growth and self-development isn’t selfish. It’s self-care.” ― Dr. Eric Weis
4. “Never allow your mind to wander untamed like a wild animal that exists on the basis of survival of the fittest. Tame your mind with a consistent focus on your goals and desires.” ― Stephen Richards
5. “You are struggling with the walls of resistance that you have built around yourself.” — Sadhguru
6. “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” — Viktor Frankl
7. “The mind is just like a muscle ― the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets and the more it can expand.” ― Idowu Koyenikan
8. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.” ― Ephesians 4:22 (Bible Verse)
9. “Push yourself because no one else is going to do it for you.” — Rhyanna Watson
10. “What you dislike in another, take care to correct in yourself.” — Thomas Sprat
11. “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” — Helen Keller
12. “A strong man cannot help a weaker unless the weaker is willing to be helped, and even then, the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.” ― James Allen
13. “Remember, you are in control of your life and how you will live it. You are a lone wolf who chooses to be big and not shrink for the comfort of others. Give yourself permission to take up space, and bloom wildly without regret.” — Unknown
14. “The tragedy in life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.” ― Benjamin Mays
15. “Your most important sale in life is to sell yourself to yourself.” — Maxwell Maltz
16. “First things first might be a cliche, but it’s a useful one that means prioritizing what matters most to you and believing there is no wrong answer.” ― Stacey Abrams
17. “We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.” ― Rick Warren
18. “Repeat anything often enough, and it will start to become you.” — Tom Hopkin
19. “Realizing that our actions, feelings, and behavior are the results of our own images and beliefs gives us the level that psychology has always needed for changing personality.” — Maxwell Maltz
20. “Who is a true seeker grows, learns, and discovers that he is the only one responsible for what happens.” — Jorge Bucay
21. “The dreaming has to be backed up by the doing.” — Carrie Wilkerson
22. “It is not until you change your identity to match your life blueprint that you will understand why everything in the past never worked.” — Shannon L. Alder
23. “Life is a series of problem-solving opportunities. The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you depending on how you respond to them.” — Rick Warren
24. “What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.” — Buddha
25. “Look within, for within is the wellspring of virtue, which will not cease flowing if you cease not from digging.” — Marcus Aurelius
26. “You’ve got to have rules to live by, and one of mine is always say yes. Put yourself in danger of something amazing happening to you.” — Tom Bilyeu
27. “Each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity.” — Marie Curie
28. “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” ― Jim Rohn
29. “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” — Carl R. Rogers
30. “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” — Dale Carnegie
Self-Improvement Quotes For Personal Growth
1. “Growth begins when we begin to accept our own weakness.” ― Jean Vanier
2. “If you can see yourself as an artist, and you can see that your life is your own creation, then why not create the most beautiful story for yourself?” ― Miguel Ruiz
3. “Only through suffering do you have change and self-improvement.” — Unknown
4. “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.” ― Ella Fitzgerald
5. “Be the type of person you want to meet.” ― Tom McCallum
6. “I am all for changing, even if mistakes are made in the process. Mistakes do not matter.” ― Jiddu Krishnamurti
7. “People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” ― Rob Siltanen
8. “When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” ― Malala Yousafzai
9. “Let us cultivate our garden.” ― Voltaire, Candide
10. “Change is your friend, not your foe; change is a brilliant opportunity to grow.” — Simon T. Bailey
11. “It is not the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” — William Shakespeare
12. “The type of person you are is usually reflected in your business. To improve your business, first improve yourself.” ― Idowu Koyenikan
13. “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” ― Thomas Jefferson
14. “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” ― Warren Buffett
15. “There’s always room for improvement.” — Joey Logano
16. “Growth is actually contagious, so if you want to reach your goals, you’ve got to get around people who are going in the same direction you want to be going, and you will catch the success.” — Dr. Henry Cloud
17. “When we’re growing up, there are all sorts of people telling us what to do when really what we need is space to work out who to be.” ― Elliot Page
18. “I do not believe in taking the right decision, I take a decision and make it right.” ― Muhammad Ali Jinnah
19. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” — George Bernard Shaw
20. “Self-knowledge is the beginning of self-improvement.” — Baltasar Gracian
21. “There’s only one investment that will never go down — an investment in yourself.”― Frank Sonnenberg
22. “Choose progress over perfection.” ― Unknown
23. “People tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will descend like fine weather if you’re fortunate. But happiness is the result of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly.” — Elizabeth Gilbert
24. “Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
25. “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” — Jimmy Johnson
26. “There’s nothing wrong with self-improvement, as long as you recognize that at some point you’re going to have to accept yourself in all your imperfect glory. What’s wrong with liking yourself the way you are?” — Jessica Zafra
27. “Everything is within your power, and your power is within you.” — Janice Trachtman
28. “There will be times in your life when things simply have to be replaced because they are tired, broken, worn out, harmful, outdated, or irrelevant. Take an inventory of the things that no longer serve your best and highest good so you can replace them with things which do.” — Susan C. Young
29. “The difference between being mediocre and achieving excellence is you.” — Stephen Richards
30. “You must have a level of discontent to feel the urge to want to grow.” ― Idowu Koyenikan
More Quotes On Self-Growth
1. “Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.” ― Stephen Covey
2. “He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.” ― Confucius
3. “If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life you want, you’re eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want.” ― Kevin Ngo
4. “Pain, pleasure, and death are no more than a process for existence. The revolutionary struggle in this process is a doorway open to intelligence.” ― Frida Kahlo
5. “It is not as much about who you used to be as it is about who you choose to be.” ― Sanhita Baruah
6. “Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” ― Albert Einstein
7. “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ― Mark Twain
8. “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you’ve always been.” — T.D. Jakes
9. “Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” ― George Bernard Shaw
10. “Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.” ― Socrates
11. “When everything seems like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top.” ― Unknown
12. “We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” ― Oprah Winfrey
13. “Look for the small improvements, recognize those successes, and let them be a big deal.” ― Elise Cripe
14. “The time is now. Stop hitting the snooze button on your life.” — Mel Robbins
15. “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” ― Carl Bard
16. “We should not judge people by their peak of excellence, but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.” ― Henry Ward Beecher
17. “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” ― Jane Goodall
18. “Recognizing that you are not where you want to be is a starting point to begin changing your life.” ― Deborah Day
19. “It is never too late to be who you might have been.” ― George Eliot
20. “You cannot reach where you are going if you continue to be the same person you have always been.” ― Germany Kent
21. “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” ― Henry Ford
22. “Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you.” ― Hillary Clinton
23. “Everyone must choose one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” ― Jim Rohn
24. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” ― Frederick Douglass
25. “Leap off the fence of indecision. Get out of the ‘Want to Lane’ and put yourself into the ‘Got to Lane.’” — Gloria Mayfield Banks
26. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you have imagined.” — Henry David Thoreau
27. “What we think, we become.” ― Buddha
28. “When someone tells me ‘no,’ it doesn’t mean I can’t do it, it simply means I can’t do it with them.” ― Karen E. Quinones Miller
29. “Sometimes in life, we take a leap of faith. Remember, the leap is not about getting from one side to the other. It’s simply about taking the leap…and trusting the air, the universal breath will support your wings so that you may soar.” ― Kristi Bowman
30. “Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it, and eventually, the confidence will follow.” ― Carrie Fisher
See also: 220 Confident Girl Quotes To Uplift & Motivate You
Wrapping It Up
I hope that these quotations about self-improvement have reminded you that in order to improve your life, you must have the appropriate outlook on life and a strong desire to become the best version of yourself. You can do it!
Read next: 140 You Are Amazing Quotes To Fall In Love With Yourself
