Home » Positive Psychology Articles » Positive Psychology Quotes: 50+ Sources of Wisdom and Inspiration

Here is a 50+ list of the most inspirational positive psychology quotes in the world. Quotes can give you insight into understanding yourself and the world around you and they can help you to achieve personal fulfillment. In this post you will find quotes provided by positive psychology experts, famous psychologists and other influential people around the world.

Sandip Roy, founder of the Happiness India Project, has been so kind to let us use the amazing content he has created for his positive psychology quotes page. I’m sure you’ll agree that he has done a great job. Get ready to be inspired and enjoy these sources of wisdom!

Martin Seligman Positive Psychology Quotes

Ed Diener Positive Psychology Quotes

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Positive Psychology Quotes

Christopher Peterson Positive Psychology Quotes

Robert Biswas-Diener Positive Psychology Quotes

Todd Kashdan Positive Psychology Quotes

Ellen J. Langer Positive Psychology Quotes

Barbara L. Fredrickson Positive Psychology Quotes

Ilona Boniwell Positive Psychology Quotes

Viktor Frankl Positive Psychology Quotes

Carl Rogers Positive Psychology Quotes

Jonathan Haidt Positive Psychology Quotes

Michael Argyle Positive Psychology Quotes

Daniel Kahneman Positive Psychology Quotes

brene brown

Soren Kierkegaard Positive Psychology Quotes

Dalai Lama Positive Psychology Quotes

Chuck Palahniuk Positive Psychology Quotes

Virginia Satir Positive Psychology Quotes

Abraham Maslow Positive Psychology Quotes

Edward de Bono Positive Psychology Quotes

Erik Erikson Positive Psychology Quotes

Nick Vujicic Positive Psychology Quotes

Daniel Gilbert Positive Psychology Quotes

Shawn Achor Positive Psychology Quotes

Sonja Lyubomirsky Positive Psychology Quotes

Tal Ben-Shahar Positive Psychology Quotes

Charles R. Snyder Positive Psychology Quotes

Scott Barry Kaufman Positive Psychology Quotes

Marcus Buckingham Positive Psychology Quotes

Sigmund Freud Positive Psychology Quotes

Kennon M. Sheldon Positive Psychology Quotes

Carol S. Dweck Positive Psychology Quotes

Carl G. Jung Positive Psychology Quotes

Alice Miller Positive Psychology Quotes

Nathaniel Lambert Positive Psychology Quotes

Albert Schweitzer Positive Psychology Quotes

Lao Tzu Positive Psychology Quotes

Gretchen Rubin Positive Psychology Quotes

Barry Schwartz Positive Psychology Quotes

Sharon Salzberg Positive Psychology Quotes

Susan Cain Positive Psychology Quotes

Robert A. Emmons Positive Psychology Quotes

Dacher Keltner Positive Psychology Quotes

Roy F. Baumeister Positive Psychology Quotes

Paul Romer Positive Psychology Quotes

Rosalind Kaplan Positive Psychology Quotes

John M. Gottman Positive Psychology Quotes

Todd Kashdan Positive Psychology Quotes

Kurt Cobain Positive Psychology Quotes

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positive psychology quotes about life Today I sent out an e-mail with one of my favourite positive psychology quotes to over 5.000 of our loyal subscribers. It goes as follows:

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid, then life would begin. At last it dawned upon me that these obstacles were my life” – Fr. Alfred

I invited everyone to reply with their most inspiring positive psychology quote. With everyone’s consent, I feel honoured to share with you the following quotes, insights, knowledge and wisdom. So grab a cup, sit back and enjoy these quotes!

One of Martin Seligman's and Cathy Parsons' favourite quotes:

“The purpose of life is to discover your gifts and the meaning of life is to give them away.” [Tweet this quote!]

Christel Löwenthal's favourite quote:

“You are the books you read, the films you watch, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are the sound of the ocean, the breathe of fresh air, the brightest light and darkest corner. You are a collective of every experience you have had in your life. You are every single day. So drown yourself in a sea of knowledge and existence. Let the words run through your veins and let the colors fill your mind.”

Sotiris Karagiannis's favourite positive psychology video:

Sotiris submitted this greatly inspiring video by Constantin Pilavios entitled 'Small pleasures' instead of a quote.

Christina Frederick's favourite quote on resilience:

“My barn having burned to the ground, I can now see the moon.” [Tweet this quote!]

Julian Saez's favourite quote:

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations [Tweet this quote!]

Shehwar Shikoh favourite quote:

“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent” [Tweet this quote!]

Larry Richard's favourite quote:

“Absence destroys small passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes tapers and kindles fires.” [Tweet this quote!]

Jon Inge's favourite quote:

“The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It’s overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt.” - Leo Buscaglia

Diana Luiza Mocanita's favourite quote:

“Promise me you will not spend so much time treading water and trying to keep your head above the waves that you forget, truly forget, how much you have always loved to swim.” - Tyler Knott Gregson

Trish Lui's favourite quote:

“Don’t aim at success – the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued. It must ensue, as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.” - Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Daniela Niesta Kayser's favourite quotes as images:

spend life with who makes you happy quote

John Thompson's two favourite quotes:

“Between the stimulus and response, there is a space and in that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning “Radical acceptance rests on letting go of the illusion of control and a willingness to notice and accept things as they are right now, without judging.” - Marsha Linehan, Ph.D.

Nerilee McKenzie's favourite quote:

“Life can show up no other way than that way in which you perceive it.” - Neale Donald Walsch [Tweet this quote!]

Alan Davidson's favourite quote:

“As long as anyone believes that his ideal and purpose is outside him, that it is above the clouds, in the past or in the future, he will go outside himself and seek fulfillment where it cannot be found. He will look for solutions and answers at every point except where they can be found – in himself.” - Erich Fromm

Agnes Bogdan's favourite positive psychology song:

Agnes send us this song which, according to her, expresses the very core of the positive psychology.

Asfia Sohail's favourite quote:

“Each breath in itself is joy if only we try to find Bliss in it.” [Tweet this quote!]

Sharifa Siddiqui's favourite quote (a personal favourite of mine as well!):

“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.” - Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Judie Al's favourite quote:

“If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” - Vincent Van Gogh [Tweet this quote!]

Jerry Grad's two favourite quotes:

“The answer lies within the question itself.” [Tweet this quote!] “Happiness cannot be attained by wanting to be happy - it must come as the unintended consequence of working for a goal greater than oneself.” - Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning [Tweet this quote!]

Birender Ahluwalia's favourite quote:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” [Tweet this quote!]

Santiago De Francisco's favourite quote:

“The good life is best construed as a matrix that includes happiness, occasional sadness, a sense of purpose, playfulness, and psychological flexibility, as well autonomy, mastery, and belonging.” - Robert Biswas-Diener

Nicole Downes' favourite quote:

“You don’t have to be the best at something. You just have to be the most determined.” - Lauren Burns, Australian Olympic Taekwondo Gold Medallist [Tweet this quote!]

Lilian Jans-Beken's favourite quote:

“Afhadali kutoa kuliko kupokea. Which is Swahili for: “It is better to give than to receive” [Tweet this quote!]

Marta Mendías' favourite quote:

“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” - Carl Jung [Tweet this quote!]

Razma Mazhar's favourite quote:

“When well-being comes from engaging our strengths and virtues, our lives are imbued with authenticity.” - Martin Seligman [Tweet this quote!]

Raymond Tieu's favourite quote:

“When you forgive others you dignify yourself.” [Tweet this quote!]

Samay Soni

“We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are, One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” - excerpt from Ulysses by Lord Alfred Tennyson

Christine Weinkauff found her favourite quote where you least expect it: on a sign in the middle of a small town in northwest Indiana. Respect!

Muhammad Nauman's favourite quote:

“Love For a cause not applause. Live to express,not to impress. Live by choice,not by chance. Make changes,not excuses. Be motivated,not manipulated. Work to excel,not to compete. Listen to your inner voice For therein lies the answer to life worth living”

Eamon O'Brien's favourite quote:

“In the depths of midwinter I finally learned there was an invisible summer” - Albert Camus [Tweet this quote!] Eamon remarked: I love simple thoughts that help me get perspective and some more self compassion “Life is unfair”, “The goalposts will move” and above all: “other people matter” - Chistopher Peterson

Herman Pouokam favourite poem.

Herman Pouokam advises us to read this poem by Rudyard Kipling for more inspiration.

Julie F. Troum's favourite quote:

“Purposeful action is thus the goal of all that is truly educative.” - Dewey (1935) Julie remarked: As an educator, my students find that having purpose leads to enjoyment and motivation. Find out more about Julie's work @ http://www.themotivatedmusician.com

Devaraju Kadari's favourite quote:

“By activating an expansive, tolerant, and creative mindset, positive feelings maximize the social, intellectual, and physical benefits that will accrue.” - Martin Seligman [Tweet this quote!]

Shirlynn Tan's favourite quote:

“The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination.” - Carl Rogers [Tweet this quote!]

Beth Cannarozzi's favourite quote:

“When you appreciate the good, the good appreciates.” - Tal Ben-Shahar [Tweet this quote!]

Felicity Dwyer's favourite quote:

“There’s nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.” - William Shakespeare [Tweet this quote!]

Raymond Tieu's favourite quotes:

“There are two things in life that cannot wait: fulfilling filial piety and doing good deeds.” [Tweet this quote!] “Recognize, appreciate and repay your parents' love.” - from Jing Si Aphorism by Master Cheng Yen [Tweet this quote!]

Jack Douglas Cerva's favourite quotes:

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson “When I am in New York, I want to be in Europe, and when I am in Europe, I want to be in New York.” - Woody Allen [Tweet this quote!]

Boy Smits' favourite quote:

“Be so happy that, when other people look at you, they become happy too.” [Tweet this quote!]

Rajeev Rajdeep's favourite quote:

“The universe stands aside for those people who know where they are going...” - Paulo Coelho [Tweet this quote!]

Hugo Alberts' favourite positive psychology quote:

“A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.” [Tweet this quote!]

Download the PDF

You can download all of these quotes and more as a PDF file (53kB) here.

What is your favourite positive psychology quote?

About the Author

With his work in positive psychology, Seph has been able to help tens of thousands of practitioners and educators all around the world. He strongly believes that we can deal with most of life's absurdities by leveraging human connection instead of dogma or pharmaceutical drugs. Get to know our whole team!

248 Comments

dilpreet July 6, 2018 at 9:15 am Reply

thanx for sharing this very good article
Honey mehra July 2, 2018 at 5:29 am Reply

all quotes are amazing and wonderful
Raju studio July 2, 2018 at 5:08 am Reply

thanx for sharing this quotes
Karim June 14, 2018 at 6:50 pm Reply

Thank’s for sharing great list of positive quotes it will help me to boost my motivational level
Anurag June 4, 2018 at 8:14 am Reply

Such wonderful read Seph.
Psychology has always interested me in a way or other. as I’ve had always a great interest in reading people’s mind, their thought process, what might they be thinking at that/what time. (ALL OF THAT)
Looking forward to more such posts. Thank you
Amrendra Chaurasiya May 31, 2018 at 4:10 pm Reply

Hey,Seph

Such a nice article. Very beautiful thoughts you collected over here. This happened to be very useful to me in many ways such as motivating me while I am in the tension of life and confused what to do. I wish you to keep doing the good work. thanks for sharing such a nice collection of beautiful thought
Renato April 7, 2018 at 9:44 am Reply

Love must be founded on gratitude.