best personal statement quotes

100 Quotes to Kickstart Your Personal Statement (with examples)

by Talha Omer, M.Eng., Cornell Grad

In personal statement tips & advice.

Starting your personal statement for university admissions can be a daunting task. It’s the first thing the admissions committee will read about you, and it needs to capture your unique voice, experiences, and aspirations in just a few words. So, where do you begin?

One effective way to start is with a powerful quote that reflects your values, interests, or goals.  

A great quote can set the tone for your essay, grab the reader’s attention, and showcase your personality and potential. In this blog post, I’ll explore quotes that you can draw from. I’ll also provide a couple of examples where successful candidates used quotes to begin their personal statements.

To make the process of selecting the perfect quote for your personal statement even easier, I’ve organized the list into categories that are common themes in personal statements. Whether you’re seeking to showcase your resilience, or creativity, I’ve got you covered with a range of quotes that can help you stand out from the crowd.  

In this Article

• Inspirational Quotes for personal statement 

Leadership Quotes for personal statement

Personal growth quotes for personal statement, academic quotes for personal statement, professional quotes for personal statement, cultural quotes for personal statement, creative quotes for personal statement, perseverance quotes for personal statement, inspirational quotes for personal statement  .

Inspirational quotes can be a great way to show your motivation, resilience, and determination. They can also help you communicate your values and beliefs and demonstrate your commitment to achieving your goals.

• “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
• “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
• “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
• “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
• “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean
• “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” – Maya Angelou
• “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
• “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.” – Malcolm X
• “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
• “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis 

Here is an example opening paragraph of a personal statement where the candidate used an inspirational quote to begin:

As a lifelong learner and problem-solver, I’ve always been drawn to the field of artificial intelligence. But it wasn’t until I read a quote by Alan Turing that I truly appreciated the transformative potential of this field: ‘We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.’ These words resonated with me deeply, and I realized that the possibilities of artificial intelligence are limited only by our imaginations and our willingness to take risks. Throughout my academic and professional journey, I’ve sought out opportunities to push the boundaries of what’s possible, from pursuing advanced degrees in computer science to working on cutting-edge research projects. Through these experiences, I’ve learned the importance of collaboration, innovation, and perseverance in tackling the toughest challenges facing our world today. And as I look forward to contributing to the field of artificial intelligence, I’m inspired by the limitless potential of this technology and committed to using it to make a positive impact on society.

Leadership quotes can help you showcase your ability to lead and inspire others, and your commitment to making a positive impact in your community. They can also demonstrate your understanding of the importance of teamwork, communication, and collaboration, which are essential skills in many fields of study and careers.

• “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” – John C. Maxwell
• “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” – John F. Kennedy
• “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
• “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” – Ronald Reagan
• “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams
• “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” – Warren Bennis
• “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” – Peter Drucker
• “The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” – Jim Rohn
• “The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.” – Tony Blair
• “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” – Ralph Nader

Here is an example opening paragraph of a personal statement where the candidate used a leadership quote to begin:

As an aspiring business leader, I am always striving to develop the qualities and characteristics that will enable me to make a positive impact in my chosen field. To me, leadership is not just about achieving success, but also about helping others to reach their full potential. That’s why I find inspiration in the words of former U.S. President John Quincy Adams, who once said, ‘If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.’ This quote captures the essence of what I believe it means to be a leader – to inspire, to guide, and to empower others to achieve their goals. I am committed to embodying these qualities as I pursue my education and career in business, with the goal of making a meaningful difference in the lives of those around me.

Personal growth is a lifelong process of learning, self-discovery, and personal development, and it’s an important aspect of personal and academic success. Using a personal growth quote in your personal statement can demonstrate your commitment to self-improvement, your willingness to learn and grow, and your ability to overcome challenges and setbacks.

• “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela
• “Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.” – W. Clement Stone
• “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison
• “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss
• “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
• “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas A. Edison
• “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
• “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” – Epictetus

These quotes can be particularly relevant for students who have excelled academically, or who are interested in pursuing a career in academia or research. Academic quotes can be used to demonstrate your knowledge, and intellectual curiosity, as well as your ability to think critically and engage with complex ideas. They can also show your dedication to your field of study and your commitment to academic excellence.

• “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
• “The aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values.” – William S. Burroughs
• “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” – W.B. Yeats
• “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X
• “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” – Socrates
• “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela
• “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” – B.B. King
• “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” – John Dewey
• “Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
• “Education is the movement from darkness to light.” – Allan Bloom 

These quotes can be used to demonstrate your understanding and passion for your chosen field, as well as your commitment to excellence and professionalism. They can also be used to highlight specific skills or achievements that you have acquired in your professional pursuits, such as teamwork, problem-solving, or leadership.

• “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius
• “Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.” – David Rockefeller
• “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.” – Colin Powell
• “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” – Chris Grosser
• “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
• “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

These quotes can help you showcase your appreciation and understanding of cultural diversity, your willingness to learn from different perspectives, and your interest in contributing to the global community. They can also be used to highlight any experiences or achievements that you have had in cultural immersion, cross-cultural communication, or intercultural exchange.  

• “No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive.” – Mahatma Gandhi
• “Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.” – Jawaharlal Nehru
• “Culture makes people understand each other better. And if they understand each other better in their soul, it is easier to overcome the economic and political barriers.” – Paulo Coelho
• “Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.” – Rita Mae Brown
• “Culture is not a luxury, but a necessity for every society.” – Pearl S. Buck
• “Culture is the arts elevated to a set of beliefs.” – Thomas Wolfe
• “Culture is the sum total of all the things that make a society distinctive.” – Clifford Geertz
• “The beauty of culture is that it evolves through time and generations, shaping our values and beliefs.” – Chinua Achebe
• “The richness of our culture reflects the diversity of our people.” – Unknown
• “Culture is the window reflecting the soul of a nation.” – Wang Meng

They can also be used if you want to showcase your ability to think outside the box or to approach problems in a creative and innovative way, regardless of your field of study.

• “Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought.” – Albert Einstein
• “The creative adult is the child who survived.” – Ursula K. Le Guin
• “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” – Sylvia Plath
• “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” – Albert Einstein
• “Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse
• “To be creative means to be in love with life.” – Osho
• “The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.” – Julia Cameron
• “The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good’ sense.” – Pablo Picasso
• “Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” – Dorothy Parker
• “Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” – Albert Einstein

Perseverance is a universal quality that is admired by all, and demonstrating a strong work ethic and determination to overcome challenges can be valuable in any academic or professional setting. Whether you have overcome personal obstacles or worked hard to achieve academic or professional success, using a perseverance quote can be a powerful way to convey your resilience and determination to admissions committees.  

• “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas Edison
• “I have failed again and again throughout my life. That’s why I am a success.” – Michael Jordan
• “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” – Walter Elliot
• “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” – Michael Jordan
• “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe
• “Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” – Christian D. Larson
• “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison
• “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
• “The only thing that stands between you and your dream is the story you keep telling yourself that you can’t achieve it.” – Jordan Belfort
• “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” – Newt Gingrich
• I hope these quotes provide some inspiration and ideas for your personal statement! Remember, choose quotes that speak to you personally and help showcase your unique strengths and qualities to the admissions committee.

Selecting the right quote to begin your personal statement can be a powerful tool to help you stand out in the admissions process. By choosing a quote that resonates with you and reflects your unique qualities and aspirations, you can set the tone for your personal statement and make a memorable first impression on the admissions team.

Whether you choose a quote about perseverance, leadership, or anything else, make sure it authentically represents who you are and what you hope to achieve. With these inspiring quotes as your guide, you’ll be one step closer to crafting a personal statement that showcases your strengths, character, and potential.

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101 Inspirational Quotes for Personal Statements: Crafting Your Personal Story

In this article, we’ve compiled a list of inspirational quotes to help you write a compelling and inspiring personal statement that showcases your unique qualities, experiences, and aspirations. From words of wisdom to motivational reminders, these quotes are perfect for inspiring you to stay authentic, embrace self-care, and tell your story with confidence. So, if you’re looking to create a personal statement that stands out and gets noticed or know someone who is, keep reading for 101 uplifting quotes that will inspire and empower you to craft a statement that reflects the best of who you are.

101 Inspirational Quotes for Personal Statements

1. “Your dreams are the blueprints of your destiny; dare to build them with courage and perseverance.”

2. “The greatest adventure you can embark on is the journey to discover your true self.”

3. “In the face of adversity, remember that your strength lies within your ability to rise again.”

4. “Life’s challenges are not stumbling blocks but stepping stones towards greatness.”

5. “Be the master of your fate, the captain of your soul, and the architect of your dreams.”

6. “Embrace uncertainty, for within it lies the potential for extraordinary growth.”

7. “Your past does not define you; it prepares you for the brilliance of your future.”

8. “Success is not measured by your accomplishments but by the positive impact you leave on others.”

9. “The pursuit of knowledge is a lifelong endeavor that fuels the fire of wisdom within.”

10. “Believe in the power of your unique voice, for it has the potential to change the world.”

11. “Cherish the present, for it is the canvas upon which you paint your future.”

12. “When you embrace authenticity, you radiate a light that inspires others to do the same.”

13. “It’s in the darkest of nights that the stars within you shine the brightest.”

14. “Kindness is a ripple that can turn into a wave of transformation and love.”

15. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”

16. “Every step forward, no matter how small, propels you closer to your aspirations.”

17. “Be the conductor of your life’s symphony, guiding it with passion and purpose.”

18. “The more you love yourself, the more you have to give to others.”

19. “Dare to see the world as a canvas of possibilities and let your imagination paint the future.”

20. “Your journey may be unique, but your destination is always within reach.”

21. “Embrace failure as a stepping stone, and you’ll pave a path to success.”

22. “The greatest joy is not in receiving but in giving with a compassionate heart.”

23. “Your mind is a garden; cultivate thoughts that bloom into greatness.”

24. “The seeds of success are sown with patience, nurtured by determination, and harvested with gratitude.”

25. “Choose courage over comfort, and you’ll unlock the door to transformation.”

26. “In the tapestry of life, your individuality weaves a thread of brilliance.”

27. “Adopt a mindset of abundance, and you’ll attract boundless opportunities.”

28. “Rise above the noise of doubt, and let your faith guide you to victory.”

29. “Every sunrise brings a new chance to embrace the extraordinary in the ordinary.”

30. “The key to unlocking your potential is within your willingness to take risks.”

31. “Success is not a destination but a continuous journey of self-improvement.”

32. “You are the author of your story; wield the pen with purpose and passion.”

33. “The world needs your unique gifts; don’t hide them, but let them shine.”

34. “A single act of kindness can ignite a spark that brightens the lives of many.”

35. “Look beyond the horizon of doubt, and you’ll discover a realm of endless possibilities.”

36. “Your thoughts shape your reality; choose them wisely to create a masterpiece.”

37. “Life’s challenges are opportunities in disguise, leading you towards growth and resilience.”

38. “The pursuit of knowledge is not a race but a beautiful journey of self-discovery.”

39. “Embrace your imperfections, for they are the brushstrokes that make you a masterpiece.”

40. “Courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it; be brave and stand tall.”

41. “The secret to success lies in finding joy in the process of becoming.”

42. “Celebrate the small victories, for they fuel the motivation to achieve greater triumphs.”

43. “Live with intention, and you’ll find purpose in every step of your journey.”

44. “Your potential knows no bounds; unlock it with unwavering self-belief.”

45. “The power of a positive mindset can turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones.”

46. “Seize the present moment, for it is the gift that shapes your future.”

47. “In the depths of struggle, you’ll discover the strength that resides within you.”

48. “Kindness is the language that transcends barriers and unites hearts.”

49. “Cherish the lessons of the past, but let the present define your future.”

50. “The road to success is often winding, but every turn brings valuable lessons.”

51. “Believe in your dreams, for they hold the seeds of a future yet to bloom.”

52. “Success is not an accident but the result of purposeful dedication and hard work.”

53. “Life is a canvas; paint it with the vibrant colors of love and compassion.”

54. “Let your actions be the song of inspiration that resonates with the world.”

55. “In the dance of life, let passion be your guide, and purpose your partner.”

56. “The power of resilience lies in bouncing back stronger after every setback.”

57. “Your potential is limitless; it is the courage to pursue it that sets you free.”

58. “The greatest gift you can give to the world is the true expression of yourself.”

59. “Embrace the journey of self-discovery, for it leads to profound transformation.”

60. “Success is not found in perfection but in the beauty of imperfection.”

61. “Your story is a tapestry woven with threads of perseverance and triumph.”

62. “Rise above the noise of doubt, and your wings will carry you to great heights.”

63. “The ripple effect of kindness can change the world one heart at a time.”

64. “In the pursuit of knowledge, you’ll find the treasures that enrich your soul.”

65. “Celebrate the uniqueness that sets you apart, and let it be your guiding star.”

66. “The path to success is carved with purpose, passion, and an unyielding spirit.”

67. “Your dreams are the seeds of possibility; water them with action and dedication.”

68. “The key to happiness lies in embracing the journey rather than the destination.”

69. “Be the architect of your dreams, and your vision will become a reality.”

70. “Life’s challenges are stepping stones leading you to the strength within.”

71. “Kindness is a beacon of light that illuminates even the darkest paths.”

72. “Your potential knows no limits; it is bound only by the depths of your belief.”

73. “In the symphony of life, play the melody of your heart with purpose and passion.”

74. “The pursuit of knowledge enriches the soul and opens doors to endless possibilities.”

75. “Success is not defined by accolades but by the impact you leave on others.”

76. “Life’s journey is a canvas; let your actions paint a masterpiece of love and compassion.”

77. “The path to success may be challenging, but your determination will lead you to triumph.”

78. “Embrace the lessons of the past, the opportunities of the present, and the promise of the future.”

79. “Your uniqueness is your superpower; embrace it and let it shine brightly.”

80. “The road to success is paved with resilience, determination, and unwavering faith.”

81. “In the garden of life, cultivate seeds of positivity to bloom into greatness.”

82. “Success is not a destination but a continuous journey of growth and improvement.”

83. “Your story is a masterpiece in the making; create it with purpose and passion.”

84. “The power of kindness can heal wounds and bridge divides.”

85. “Life’s challenges are opportunities to discover the strength within you.”

86. “Your dreams are the compass guiding you to the life you’re destined to lead.”

87. “Embrace the uncertainties of life, for they lead to remarkable discoveries.”

88. “Success is the art of turning setbacks into stepping stones for progress.”

89. “In the grand tapestry of life, your uniqueness weaves a thread of brilliance.”

90. “Cherish the moments of struggle, for they shape the person you become.”

91. “Let your light shine brightly, inspiring others to ignite their own flames.”

92. “The pursuit of knowledge is a journey that fuels the fire of wisdom within.”

93. “Your potential is a vast ocean of possibilities; dive into it with courage.”

94. “In the orchestra of life, let your passion play the sweetest melody.”

95. “The power of resilience lies in rising stronger after every fall.”

96. “Kindness is a language that transcends barriers and brings hearts together.”

97. “Your dreams are the stars guiding you towards your true purpose.”

98. “Life’s challenges are opportunities for growth and self-discovery.”

99. “Believe in yourself, for your potential knows no bounds.”

100. “Success is not found in the destination but in the journey itself.”

101. “Embrace your uniqueness, for it holds the key to your greatness.”

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Essay Examples 20 Personal Statement Examples That Stand Out + Why They Work

This is your ultimate list of Personal Statement examples.

In this post, you'll learn:

• What makes a successful Personal Statement
• How to write an irresistible Personal Statement
• Ivy League personal essay examples

If you're looking to read and write Personal Statement essays, you've found the right place.

In this post, I'm going to share everything you need to go from zero to having a Personal Statement essay you can be proud of.

This guide will help you get started writing an engaging Personal Statement essay. Or if you already have one, how to make it even better.

What is a Personal Statement Essay?

A personal statement, also called a statement of purpose (SOP) or personal essay, is a piece of creative, personal writing.

The purpose of your personal statement is to express yourself and your ideas. Personal statements usually aren't piece of formal writing, but still should be thoughtful and planned out.

Many applications for colleges, graduate schools, and scholarships require you to write a personal statement.

How to Write a Personal Statement Essay

While there are no rules or guidelines for writing a personal statement, the best ones often have these in common:

Have Strong Ideas:

Having compelling and interesting ideas shows you are a strong thinker.

It isn't necessarily about having all the answers, but asking the right questions.

For personal statement essays, the quality of your ideas matters more than your writing level. Writing interestingly is more important than writing beautifully.

I’ve stopped tripping over my own feet, and it’s led to me not being afraid to connect and interact with patients and customers or present in front of large crowds. Life is just one long Carioca – you might stumble at first, but if you keep pushing, the right feet will find themselves in the right place. From an accepted essay to UNC at Chapel Hill →

Be Authentic

Writing authentic essays means writing from the heart.

The best personal statements tend to come naturally, because the writer is excited about the topic.

Choose an idea that makes you feel excited to write about and start writing.

As you begin drafting, ideas will naturally arise related to your original idea. Exploring these tangential ideas is what leads to even better reflections for your essay.

That's why it's so important to be genuinely passionate about your subject. You can't just have an interest "in the topic," but there has to be something deeper you're writing about that moves you.

Use Narratives and Story-Telling:

Humans are naturally drawn to stories.

And often the best insights and ideas come from real life experiences.

Telling a story, or many, is the basis for developing your analysis and ideas. Remember, all stories need conflict in order to work.

It can help to think about the different types of conflict.

• Character vs. Self
• Character vs. Character
• Character vs. Nature
• Character vs. Society

And so on...

Once you've written a meaningful story, getting insights is as simple as answering the question: What did your experiences teach you?

The sounds of my knife striking kale unnerves my cat asleep in the corner. He quickly runs over to examine the situation but becomes instantly uninterested when he sees green and smells bitterness. Unfortunately, my family has this same reaction every day of every week. From an accepted essay to University of Southern California →

Showcase Your Values and Identity:

The purpose of a personal statement is to tell about who you are.

Personal statements are your opportunity to showcase what your values are, and how you would contribute to the school, scholarship opportunity, etc.

Good writers are those who write authentically. Write about your unique ideas and ask interesting questions, even if you don't know the answers.

How Long Should a Personal Statement Be?

A typical personal statement can range in length from 500 to 650 words or more.

For applying to colleges, the Common Application essay personal statement has a word limit of 650 words.

For graduate school programs, the application essay will vary in length, but most schools require a personal statement essay of at least 500 words.

20 Personal Statement Essays That Worked

It can be difficult to understand what makes a great essay without seeing some for yourself.

Here's 20 of our favorite personal statement essays that we've chosen for being unique and high-quality.

There essays were all accepted into some of the most selective schools. And while it isn't the only factor in admissions that matters, having outstanding essays can help tip the scales in your favor.

Table of Contents

Prompt: Background, Identity, or Interest

• 1. Uncomfortable Truths
• 2. Romanian Heritage
• 3. Film and Theater
• 4. Person of the Woods
• 5. Beautiful Walks

Prompt: Lessons from Obstacles

• 6. My Father
• 7. Self-Determination
• 8. Game Design Music
• 9. Speech and Debate

Prompt: Questioned or Challenged a Belief

• 10. Finding Answers

Prompt: Accomplishment, Event, or Realization

• 11. Connecting with Others
• 12. Summer Confidence
• 13. First Impressions
• 14. Law Career
• 15. Growing Up Asian

Prompt: Engaging Topic, Idea, or Concept

• 16. Secrets of Riddles
• 17. Rubik's Cube
• 18. Narrative Diversity

Prompt: Any Topic of Your Choice

• 19. Search for Dreams
• 20. Recipe for Success

Personal Statement Example #1: Uncomfortable Truths

This is a personal statement that worked for Princeton . It is outstanding for many reasons, but most of all because of its ideas and the thoughtfulness put into organizing them.

Common App Prompt #1: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. (250-650 words)

Why This Essay Works:

Having a unifying idea is key to successful personal statements. Find your deepest idea or realization and focus your essay around that.

Find a way to showcase your achievements while connecting to broader, more universal ideas.

Connecting your ending to your beginning is a powerful way to bring your essay full circle. A great conclusion expands on your ideas introduced earlier, while leaving some room for more to be said.

Personal Statement Example #2: Film and Theater

This student's essay was accepted to USC , among other top schools. It's topic is seemingly simple—taking walks—but the author brilliantly shows how even in the mundane there can be meaningful reflections.

This essay has lots of moments where the author's character comes across vividly. By using conversational language and interjections like "I want to—no, need—to...", the author has a clear "voice" and you can easily imagine them as if they were speaking directly to you. This student also showcases self-awareness and a sense of humor, by using slightly self-deprecating phrases like "some chubby, nerdy girl" and by recognizing how the social approval of sitting with the "popular girls" was enthralling at the time. Self-awareness is a highly valuable trait to portray, because it shows that you're able to reflect on both your strengths and weaknesses, which is a skill needed to be able to grow and develop.

This author manages to tie in their activity of producing films and reference them specifically ("Cardboard Castles") by connecting them to their main point. Instead of listing their activities or referencing them out-of-the-blue, they show how these accomplishments are perfect examples of a greater message. In this case, that message is how meaningful it is to connect with others through storytelling. To write about your activities and achievements without seeming arbitrary or boastful, make them have a specific purpose in your essay: connect to a value, idea, or use them as examples to show something.

In the intro of this essay, there are some descriptions that seem fiction-like and are ultimately unimportant to the main idea. Sentences that describe Mrs. Brewer's appearance or phrases describing how their teacher stood up after talking to them ultimately don't contribute to the story. Although these provide "context," the only context that admissions are interested in is context and details which have a purpose. Avoid writing like fiction books, which describe all the characters and settings, and instead only describe exactly what is needed to "go somewhere" in your essay.

What They Might Improve:

This essay has a strong hook which captivates the reader by making them ask a question: "What are these lunch-time horror stories?" By sparking the reader's imagination early on, you can draw them into your writing and be more engaged. However, ultimately this is somewhat of a letdown because these intriguing "lunch-time horror stories" are never described. Although it may not be completely necessary for the main point, describing one example or hinting at it more closely would be satisfying for the reader and still connect to the main idea of storytelling. One idea is to replace the conclusion with a reference to these "lunch-time horror stories" more vividly, which would be a satisfying ending that also could connect to filmmaking and storytelling. In general, anticipate what the reader will be looking for, and either use that expectation to your advantage by subverting it, or give them what they want as a satisfying, meaningful conclusion.

Although this conclusion could work as is, it could be stronger by seeming less arbitrary and less "fancy for fancy sake." Often, a good strategy is to connect your conclusion to something earlier in your essay such as your introduction or specific wording that you used throughout. In this essay, it could work much better to end by revealing one of those "lunch-time horror stories" in a way that also emphasizes their main point: how storytelling is a powerful tool to connect people.

Personal Statement Example #3: Romanian Heritage

This personal statement worked for UMichigan , among many other top schools like MIT, Rice, UNC at Chapel Hill , University of Pittsburgh, UW Madison, and more.

This author is able to vividly bring you into their world using cultural references and descriptive writing. You can practically taste and smell Buni's kitchen through her words.

This essay starts off by posing a challenge, which is typical of essays. But rather than showing how they overcame this particular challenge of speaking Romanian without an accent, this reader shows how something unexpected—baking—came to satisfy what was missing all along. By the end, this creates a conclusion that is both surprising, connected to the beginning, and makes perfect sense once you've read it. In other words, the conclusion is inevitable, but also surprising in content.

This student uses Romanian words to help exemplify the culture and language. If you're writing about a culture, using foreign language words can be a compelling way of adding depth to your essay. By including specific terms like "muni" and "cornulete," it shows a depth of knowledge which cannot be faked. Always use specific, tangible language where possible, because it is "evidence" that you know what you're talking about.

This student exhibits strong self-awareness by noting characteristics about themself, even some which may not be the most glamorous ("can be overbearing at times, stubborn in the face of offered help"). Rather than telling the reader flat out about these personal attributes, they are able to discuss them by connecting to another person—their grandmother Buni. Using another person to showcase your own character (through comparison or contrast) is a literary "foil," which can be an effective way of showing your character without stating it outright, which generally is boring and less convincing.

This student doesn't focus on surface-level ideas like "how they got better at speaking Romanian." Instead, they reflect in a creative way by connecting the Romanian language to baking. Revealing unseen connections between topics is a great way to show that you're a thoughtful and clever thinker. Ultimately, having unique ideas that are specific to you is what will create a compelling essay, and this essay is a perfect example of what that could look like.

Personal Statement Example #4: Person of the Woods

This essay was accepted into Dartmouth College . It is a brilliant example of showing how any experience, even those which originally may have been unpleasant, can be the topic of meaningful reflection.

Using visuals, like descriptions of scenarios and environments, can help bring the reader into your world. However, make sure that all of your descriptions are relevant to your main point, or else they could be distracting. For example, in this essay it would be unnecessary to describe what they're wearing or the appearance of canoes, but it makes sense to describe the nature as it relates to the main topic.

People are not isolated units. Instead, everyone depends on and is defined by those around them. By showing how you relate and connect with other people, you can provide insights into your character. In this essay, the student does a great job of delving into their strong friendships, particularly what they've learned from their friends.

Admissions officers love to see self-growth. Showing how your perspective on something has changed (in this case, how they went from disliking to loving an activity) conveys a development of your character. Ask yourself: what preconceived notions did I have before, and how did they change? This student reflects in a humble way, by first emphasizing what they've learned from others, before offering up what they might have contributed themselves. Always try to have a tone of gratitude in your essays because it makes you more likeable and shows strong character.

Personal Statement Example #5: Beautiful Walks

Personal Statement Example #6: My Father's Death

This personal statement was admitted to Michigan in recent years. It is an outstanding example of how you can write about topics that are often cliché if done poorly, such as the death of a family member.

But unlike other essays, this one works because it has a unique take and genuine approach to the topic that makes it come off as heartfelt.

Common App Prompt #2: The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? (250-650 words)

Writing about a tragedy like a loss of a parent is a tricky topic for college essays. Many students feel obligated to choose that topic if it applies to them, but it can be challenging to not come across as trying to garner sympathy ("sob story"). This student does a graceful job of focusing on positive elements from their father's legacy, particularly the inspiration they draw from him.

This student does a great job of connecting their educational and career aspirations to their background. Admissions officers want to understand why you're pursing what you are, and by explaining the origin of your interests, you can have compelling and genuine reasons why.

In this essay, the student writes from their hypothetical perspective as an infant. This doesn't quite work because they likely wouldn't remember these moments ("I have no conscious memories of him"), but still writes as though they do. By writing about things you haven't seen or experienced yourself, it can come across as "made up" or inauthentic.

Personal Statement Example #7: Self-Determination

Some of the best essay topics are dealing with challenges you've faced, because difficulties make it easier to reflect upon what you've learned. Admissions officers ultimately are looking for self-growth, and showing how you've handled personal challenges can demonstrate your new understandings as a result. However, avoid talking about "tragedy" or difficulty without a clear purpose. Don't write about it because you think "you should," only write about challenges if they are true to yourself and you have something meaningful and unique to say about them. Otherwise, it can come off as trying to garner sympathy (i.e. "sob stories") which admissions officers generally dislike.

More convincing than telling admissions officers, is presenting them with "evidence" and allowing them to come to the conclusion themselves. If you want to show the idea "I couldn't learn due to this condition," it is far more effective to do what this student did and say, "I'd just finished learning complex trig identities, and I now couldn't even count to ten." When drafting, it is normal and okay to start off with more "telling" as you get your ideas on paper. But as your essay progresses, you should transform those moments of "telling" into more powerful and convincing moments of "showing."

Having meaningful reflections is a critical part of having compelling essays. But make sure your takeaways are not surface-level or generic. Each admissions officer has likely read thousands of essays, so they are well aware of the common ideas and tropes. Avoid cliché ideas at all costs, because it comes across as forgettable and unoriginal. Instead, it is okay to start with surface-level ideas, but keep asking yourself probing questions like "Why" and "How" to push your ideas deeper.

This essay tells a nice story of overcoming their physical impediment, but ultimately lacks meaningful reflections in the conclusion. Too much time is spent on "the problem" and not enough on how they overcame it. Your conclusion should have your best, most compelling ideas in your entire essay. Try ending your essay by connecting to the beginning with a new perspective, expanding on your idea with a new takeaway, or connecting to broader, more universal themes. Avoid having a conclusion that "sounds nice," but ultimately is lacking in meaningful content.

Personal Statement Example #8: Game Design Music

This essay was admitted into Cornell University . It discusses a common conflict of ideology that comes with pursuing the arts. What the author does brilliantly is show how that conflict was reconciled, as well as how it changed their perspective.

My mom used to tell me this a lot. She’d always disapproved of my passion for the arts.

In this essay, the author does a fantastic job of showing how they are thoughtful in considering the perspectives of others, even though they may disagree. Showing that you can entertain ideas that you may disagree with is an admirable trait that admissions officers love to see, because intellectual discussion is all about trying to see other people's views. When writing about things that you may disagree with, try to play devil's advocate and see things from their point of view. Doing so will make you come off as thoughtful, understanding, and inquisitive, and it will strengthen your own viewpoint if you can identify arguments against it.

The best essays help admissions officers understand how you think about things. One strategy is to offer up questions to explore. These can be questions that arose during a particular moment or questions that you're reflecting upon right now. By using questions in your essay, you'll also present yourself as a thoughtful and curious thinker. Ultimately, you want to help the reader see things from your perspective by showing your thought process.

A good starting place for reflection can be in comparing and contrasting different topics. This could finding the similarities and differences in an extracurricular and an academic class, or any other number of things. By finding the similarities in things often thought of as "opposing," or finding the differences in things thought of as "similar," you can get to interesting ideas. Comparisons are useful because they force you to think from a different viewpoint. For example in this essay: How does "programming" relate to "song lyrics"?

This essay ends on a note that feels somewhat off-topic and not as interesting as their main idea. The conclusion leaves more to be wanted, as the reader ends up thinking: Are you simply seeking the approval of your parents? Or are you carving your own path in life? Or does the answer lie somewhere in between? Avoid ending your essay with a tangential idea. Instead, a strong conclusion is often closely related to the main point of your essay, but with a slight twist. By planning out your essay before writing, you can make sure that each point (from start to finish) connects the way you want it to and that your conclusion ends on a strong, well-connected note.

Personal Statement Example #9: Speech and Debate

I was still high off the competition, poring over ballots by the soft streetlights as we drove. “Are you sure you want to do this?” My Dad was worried about me. Worried about my world crashing down around me, losing friends, being crushed by hate. Scarred by controversy. I laughed it off, and we rode in silence.

Fast forward to my second or third year in the league. I wanted to have some fun. I emailed the regional coordinator, asking if there’s a rule against a speech advocating for same-sex marriage.

This essay has lots of interesting ideas about having discussions between people of different viewpoints. This student is able to reflect sincerely about what the benefit of that dialogue is ("iron sharpening iron") and able to draw meaningful conclusions ("hope lives in that laughter") that express deeper ideas. By focusing on these compelling reflections, this student shows themself as a brilliant and thoughtful thinker, while demonstrating what they value: discourse between opposing viewpoints. Rather than focusing on the literal happenings (i.e. giving a speech to their club), the student reflects on what that experience represents more broadly, which allows them to connect to deeper ideas.

This essay is full of details, without being wordy or drawn out. Even small details like naming the show "The Daily Show" or giving a number of "40,000+ theologies" makes their writing much more engaging and compelling. By avoiding broad and vague language, this student paints a fascinating picture that allows the reader to enter their world. It is always better to be specific than to be generic, but make sure that the specific details are always relevant to your point. This essay is a great example of how to do both.

This essay does a fantastic job of creating a "voice." That is, you can easily imagine the student as if they were speaking to you while reading it. To craft this voice, this student uses small moments of more informal language and interjecting remarks that show their thought process. Using parentheses can be a good way to show your voice by jumping in when you have a small remark to add. This student also demonstrates a sense of humor and lightheartedness while still discussing meaningful ideas. The sarcastic remark "because controversy has no place in a debate club!" demonstrates their values (of dialogue between differing viewpoints) as well as showing their sense of personality.

This essay's weakest point is its intro or "hook." In fact, it could work much better by excluding the introduction paragraph and starting off with the second paragraph: "Forgive the melodrama: this is a story..." That short phrase is much more captivating and immediately draws the reader in. The introduction paragraph in this essay is too much of a meandering and vague story: you don't know what they're talking about, and ultimately it doesn't matter. Rather than using a fancy story or descriptions to introduce your essay, try jumping into the "meat" of your essay immediately. Consider using a short, declarative sentence or phrase like "Forgive the melodrama" as a hook, which is more impactful and draws the reader immediately into your essay.

Personal Statement Example #10: Finding Answers

Common App Prompt #3: Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? (250-650 words)

My grandmother’s concern faded rather quickly as sirens fell distant and time passed.

After about 30 minutes, my grandfather’s friend ran toward the beach. My grandfather was not next to him. He was not there at all. At that moment, my grandma knew.

“Burt...he was with me...he slipped...he fell...I ran down the side of the mountain, off the trail, but I couldn’t find him. The park rangers are looking...” She stopped listening. She could see his lips moving, yet she heard nothing.

This essay repeats a lot of the same ideas or information, just using different words. Rather than "getting to the point," this repetition makes the essay feel meandering and like it is going nowhere ultimately. When drafting your essay, it is okay to have repetition (your drafts shouldn't be perfect, after all). But when editing, ask yourself with each sentence: does this add something new? Is this necessary to my main point? If not, you should exclude those sentences.

This essay starts off with a drawn-out story of the tragedy involving the author's grandfather. Most of this story is unnecessary, because all that really matters for this student's main idea is the fact that their grandfather passed away from a tragic accident. Details about his grandmother or his grandfather's best friend are unnecessary and distracting.

An important "rule" in college essays is to only write from your perspective. That is, don't describe things that you couldn't have seen or experienced. In this essay, the author spends a lot of time describing their grandfather's incident as if they was there to witness it. But we later learn that the author was not even alive at this point, so how could they be describing these things? On a smaller level, don't describe yourself from an outside perspective. For example, instead of, "I grimaced when I heard the news" (how did you see yourself grimace?) you could say, "I felt my stomach pang when I heard the news."

Your ideas are most valuable in your essays. Admissions officers want to see how you think, and having interesting ideas that are unique to you is how you demonstrate that you're thoughtful and insightful. Avoid surface-level ideas at all costs, as it comes off cliché. It is okay to start with more generic ideas, but you should always delve deeper. To get at deeper and more unique ideas, the key is to ask yourself questions. For example: Why is this the case? Why don't things work differently? What does this mean for other people? What does this represent? How can I apply this to other areas of life?

Personal Statement Example #11: Connecting with Others

Common App Prompt #5: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. (250-650 words)

It's important to create a "voice" in your personal statement, so that admissions officers can imagine your character and personality. Try to write as you would speak, but refined and polished. In this essay, natural-sounding phrases like "...let me admit, I was awful..." humanizes the author and makes the reader feel like they're being spoken to.

This essay is a perfect example of how effective essays don't need to have a super unusual story to be compelling. What makes this essay's story compelling is not necessarily the topic itself (meeting distant relatives), but instead how the student reflects and makes interesting connections to broader ideas. Even seemingly mundane experiences can make for meaningful personal statements topics.

This conclusion works well by connecting to the main story of the essay. However, certain phrases like "As a global citizen" and "I am hoping to forge relationships" are potentially too generic. Instead, try taking your main idea (in this case forming connections with others) and broaden it or connect to more universal ideas.

Personal Statement Example #12: Summer Confidence

This essay has a heartfelt moment where the author connects deeply with a camper and feels a sense of genuine gratitude. By showing their newfound connection with a person they were mentoring, this creates a sense of humanity and also tells a lot about the author themself. By talking about other people in your life, you create a literary "foil" which in turn describes something about yourself. Showing how you interact with others can be telling into your character, such as showing your empathy, sense of humor, friendliness, or how you draw inspiration from others.

This essay does a good job of expressing vulnerability, specifically the author's fears about the future and "deteriorating friendships" after going to college. By being vulnerable, these moments feel more relatable to the reader. Showing your struggles (especially emotional ones) can also make your later "successes" feel more impactful when you show how you've overcame them or persist in face of those struggles. By recognizing your flaws or insecurities, you also show self-awareness, which is a positive trait because you need to be self-aware in order to improve the areas of yourself you want to fix.

Although this essay does reflect upon the lessons learned during their time at this camp, the takeaways are ultimately surface-level and not delved into. Rather than saying things like "I had more confidence," it would be more engaging to show how that confidence made an effect and what exactly that "confidence" meant. This essay touches upon some meaningful lessons, but ultimately they fall flat because the nuances of these lessons are glossed over. Phrases like "upon further consideration it no longer fills me with...apprehension" don't delve into the most interesting part: How and why did that fear go away? What changed about your perspective and why? Instead, these are explained away with "confidence and maturity," which are too broad of terms and feel meaningless because they are overused in essays.

In your personal statement, it is completely OK to reference people by their first name. Using names makes your essay more vivid and engaging, while showing a deeper connection that you have with others. Rather than saying "other people" or "one of the older campers," it would be more impactful to use their first name. There are some caveats, however. Don't use their name if you're showing them in a negative light (which you probably shouldn't do anyway) or if you're revealing something personal about them. If you are revealing something personal, you can substitute their name for another name, or ask them for their direct permission.

Personal Statement Example #13: First Impressions

It had a nice ring to it, but I wasn’t a fan. Unfortunately, that’s what I imagined everyone saw first, and first impressions stick.

A caveat of my surgery was that the hair would grow, then one-third would fall off. My scar will never be completely gone, but I no longer feel defined by it like I did in elementary school.

An effective hook doesn't need to be complicated. Often, the best hooks are simple, declarative sentences. By using a short sentence, you'll immediately draw the reader into your essay and create a point of emphasis. In general, avoid long and meandering sentences to start your essay, and save those for later in your essay. Clear and succinct phrasing is often the hallmark of a strong hook.

To convey your ideas more strongly, show them using concrete examples. In this essay, the author does a great job of that by not saying "classmates only saw me for my scar," but instead showing that idea through the memorable image of "I learned about my classmates through their lunchbox covers...they saw me as the boy with the scar." Using tangible imagery makes for a compelling way of expressing your ideas, as it allows the reader to come to the conclusions you want them to, without just "telling" them.

Avoid exaggerating or "fluffing up" experiences in your essays. Instead, be realistic and tell them for what they are. This essay does that perfectly by using phrases like "I didn't have a sudden epiphany about my scar." Avoid using phrases like "suddenly, I..." which are often overused and unrealistic. Most new understandings aren't acquired in one moment in particular, but are developed over time.

This essay touches on some compelling ideas, such as how people can distill down other people into their physical attributes or ailments. However, it would be even stronger to delve deeper into these reflections by asking further questions: Why do we gravitate towards "categorizing" people based on surface-level attributes? What is the impact of only be acknowledged for surface-level characteristics by others, but knowing that you have much more depth to your character? This essay has some meaningful ideas, but other ideas such as "I can be whatever I want to be" feel surface-level and somewhat generic.

Personal Statement Example #14: Law Career

One great way to have interesting ideas is to show things that you find fascinating that other people may find boring. This essay describes how a judge mandating "reprimands for speeding tickets might be dull for some," but how they find it interesting. Everything, even the seemingly mundane, has interesting aspects if you're willing to look closely enough. When brainstorming, ask yourself: what do I find fascinating that others find boring? What do I think is "fun" while others may think it is "hard" or boring? By following these threads, you can often find unique and compelling ideas that allow you to bring the reader into your world and show them how you see the world uniquely.

A common trap when writing a personal statement is to use a descriptive, fiction-like story to start your essay. Although this may sound like a good idea, it is often ineffective because it buries what is most interesting (your ideas and reflections) and can easily be long and drawn out. Short, concise stories with a focus can be effective introductions, but in general avoid overly descriptive storytelling to start your essay. Also, avoid describing things that aren't critical to your main point. There is little to no benefit in describing things like "I smoothed my skirt and rose slowly from the chair." Focus on why your stories matter, rather than telling stories in a descriptive manner.

This essay does have some reflections, particularly about how the author discovered their passion for law by joining the Youth Court. However, most of these ideas end there, and there aren't any deep, unique ideas. The closest the author comes to having a unique and compelling idea is the final sentence where they write "the value of prioritizing the common good above individual success." This could be a fascinating topic to explore, but ultimately is cut short because it is tagged onto the ending. Your focus when brainstorming and drafting should be to have specific and original ideas—ideas that are not generic, not cliché, and not surface-level. To get to those ideas, ask yourself probing questions like "Why" and "How" over and over.

Personal Statement Example #15: My Asian Experience

Personal Statement Example #16: Secrets of Riddles

Common App Prompt #6: Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? (250-650 words)

As I was going to St. Ives, Upon the road I met seven wives; Every wife had seven sacks, Every sack had seven cats: Cats, sacks, and wives, How many were going to St. Ives?

The riddles of life were not as straightforward as the puzzles in my books and websites. In fact, they were not straightforward at all, like winding mazes of philosophical quandary.

One of the most thought-provoking subjects that preoccupies my mind regards the existence of aliens. Initially, my mind was settled on the possibility of intelligent life. A universe so big could not possibly be lifeless.

As for the solution to the riddle at the start:

How many were going to St. Ives?

This essay does well by having a unique central topic—riddles—which allows the author to draw out interesting ideas related to this theme. Your topic doesn't necessarily need to be profound or hugely significant, because this author shows how you can take a seemingly unimportant topic and use it to make meaningful connections. In this essay, riddles grow to represent something greater than the activity itself, which is something you can do with almost any topic.

One of the most effective ways to "show, not tell" is to use specific and tangible examples. This essay does a great job of exemplifying their ideas. Rather than just saying "I enthralled my friends with questions," the author also shows this: "Over peanut butter and sliced ham, I assumed the role of story teller..." Examples are always more convincing because they are proof, and allow the reader to interpret for themselves. Don't tell the reader what you want them to think. Instead, set up moments that guide the reader to come to those conclusions themselves.

This conclusion connects back to the beginning, which is generally a good idea as it creates a cohesive structure. However, this ending doesn't quite make sense in the context of the riddle. Rather than creating new meaning, it comes off as arbitrary and contrived. Make sure your conclusion isn't creative just for creative-sake, and instead also has significant meaning attached to it.

Personal Statement Example #17: Rubik's Cube

Personal Statement Example #18: Narrative Diversity

If your cultural background or identity is an important part of who you are, then writing about it can make for a compelling essay. Often times in college admissions, Asian-Americans in particular are advised to "hide" their ethnic background, because it can be perceived to hurt their application. This student embraces their Asian heritage by recognizing ways in which they faced societal barriers. As this essay shows, regardless of your identity, there are unique aspects you can delve into that can make for compelling topics.

This essay does a great job of reflecting upon previously held beliefs, such as "I unconsciously succumbed to the 'reserve and quiet' Asian stereotype," and challenging them. Questioning your beliefs and where they came from can often be a good starting point for interesting reflection. Showing your new perspectives over time also conveys self-growth. Ask yourself: what did I once believe (in regards to myself, an activity, other people, etc.), what do I believe now, and how has this changed?

Rather than starting off with an activity and then reflecting upon it, this student takes a different approach. By introducing an interesting idea (the representation of underrepresented groups in media) and then later connecting to their activities, it makes the incorporation of those extracurriculars seem more appropriate and natural. The last thing you want to do is list your activities plainly, but it's still important to reference them. One strategy to naturally talk about your activities and accomplishments is to attach them to interesting ideas, as this essay shows.

Personal Statement Example #19: Search for Dreams

Common App Prompt #7: Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. (250-650 words)

The diamond leaves of gnarled oak trees throw spectrums of color onto mounds of frosty snow that gleam melancholily under the moonlight. The leaves chime as wind violently rustles them in a haunting melody. I splinter a leaf off its branch and inspect the shard of my illusion, eyes dancing with amusement.

As I dwell in my worries, a cold hand reaches from behind me and taps my shoulder.

I jerk away, fear bubbling in my amygdala as I look into the nonexistent eyes of my intruding visitor.

The moon illuminates a blob of pink squish as it draws back slowly, points its spindly hands towards my drink and asks: “Could I have some of that?”

The blob wipes its invisible mouth with its nonexistent sleeve. I ask: “What are you?”

The blob tells me to stop looking at it so suspiciously. “I can prove it,” It says. I tell it, please, go ahead.

Suddenly we are back in the glowing forest. “Diamonds? Pah!” The blob dismisses them. Instantly, the leaves turn solid gold, the snow melts, and the wintry world is thrown into a blistering summer.

The blob laughs heartlessly. “Your cortex is under my control,” it says smugly.

“I heard you had a question for me?” It taps its invisible ears knowingly.

The blob wriggles its invisible brows as it waits.

It smiles that wicked smile. It laughs that sinful laugh. Then that insufferable blob wakes me up.

As I sit up in the dark and rub my bleary eyes, I am vaguely aware of the deep­set unfulfillment settling itself inside me. I yawn and plop back into bed, the soft red glow of my alarm clock indicating that it is still before midnight.

One thing is for sure about this essay: it has a unique idea that has surely not been written before. Regardless of your topic, you want your essay to be unique in some way, even if it isn't as fantastical as this essay. You can use a unique structure, such as having central symbolism, metaphor, or being structured as a recipe, for example. But this can easily become "gimmicky" if it doesn't have a clear purpose. In general, the most effective way to have a unique essay is to focus on having deep and unique ideas and reflections. By focusing on interesting takeaways and connections that are ultra-specific to you and your experiences, your essay will standout regardless of the structure.

This essay uses a lot of fiction-like writing that is fantastical and "flowery." Although moments of this kind of writing can make your essay more vivid, it is quite easy to end up with dense storytelling and descriptions that ultimately don't share anything interesting about you. The purpose of your essay is ultimately to learn about you: your values, your ideas, your identity, etc. By using dense story-like writing, it can be easy to lose focus of what admissions officers are looking for. In general, avoid writing "fancy" stories like this essay, unless you have a clear and distinct purpose for doing so. Everything in your essay should have a purpose in "going somewhere" (i.e. reaching interesting ideas and takeaways).

This essay is definitely creative, but lacks meaningful takeaways and ideas. By the end of the essay, we don't know much about the author besides the fact that they have an affinity for creative writing and are "on a search." Although the content is unique, the end result comes off as quite generic and surface-level because no interesting thoughts are explored deeply. The most interesting part of this essay is "I open my mouth and ask it my most crucial question," but this is super unsatisfying because the question is never divulged. Instead, the reader is teased by this fantasy story and the essay goes nowhere meaningful, which comes off as gimmicky and "creative for creative's sake," rather than deeply personal and interesting.

This essay ends on the idea of "continuing my search," but for what exactly? It is never explained, elaborated, or even implied (besides one reference to painting earlier). That makes this conclusion comes off as somewhat surface-level and uninteresting. Admissions officers won't care about "your search" unless they have a reason to care. That is, unless it tells something specific about you. On it's own, this idea of "exploring" and "searching" is meaningless because it is too broad and unelaborated.

Personal Statement Example #20: Recipe for Success

Step 1: Collect the ingredients

Step 2: Marinate the meat

Step 3: Wrap the dumplings

Step 4: Boil or pan-fry?

Step 5: Share and enjoy!

This essay has a clearly unique format in that it is structured as a dumpling recipe. By walking the reader through each step of dumpling-making, the student is able to explore various ideas and use the dumpling process as a metaphor for their own self-discovery. Having a creative structure like this can be beneficial, so long as you also have compelling ideas and the structure isn't unique just for the sake of being unique.

This whole essay is one big metaphor: the student compares their self-growth to the process of making dumplings. In doing so, the student introduces their heritage, while also having a creative literary device that they can use to explore various topics. By having a "central theme" such as this essay does, it makes it easier to explore a variety of ideas and activities, without seeming like you're listing them.

Struggles are one of the most defining aspects of self-development, and admissions officers are interested to see how you have overcome challenges. These difficulties don't need to be extreme tragedies or insurmountable obstacles, but everyone has faced difficulties. By reflecting upon those difficulties, you can draw out interesting ideas, showcase vulnerability, and express your personality.

What You Can Learn From These Personal Statement Examples

With these 20 Personal Statement examples, you can get inspired and improve your own essays. If you want to get accepted into selective colleges this year, your essays need to make you stand out.

These 20 examples show how real students got into highly selective schools and teach us several lessons for writing your own successful Personal Statement essay:

• Write a compelling first sentence that grabs the reader
• Be specific and reference things by name
• Tell a meaningful story
• Reflect on your life and identity. Be self-aware.

If you enjoyed these personal statement examples, check out some of our top Common App Essays , which are also personal statements essays, but for the Common Application.

Which of these personal statement examples was your favorite?

Meet the Author

Ryan Chiang

I'm Ryan Chiang and I created EssaysThatWorked.com - a website dedicated to helping students and their families apply to college with confidence & ease. We publish the best college admissions essays from successful applicants every year to inspire and teach future students.

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50 Best Personal Growth Quotes for Everyday Evolution

Looking for some inspiration to kick off a new chapter of growth or jumpstart your next evolution? Regardless of your goals, these words — from some of the most notable authors, scientists, artists, philosophers, politicians, activists, business professionals and athletes — are sure to resonate.

Bookmark these 50 best personal growth  quotes to draw upon in the months ahead.

Quotes for a Growth Mindset

• “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” - Maya Angelou
• “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” - Ernest Hemingway
• “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
• “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
• “We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” - Oprah Winfrey
• “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
• “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” - Frederick Douglass
• “Permit yourself to change your mind when something is no longer working for you.” - Nedra Glover Tawwab
• “Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.” - Chinese Proverb
• “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

Quotes About Change

• “Change brings opportunity.” - Nido Qubein
• “Sometimes good things fall apart so better things could fall together.” - Marilyn Monroe
• “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
• “Recognizing that you are not where you want to be is a starting point to begin changing your life.” - Deborah Day
• “People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” - Rob Siltanen
• “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” - Angela Davis
• “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” - Jane Goodall
• “Change is made of choices, and choices are made of character.” - Amanda Gorman
• “Tradition is nothing but ancestral peer pressure.” - Indya Moore
• “Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” - John F. Kennedy

Quotes About Education

• “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” - Malcolm X
• “A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers.” - Helen Keller
• “Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.” - Walt Disney
• “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” - John Dewey
• “You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read.” - Cesar Chavez
• “Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.” - Bill Nye
• “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” - Benjamin Franklin
• “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela
• “The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” - Sydney J. Harris
• “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” - Malala Yousafzai

Find Your Program

Quotes about success.

People often think of achievement as an end goal, but if you're wondering how to be successful , you should prepare for an ongoing process of growth and self-discovery. Look to these quotes remind you of what's really important on your personal quest for success.

• “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” - Albert Einstein
• “The swiftest way to triple your success is to double your investment in personal development.” - Robin Sharma
• “I would like to think that all of my successes in life are really just the fruit of my failures.” - Yvie Oddly
• “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” - Warren Buffett
• “Always work hard and have fun in what you do because I think that's when you're more successful. You have to choose to do it.” - Simone Biles
• “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” - Thomas Jefferson
• “Failure is not the opposite of success; it is a stepping stone towards it.” - Sundar Pichai
• “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
• “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” - Babe Ruth
• “Success isn't about the end result, it's about what you learn along the way.” - Vera Wang

Quotes About Life

Because personal growth is a long-term effort, you're bound to encounter obstacles along the way. These quotes might help you find your life direction  or guide you toward growth when you're facing hardship or feeling discouraged.

• “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
• “We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.” - Rick Warren
• “You can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.” - Shonda Rhimes
• “You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness.” - Diane von Furstenberg
• “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
• “Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” - Les Brown
• “Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experiences that reveals the human spirit.” - e.e. cummings
• “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
• “It is never too late to be who you might have been.” - George Eliot
• “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” - Dolly Parton

Whether you’re pursuing a new dream , working hard toward ongoing goals or making a plan to transform your life in some way, you're bound to encounter challenges along the way. But those challenges could be a gateway to growth and new opportunities.

If you find any of these quotes particularly inspirational, consider printing them out and posting them in the places you view often throughout the day. Sometimes a simple quote can impact you in the most positive of ways.

Know someone who needs a bit of motivation? Share these quotes and help them on their personal growth journey.

A degree can change your life. Find the SNHU online college degree  that can best help you meet your goals.

Mars Girolimon '21 '23G is a staff writer at Southern New Hampshire University where they earned their bachelor's and master's, both in English and creative writing. In addition to their work in higher education, Girolimon's short fiction is published in the North American Review, So It Goes by The Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library, X-R-A-Y and more. They're currently writing their debut novel, which was Longlisted for The First Pages Prize. Connect with them on LinkedIn .

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10 Personal Statement Essay Examples That Worked

What’s covered:, what is a personal statement.

• Essay 1: Summer Program
• Essay 2: Being Bangladeshi-American
• Essay 3: Why Medicine
• Essay 4: Love of Writing
• Essay 5: Starting a Fire
• Essay 6: Dedicating a Track
• Essay 7: Body Image and Eating Disorders
• Essay 8: Becoming a Coach
• Essay 9: Eritrea
• Essay 10: Journaling
• Is Your Personal Statement Strong Enough?

Your personal statement is any essay that you must write for your main application, such as the Common App Essay , University of California Essays , or Coalition Application Essay . This type of essay focuses on your unique experiences, ideas, or beliefs that may not be discussed throughout the rest of your application. This essay should be an opportunity for the admissions officers to get to know you better and give them a glimpse into who you really are.

In this post, we will share 10 different personal statements that were all written by real students. We will also provide commentary on what each essay did well and where there is room for improvement, so you can make your personal statement as strong as possible!

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Personal Statement Examples

Essay example #1: exchange program.

The twisting roads, ornate mosaics, and fragrant scent of freshly ground spices had been so foreign at first. Now in my fifth week of the SNYI-L summer exchange program in Morocco, I felt more comfortable in the city. With a bag full of pastries from the market, I navigated to a bus stop, paid the fare, and began the trip back to my host family’s house. It was hard to believe that only a few years earlier my mom was worried about letting me travel around my home city on my own, let alone a place that I had only lived in for a few weeks. While I had been on a journey towards self-sufficiency and independence for a few years now, it was Morocco that pushed me to become the confident, self-reflective person that I am today.

As a child, my parents pressured me to achieve perfect grades, master my swim strokes, and discover interesting hobbies like playing the oboe and learning to pick locks. I felt compelled to live my life according to their wishes. Of course, this pressure was not a wholly negative factor in my life –– you might even call it support. However, the constant presence of my parents’ hopes for me overcame my own sense of desire and led me to become quite dependent on them. I pushed myself to get straight A’s, complied with years of oboe lessons, and dutifully attended hours of swim practice after school. Despite all these achievements, I felt like I had no sense of self beyond my drive for success. I had always been expected to succeed on the path they had defined. However, this path was interrupted seven years after my parents’ divorce when my dad moved across the country to Oregon.

I missed my dad’s close presence, but I loved my new sense of freedom. My parents’ separation allowed me the space to explore my own strengths and interests as each of them became individually busier. As early as middle school, I was riding the light rail train by myself, reading maps to get myself home, and applying to special academic programs without urging from my parents. Even as I took more initiatives on my own, my parents both continued to see me as somewhat immature. All of that changed three years ago, when I applied and was accepted to the SNYI-L summer exchange program in Morocco. I would be studying Arabic and learning my way around the city of Marrakesh. Although I think my parents were a little surprised when I told them my news, the addition of a fully-funded scholarship convinced them to let me go.

I lived with a host family in Marrakesh and learned that they, too, had high expectations for me. I didn’t know a word of Arabic, and although my host parents and one brother spoke good English, they knew I was there to learn. If I messed up, they patiently corrected me but refused to let me fall into the easy pattern of speaking English just as I did at home. Just as I had when I was younger, I felt pressured and stressed about meeting their expectations. However, one day, as I strolled through the bustling market square after successfully bargaining with one of the street vendors, I realized my mistake. My host family wasn’t being unfair by making me fumble through Arabic. I had applied for this trip, and I had committed to the intensive language study. My host family’s rules about speaking Arabic at home had not been to fulfill their expectations for me, but to help me fulfill my expectations for myself. Similarly, the pressure my parents had put on me as a child had come out of love and their hopes for me, not out of a desire to crush my individuality.

As my bus drove through the still-bustling market square and past the medieval Ben-Youssef madrasa, I realized that becoming independent was a process, not an event. I thought that my parents’ separation when I was ten had been the one experience that would transform me into a self-motivated and autonomous person. It did, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t still have room to grow. Now, although I am even more self-sufficient than I was three years ago, I try to approach every experience with the expectation that it will change me. It’s still difficult, but I understand that just because growth can be uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s not important.

What the Essay Did Well

This is a nice essay because it delves into particular character trait of the student and how it has been shaped and matured over time. Although it doesn’t focus the essay around a specific anecdote, the essay is still successful because it is centered around this student’s independence. This is a nice approach for a personal statement: highlight a particular trait of yours and explore how it has grown with you.

The ideas in this essay are universal to growing up—living up to parents’ expectations, yearning for freedom, and coming to terms with reality—but it feels unique to the student because of the inclusion of details specific to them. Including their oboe lessons, the experience of riding the light rail by themselves, and the negotiations with a street vendor helps show the reader what these common tropes of growing up looked like for them personally. 

Another strength of the essay is the level of self-reflection included throughout the piece. Since there is no central anecdote tying everything together, an essay about a character trait is only successful when you deeply reflect on how you felt, where you made mistakes, and how that trait impacts your life. The author includes reflection in sentences like “ I felt like I had no sense of self beyond my drive for success, ” and “ I understand that just because growth can be uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s not important. ” These sentences help us see how the student was impacted and what their point of view is.

What Could Be Improved

The largest change this essay would benefit from is to show not tell. The platitude you have heard a million times no doubt, but for good reason. This essay heavily relies on telling the reader what occurred, making us less engaged as the entire reading experience feels more passive. If the student had shown us what happens though, it keeps the reader tied to the action and makes them feel like they are there with the student, making it much more enjoyable to read. 

For example, they tell us about the pressure to succeed their parents placed on them: “ I pushed myself to get straight A’s, complied with years of oboe lessons, and dutifully attended hours of swim practice after school.”  They could have shown us what that pressure looked like with a sentence like this: “ My stomach turned somersaults as my rattling knee thumped against the desk before every test, scared to get anything less than a 95. For five years the painful squawk of the oboe only reminded me of my parents’ claps and whistles at my concerts. I mastered the butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle, fighting against the anchor of their expectations threatening to pull me down.”

If the student had gone through their essay and applied this exercise of bringing more detail and colorful language to sentences that tell the reader what happened, the essay would be really great. 

Table of Contents

Essay Example #2: Being Bangladeshi-American

Life before was good: verdant forests, sumptuous curries, and a devoted family.

Then, my family abandoned our comfortable life in Bangladesh for a chance at the American dream in Los Angeles. Within our first year, my father was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He lost his battle three weeks before my sixth birthday. Facing a new country without the steady presence of my father, we were vulnerable — prisoners of hardship in the land of the free. We resettled in the Bronx, in my uncle’s renovated basement. It was meant to be our refuge, but I felt more displaced than ever. Gone were the high-rise condos of West L.A.; instead, government projects towered over the neighborhood. Pedestrians no longer smiled and greeted me; the atmosphere was hostile, even toxic. Schoolkids were quick to pick on those they saw as weak or foreign, hurling harsh words I’d never heard before.

Meanwhile, my family began integrating into the local Bangladeshi community. I struggled to understand those who shared my heritage. Bangladeshi mothers stayed home while fathers drove cabs and sold fruit by the roadside — painful societal positions. Riding on crosstown buses or walking home from school, I began to internalize these disparities. During my fleeting encounters with affluent Upper East Siders, I saw kids my age with nannies, parents who wore suits to work, and luxurious apartments with spectacular views. Most took cabs to their destinations: cabs that Bangladeshis drove. I watched the mundane moments of their lives with longing, aching to plant myself in their shoes. Shame prickled down my spine. I distanced myself from my heritage, rejecting the traditional panjabis worn on Eid and refusing the torkari we ate for dinner every day. 

As I grappled with my relationship with the Bangladeshi community, I turned my attention to helping my Bronx community by pursuing an internship with Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda. I handled desk work and took calls, spending the bulk of my time actively listening to the hardships constituents faced — everything from a veteran stripped of his benefits to a grandmother unable to support her bedridden grandchild.

I’d never exposed myself to stories like these, and now I was the first to hear them. As an intern, I could only assist in what felt like the small ways — pointing out local job offerings, printing information on free ESL classes, reaching out to non-profits. But to a community facing an onslaught of intense struggles, I realized that something as small as these actions could have vast impacts. Seeing the immediate consequences of my actions inspired me. Throughout that summer, I internalized my community’s daily challenges in a new light. I began to stop seeing the prevalent underemployment and cramped living quarters less as sources of shame. Instead, I saw them as realities that had to be acknowledged, but could ultimately be remedied. I also realized the benefits of the Bangladeshi culture I had been so ashamed of. My Bangla language skills were an asset to the office, and my understanding of Bangladeshi etiquette allowed for smooth communication between office staff and its constituents. As I helped my neighbors navigate city services, I saw my heritage with pride — a perspective I never expected to have.

I can now appreciate the value of my unique culture and background, and of living with less. This perspective offers room for progress, community integration, and a future worth fighting for. My time with Assemblyman Sepulveda’s office taught me that I can be a change agent in enabling this progression. Far from being ashamed of my community, I want to someday return to local politics in the Bronx to continue helping others access the American Dream. I hope to help my community appreciate the opportunity to make progress together. By embracing reality, I learned to live it. Along the way, I discovered one thing: life is good, but we can make it better.

This student’s passion for social justice and civic duty shines through in this essay because of how honest it is. Sharing their personal experience with immigrating, moving around, being an outsider, and finding a community allows us to see the hardships this student has faced and builds empathy towards their situation. However, what really makes it strong is that they go beyond describing the difficulties they faced and explain the mental impact it had on them as a child: Shame prickled down my spine. I distanced myself from my heritage, rejecting the traditional panjabis worn on Eid and refusing the torkari we ate for dinner every day. 

The rejection of their culture presented at the beginning of the essay creates a nice juxtaposition with the student’s view in the latter half of the essay and helps demonstrate how they have matured. They use their experience interning as a way to delve into a change in their thought process about their culture and show how their passion for social justice began. Using this experience as a mechanism to explore their thoughts and feelings is an excellent example of how items that are included elsewhere on your application should be incorporated into your essay.

This essay prioritizes emotions and personal views over specific anecdotes. Although there are details and certain moments incorporated throughout to emphasize the author’s points, the main focus remains on the student and how they grapple with their culture and identity.  

One area for improvement is the conclusion. Although the forward-looking approach is a nice way to end an essay focused on social justice, it would be nice to include more details and imagery in the conclusion. How does the student want to help their community? What government position do they see themselves holding one day? 

A more impactful ending might look like the student walking into their office at the New York City Housing Authority in 15 years and looking at the plans to build a new development in the Bronx just blocks away from where the grew up that would provide quality housing to people in their Bangladeshi community. They would smile while thinking about how far they have come from that young kid who used to be ashamed of their culture. 

Essay Example #3: Why Medicine

I took my first trip to China to visit my cousin Anna in July of 2014. Distance had kept us apart, but when we were together, we fell into all of our old inside jokes and caught up on each other’s lives. Her sparkling personality and optimistic attitude always brought a smile to my face. This time, however, my heart broke when I saw the effects of her brain cancer; she had suffered from a stroke that paralyzed her left side. She was still herself in many ways, but I could see that the damage to her brain made things difficult for her. I stayed by her every day, providing the support she needed, whether assisting her with eating and drinking, reading to her, or just watching “Friends.” During my flight back home, sorrow and helplessness overwhelmed me. Would I ever see Anna again? Could I have done more to make Anna comfortable? I wished I could stay in China longer to care for her. As I deplaned, I wondered if I could transform my grief to help other children and teenagers in the US who suffered as Anna did.

The day after I got home, as jet lag dragged me awake a few minutes after midnight, I remembered hearing about the Family Reach Foundation (FRF) and its work with children going through treatments at the local hospital and their families. I began volunteering in the FRF’s Children’s Activity Room, where I play with children battling cancer. Volunteering has both made me appreciate my own health and also cherish the new relationships I build with the children and families. We play sports, make figures out of playdoh, and dress up. When they take on the roles of firefighters or fairies, we all get caught up in the game; for that time, they forget the sanitized, stark, impersonal walls of the pediatric oncology ward. Building close relationships with them and seeing them giggle and laugh is so rewarding — I love watching them grow and get better throughout their course of treatment.

Hearing from the parents about their children’s condition and seeing the children recover inspired me to consider medical research. To get started, I enrolled in a summer collegelevel course in Abnormal Psychology. There I worked with Catelyn, a rising college senior, on a data analysis project regarding Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Together, we examined the neurological etiology of DID by studying four fMRI and PET cases. I fell in love with gathering data and analyzing the results and was amazed by our final product: several stunning brain images showcasing the areas of hyper and hypoactivity in brains affected by DID. Desire quickly followed my amazement — I want to continue this project and study more brains. Their complexity, delicacy, and importance to every aspect of life fascinate me. Successfully completing this research project gave me a sense of hope; I know I am capable of participating in a large scale research project and potentially making a difference in someone else’s life through my research.

Anna’s diagnosis inspired me to begin volunteering at FRF; from there, I discovered my desire to help people further by contributing to medical research. As my research interest blossomed, I realized that it’s no coincidence that I want to study brains—after all, Anna suffered from brain cancer. Reflecting on these experiences this past year and a half, I see that everything I’ve done is connected. Sadly, a few months after I returned from China, Anna passed away. I am still sad, but as I run a toy truck across the floor and watch one of the little patients’ eyes light up, I imagine that she would be proud of my commitment to pursue medicine and study the brain.

This essay has a very strong emotional core that tugs at the heart strings and makes the reader feel invested. Writing about sickness can be difficult and doesn’t always belong in a personal statement, but in this case it works well because the focus is on how this student cared for her cousin and dealt with the grief and emotions surrounding her condition. Writing about the compassion she showed and the doubts and concerns that filled her mind keeps the focus on the author and her personality. 

This continues when she again discusses the activities she did with the kids at FRF and the personal reflection this experience allowed her to have. For example, she writes: Volunteering has both made me appreciate my own health and also cherish the new relationships I build with the children and families. We play sports, make figures out of playdoh, and dress up.

Concluding the essay with the sad story of her cousin’s passing brings the essay full circle and returns to the emotional heart of the piece to once again build a connection with the reader. However, it finishes on a hopeful note and demonstrates how this student has been able to turn a tragic experience into a source of lifelong inspiration. 

One thing this essay should be cognizant of is that personal statements should not read as summaries of your extracurricular resume. Although this essay doesn’t fully fall into that trap, it does describe two key extracurriculars the student participated in. However, the inclusion of such a strong emotional core running throughout the essay helps keep the focus on the student and her thoughts and feelings during these activities.

To avoid making this mistake, make sure you have a common thread running through your essay and the extracurriculars provide support to the story you are trying to tell, rather than crafting a story around your activities. And, as this essay does, make sure there is lots of personal reflection and feelings weaved throughout to focus attention to you rather than your extracurriculars. 

Essay Example #4: Love of Writing

“I want to be a writer.” This had been my answer to every youthful discussion with the adults in my life about what I would do when I grew up. As early as elementary school, I remember reading my writing pieces aloud to an audience at “Author of the Month” ceremonies. Bearing this goal in mind, and hoping to gain some valuable experience, I signed up for a journalism class during my freshman year. Despite my love for writing, I initially found myself uninterested in the subject and I struggled to enjoy the class. When I thought of writing, I imagined lyrical prose, profound poetry, and thrilling plot lines. Journalism required a laconic style and orderly structure, and I found my teacher’s assignments formulaic and dull. That class shook my confidence as a writer. I was uncertain if I should continue in it for the rest of my high school career.

Despite my misgivings, I decided that I couldn’t make a final decision on whether to quit journalism until I had some experience working for a paper outside of the classroom. The following year, I applied to be a staff reporter on our school newspaper. I hoped this would help me become more self-driven and creative, rather than merely writing articles that my teacher assigned. To my surprise, my time on staff was worlds away from what I experienced in the journalism class. Although I was unaccustomed to working in a fast-paced environment and initially found it burdensome to research and complete high-quality stories in a relatively short amount of time, I also found it exciting. I enjoyed learning more about topics and events on campus that I did not know much about; some of my stories that I covered in my first semester concerned a chess tournament, a food drive, and a Spanish immersion party. I relished in the freedom I had to explore and learn, and to write more independently than I could in a classroom.

Although I enjoyed many aspects of working for the paper immediately, reporting also pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I am a shy person, and speaking with people I did not know intimidated me. During my first interview, I met with the basketball coach to prepare for a story about the team’s winning streak. As I approached his office, I felt everything from my toes to my tongue freeze into a solid block, and I could hardly get out my opening questions. Fortunately, the coach was very kind and helped me through the conversation. Encouraged, I prepared for my next interview with more confidence. After a few weeks of practice, I even started to look forward to interviewing people on campus. That first journalism class may have bored me, but even if journalism in practice was challenging, it was anything but tedious.

Over the course of that year, I grew to love writing for our school newspaper. Reporting made me aware of my surroundings, and made me want to know more about current events on campus and in the town where I grew up. By interacting with people all over campus, I came to understand the breadth of individuals and communities that make up my high school. I felt far more connected to diverse parts of my school through my work as a journalist, and I realized that journalism gave me a window into seeing beyond my own experiences. The style of news writing may be different from what I used to think “writing” meant, but I learned that I can still derive exciting plots from events that may have gone unnoticed if not for my stories. I no longer struggle to approach others, and truly enjoy getting to know people and recognizing their accomplishments through my writing. Becoming a writer may be a difficult path, but it is as rewarding as I hoped when I was young.

This essay is clearly structured in a manner that makes it flow very nicely and contributes to its success. It starts with a quote to draw in the reader and show this student’s life-long passion for writing. Then it addresses the challenges of facing new, unfamiliar territory and how this student overcame it. Finally, it concludes by reflecting on this eye-opening experience and a nod to their younger self from the introduction. Having a well-thought out and sequential structure with clear transitions makes it extremely easy for the reader to follow along and take away the main idea.

Another positive aspect of the essay is the use of strong and expressive language. Sentences like “ When I thought of writing, I imagined lyrical prose, profound poetry, and thrilling plot lines ” stand out because of the intentional use of words like “lyrical”, “profound”, and “thrilling” to convey the student’s love of writing. The author also uses an active voice to capture the readers’ attention and keep us engaged. They rely on their language and diction to reveal details to the reader, for instance saying “ I felt everything from my toes to my tongue freeze into a solid block ” to describe feeling nervous.

This essay is already very strong, so there isn’t much that needs to be changed. One thing that could take the essay from great to outstanding would be to throw in more quotes, internal dialogue, and sensory descriptors.

It would be nice to see the nerves they felt interviewing the coach by including dialogue like “ Um…I want to interview you about…uh…”.  They could have shown their original distaste for journalism by narrating the thoughts running through their head. The fast-paced environment of their newspaper could have come to life with descriptions about the clacking of keyboards and the whirl of people running around laying out articles.

Essay Example #5: Starting a Fire

Was I no longer the beloved daughter of nature, whisperer of trees? Knee-high rubber boots, camouflage, bug spray—I wore the garb and perfume of a proud wild woman, yet there I was, hunched over the pathetic pile of stubborn sticks, utterly stumped, on the verge of tears. As a child, I had considered myself a kind of rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees, who could glide through tick-infested meadows and emerge Lyme-free. I knew the cracks of the earth like the scars on my own rough palms. Yet here I was, ten years later, incapable of performing the most fundamental outdoor task: I could not, for the life of me, start a fire. 

Furiously I rubbed the twigs together—rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers. No smoke. The twigs were too young, too sticky-green; I tossed them away with a shower of curses, and began tearing through the underbrush in search of a more flammable collection. My efforts were fruitless. Livid, I bit a rejected twig, determined to prove that the forest had spurned me, offering only young, wet bones that would never burn. But the wood cracked like carrots between my teeth—old, brittle, and bitter. Roaring and nursing my aching palms, I retreated to the tent, where I sulked and awaited the jeers of my family. 

Rattling their empty worm cans and reeking of fat fish, my brother and cousins swaggered into the campsite. Immediately, they noticed the minor stick massacre by the fire pit and called to me, their deep voices already sharp with contempt. 

“Where’s the fire, Princess Clara?” they taunted. “Having some trouble?” They prodded me with the ends of the chewed branches and, with a few effortless scrapes of wood on rock, sparked a red and roaring flame. My face burned long after I left the fire pit. The camp stank of salmon and shame. 

In the tent, I pondered my failure. Was I so dainty? Was I that incapable? I thought of my hands, how calloused and capable they had been, how tender and smooth they had become. It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive. And I’d gotten glasses, having grown horrifically nearsighted; long nights of dim lighting and thick books had done this. I couldn’t remember the last time I had lain down on a hill, barefaced, and seen the stars without having to squint. Crawling along the edge of the tent, a spider confirmed my transformation—he disgusted me, and I felt an overwhelming urge to squash him. 

Yet, I realized I hadn’t really changed—I had only shifted perspective. I still eagerly explored new worlds, but through poems and prose rather than pastures and puddles. I’d grown to prefer the boom of a bass over that of a bullfrog, learned to coax a different kind of fire from wood, having developed a burn for writing rhymes and scrawling hypotheses. 

That night, I stayed up late with my journal and wrote about the spider I had decided not to kill. I had tolerated him just barely, only shrieking when he jumped—it helped to watch him decorate the corners of the tent with his delicate webs, knowing that he couldn’t start fires, either. When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.

This student is an excellent writer, which allows a simple story to be outstandingly compelling. The author articulates her points beautifully and creatively through her immense use of details and figurative language. Lines like “a rustic princess, a cradler of spiders and centipedes, who was serenaded by mourning doves and chickadees,” and “rubbed and rubbed until shreds of skin flaked from my fingers,” create vivid images that draw the reader in. 

The flowery and descriptive prose also contributes to the nice juxtaposition between the old Clara and the new Clara. The latter half of the essay contrasts elements of nature with music and writing to demonstrate how natural these interests are for her now. This sentence perfectly encapsulates the contrast she is trying to build: “It had been years since I’d kneaded mud between my fingers; instead of scaling a white pine, I’d practiced scales on my piano, my hands softening into those of a musician—fleshy and sensitive.”

In addition to being well-written, this essay is thematically cohesive. It begins with the simple introduction “Fire!” and ends with the following image: “When the night grew cold and the embers died, my words still smoked—my hands burned from all that scrawling—and even when I fell asleep, the ideas kept sparking—I was on fire, always on fire.” This full-circle approach leaves readers satisfied and impressed.

There is very little this essay should change, however one thing to be cautious about is having an essay that is overly-descriptive. We know from the essay that this student likes to read and write, and depending on other elements of her application, it might make total sense to have such a flowery and ornate writing style. However, your personal statement needs to reflect your voice as well as your personality. If you would never use language like this in conversation or your writing, don’t put it in your personal statement. Make sure there is a balance between eloquence and your personal voice.

Essay Example #6: Dedicating a Track

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite. 

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin. 

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

This essay effectively conveys this student’s compassion for others, initiative, and determination—all great qualities to exemplify in a personal statement!

Although they rely on telling us a lot of what happened up until the board meeting, the use of running a race (their passion) as a metaphor for public speaking provides a lot of insight into the fear that this student overcame to work towards something bigger than themself. Comparing a podium to the starting line, the audience to the track, and silence to the gunshot is a nice way of demonstrating this student’s passion for cross country running without making that the focus of the story.

The essay does a nice job of coming full circle at the end by explaining what the quote from the beginning meant to them after this experience. Without explicitly saying “ I now know that what Stark actually meant is…” they rely on the strength of their argument above to make it obvious to the reader what it means to get beat but not lose. 

One of the biggest areas of improvement in the intro, however, is how the essay tells us Stark’s impact rather than showing us: His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

The writer could’ve helped us feel a stronger emotional connection to Stark if they had included examples of Stark’s qualities, rather than explicitly stating them. For example, they could’ve written something like: Stark was the kind of person who would give you gas money if you told him your parents couldn’t afford to pick you up from practice. And he actually did that—several times. At track meets, alumni regularly would come talk to him and tell him how he’d changed their lives. Before Stark, I was ambivalent about running and was on the JV team, but his encouragement motivated me to run longer and harder and eventually make varsity. Because of him, I approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.

Essay Example #7: Body Image and Eating Disorders

I press the “discover” button on my Instagram app, hoping to find enticing pictures to satisfy my boredom. Scrolling through, I see funny videos and mouth-watering pictures of food. However, one image stops me immediately. A fit teenage girl with a “perfect body” relaxes in a bikini on a beach. Beneath it, I see a slew of flattering comments. I shake with disapproval over the image’s unrealistic quality. However, part of me still wants to have a body like hers so that others will make similar comments to me.

I would like to resolve a silent issue that harms many teenagers and adults: negative self image and low self-esteem in a world where social media shapes how people view each other. When people see the façades others wear to create an “ideal” image, they can develop poor thought patterns rooted in negative self-talk. The constant comparisons to “perfect” others make people feel small. In this new digital age, it is hard to distinguish authentic from artificial representations.

When I was 11, I developed anorexia nervosa. Though I was already thin, I wanted to be skinny like the models that I saw on the magazine covers on the grocery store stands. Little did I know that those models probably also suffered from disorders, and that photoshop erased their flaws. I preferred being underweight to being healthy. No matter how little I ate or how thin I was, I always thought that I was too fat. I became obsessed with the number on the scale and would try to eat the least that I could without my parents urging me to take more. Fortunately, I stopped engaging in anorexic behaviors before middle school. However, my underlying mental habits did not change. The images that had provoked my disorder in the first place were still a constant presence in my life.

By age 15, I was in recovery from anorexia, but suffered from depression. While I used to only compare myself to models, the growth of social media meant I also compared myself to my friends and acquaintances. I felt left out when I saw my friends’ excitement about lake trips they had taken without me. As I scrolled past endless photos of my flawless, thin classmates with hundreds of likes and affirming comments, I felt my jealousy spiral. I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.” When that didn’t work, I started to feel too anxious to post anything at all.  

Body image insecurities and social media comparisons affect thousands of people – men, women, children, and adults – every day. I am lucky – after a few months of my destructive social media habits, I came across a video that pointed out the illusory nature of social media; many Instagram posts only show off good things while people hide their flaws. I began going to therapy, and recovered from my depression. To address the problem of self-image and social media, we can all focus on what matters on the inside and not what is on the surface. As an effort to become healthy internally, I started a club at my school to promote clean eating and radiating beauty from within. It has helped me grow in my confidence, and today I’m not afraid to show others my struggles by sharing my experience with eating disorders. Someday, I hope to make this club a national organization to help teenagers and adults across the country. I support the idea of body positivity and embracing difference, not “perfection.” After all, how can we be ourselves if we all look the same?

This essay covers the difficult topics of eating disorders and mental health. If you’re thinking about covering similar topics in your essay, we recommend reading our post Should You Talk About Mental Health in College Essays?

The short answer is that, yes, you can talk about mental health, but it can be risky. If you do go that route, it’s important to focus on what you learned from the experience.

The strength of this essay is the student’s vulnerability, in excerpts such as this: I wanted to be admired and loved by other people too. However, I felt that I could never be enough. I began to hate the way that I looked, and felt nothing in my life was good enough. I wanted to be called “perfect” and “body goals,” so I tried to only post at certain times of day to maximize my “likes.”

The student goes on to share how they recovered from their depression through an eye-opening video and therapy sessions, and they’re now helping others find their self-worth as well. It’s great that this essay looks towards the future and shares the writer’s goals of making their club a national organization; we can see their ambition and compassion.

The main weakness of this essay is that it doesn’t focus enough on their recovery process, which is arguably the most important part. They could’ve told us more about the video they watched or the process of starting their club and the interactions they’ve had with other members. Especially when sharing such a vulnerable topic, there should be vulnerability in the recovery process too. That way, the reader can fully appreciate all that this student has overcome.

Essay Example #8: Becoming a Coach

”Advanced females ages 13 to 14 please proceed to staging with your coaches at this time.” Skittering around the room, eyes wide and pleading, I frantically explained my situation to nearby coaches. The seconds ticked away in my head; every polite refusal increased my desperation.

Despair weighed me down. I sank to my knees as a stream of competitors, coaches, and officials flowed around me. My dojang had no coach, and the tournament rules prohibited me from competing without one.

Although I wanted to remain strong, doubts began to cloud my mind. I could not help wondering: what was the point of perfecting my skills if I would never even compete? The other members of my team, who had found coaches minutes earlier, attempted to comfort me, but I barely heard their words. They couldn’t understand my despair at being left on the outside, and I never wanted them to understand.

Since my first lesson 12 years ago, the members of my dojang have become family. I have watched them grow up, finding my own happiness in theirs. Together, we have honed our kicks, blocks, and strikes. We have pushed one another to aim higher and become better martial artists. Although my dojang had searched for a reliable coach for years, we had not found one. When we attended competitions in the past, my teammates and I had always gotten lucky and found a sympathetic coach. Now, I knew this practice was unsustainable. It would devastate me to see the other members of my dojang in my situation, unable to compete and losing hope as a result. My dojang needed a coach, and I decided it was up to me to find one.

I first approached the adults in the dojang – both instructors and members’ parents. However, these attempts only reacquainted me with polite refusals. Everyone I asked told me they couldn’t devote multiple weekends per year to competitions. I soon realized that I would have become the coach myself.

At first, the inner workings of tournaments were a mystery to me. To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side. I learned everything from motivational strategies to technical, behind-the-scenes components of Taekwondo competitions. Though I emerged with new knowledge and confidence in my capabilities, others did not share this faith.

Parents threw me disbelieving looks when they learned that their children’s coach was only a child herself. My self-confidence was my armor, deflecting their surly glances. Every armor is penetrable, however, and as the relentless barrage of doubts pounded my resilience, it began to wear down. I grew unsure of my own abilities.

Despite the attack, I refused to give up. When I saw the shining eyes of the youngest students preparing for their first competition, I knew I couldn’t let them down. To quit would be to set them up to be barred from competing like I was. The knowledge that I could solve my dojang’s longtime problem motivated me to overcome my apprehension.

Now that my dojang flourishes at competitions, the attacks on me have weakened, but not ended. I may never win the approval of every parent; at times, I am still tormented by doubts, but I find solace in the fact that members of my dojang now only worry about competing to the best of their abilities.

Now, as I arrive at a tournament with my students, I close my eyes and remember the past. I visualize the frantic search for a coach and the chaos amongst my teammates as we competed with one another to find coaches before the staging calls for our respective divisions. I open my eyes to the exact opposite scene. Lacking a coach hurt my ability to compete, but I am proud to know that no member of my dojang will have to face that problem again.

This essay begins with an in-the-moment narrative that really illustrates the chaos of looking for a coach last-minute. We feel the writer’s emotions, particularly her dejectedness, at not being able to compete. Starting an essay in media res  is a great way to capture the attention of your readers and build anticipation for what comes next.

Through this essay, we can see how gutsy and determined the student is in deciding to become a coach themselves. She shows us these characteristics through their actions, rather than explicitly telling us: To prepare myself for success as a coach, I spent the next year as an official and took coaching classes on the side.  Also, by discussing the opposition she faced and how it affected her, the student is open and vulnerable about the reality of the situation.

The essay comes full circle as the author recalls the frantic situations in seeking out a coach, but this is no longer a concern for them and their team. Overall, this essay is extremely effective in painting this student as mature, bold, and compassionate.

The biggest thing this essay needs to work on is showing not telling. Throughout the essay, the student tells us that she “emerged with new knowledge and confidence,” she “grew unsure of her own abilities,” and she “refused to give up”. What we really want to know is what this looks like.

Instead of saying she “emerged with new knowledge and confidence” she should have shared how she taught a new move to a fellow team-member without hesitation. Rather than telling us she “grew unsure of her own abilities” she should have shown what that looked like by including her internal dialogue and rhetorical questions that ran through her mind. She could have demonstrated what “refusing to give up” looks like by explaining how she kept learning coaching techniques on her own, turned to a mentor for advice, or devised a plan to win over the trust of parents. 

Essay Example #9: Eritrea

No one knows where Eritrea is.

On the first day of school, for the past nine years, I would pensively stand in front of a class, a teacher, a stranger  waiting for the inevitable question: Where are you from?

I smile politely, my dimples accentuating my ambiguous features. “Eritrea,” I answer promptly and proudly. But I  am always prepared. Before their expression can deepen into confusion, ready to ask “where is that,” I elaborate,  perhaps with a fleeting hint of exasperation, “East Africa, near Ethiopia.”

Sometimes, I single out the key-shaped hermit nation on a map, stunning teachers who have “never had a student  from there!” Grinning, I resist the urge to remark, “You didn’t even know it existed until two minutes ago!”

Eritrea is to the East of Ethiopia, its arid coastline clutches the lucrative Red Sea. Battle scars litter the ancient  streets – the colonial Italian architecture lathered with bullet holes, the mosques mangled with mortar shells.  Originally part of the world’s first Christian kingdom, Eritrea passed through the hands of colonial Italy, Britain, and  Ethiopia for over a century, until a bloody thirty year war of Independence liberated us.

But these are facts that anyone can know with a quick Google search. These are facts that I have memorised and compounded, first from my Grandmother and now from pristine books  borrowed from the library.

No historical narrative, however, can adequately capture what Eritrea is.  No one knows the aroma of bushels of potatoes, tomatoes, and garlic – still covered in dirt – that leads you to the open-air market. No one knows the poignant scent of spices, arranged in orange piles reminiscent of compacted  dunes.  No one knows how to haggle stubborn herders for sheep and roosters for Christmas celebrations as deliberately as my mother. No one can replicate the perfect balance of spices in dorho and tsebhi as well as my grandmother,  her gnarly hands stirring the pot with ancient precision (chastising my clumsy knife work with the potatoes).  It’s impossible to learn when the injera is ready – the exact moment you have to lift the lid of the mogogo. Do it too  early (or too late) and the flatbread becomes mangled and gross. It is a sixth sense passed through matriarchal  lineages.

There are no sources that catalogue the scent of incense that wafts through the sunlit porch on St. Michael’s; no  films that can capture the luminescence of hundreds of flaming bonfires that fluoresce the sidewalks on Kudus  Yohannes, as excited children chant Ge’ez proverbs whose origin has been lost to time.  You cannot learn the familiarity of walking beneath the towering Gothic figure of the Enda Mariam Cathedral, the  crowds undulating to the ringing of the archaic bells.  I have memorized the sound of the rains hounding the metal roof during kiremti , the heat of the sun pounding  against the Toyota’s window as we sped down towards Ghinda , the opulent brilliance of the stars twinkling in a  sky untainted by light pollution, the scent of warm rolls of bani wafting through the streets at precisely 6 o’clock each day…

I fill my flimsy sketchbook with pictures from my memory. My hand remembers the shapes of the hibiscus drifting  in the wind, the outline of my grandmother (affectionately nicknamed a’abaye ) leaning over the garden, the bizarre architecture of the Fiat Tagliero .  I dice the vegetables with movements handed down from generations. My nose remembers the scent of frying garlic, the sourness of the warm tayta , the sharpness of the mit’mt’a …

This knowledge is intrinsic.  “I am Eritrean,” I repeat. “I am proud.”  Within me is an encyclopedia of history, culture, and idealism.

Eritrea is the coffee made from scratch, the spices drying in the sun, the priests and nuns. Eritrea is wise, filled with ambition, and unseen potential.  Eritrea isn’t a place, it’s an identity.

This is an exceptional essay that provides a window into this student’s culture that really makes their love for their country and heritage leap off the page. The sheer level of details and sensory descriptors this student is able to fit in this space makes the essay stand out. From the smells, to the traditions, sounds, and sights, the author encapsulates all the glory of Eritrea for the reader. 

The vivid images this student is able to create for the reader, whether it is having the tedious conversation with every teacher or cooking in their grandmother’s kitchen, transports us into the story and makes us feel like we are there in the moment with the student. This is a prime example of an essay that shows , not tells.

Besides the amazing imagery, the use of shorter paragraphs also contributes to how engaging this essay is. Employing this tactic helps break up the text to make it more readable and it isolates ideas so they stick out more than if they were enveloped in a large paragraph.

Overall, this is a really strong essay that brings to life this student’s heritage through its use of vivid imagery. This essay exemplifies what it means to show not tell in your writing, and it is a great example of how you can write an intimate personal statement without making yourself the primary focus of your essay. 

There is very little this essay should improve upon, but one thing the student might consider would be to inject more personal reflection into their response. Although we can clearly take away their deep love and passion for their homeland and culture, the essay would be a bit more personal if they included the emotions and feelings they associate with the various aspects of Eritrea. For example, the way their heart swells with pride when their grandmother praises their ability to cook a flatbread or the feeling of serenity when they hear the bells ring out from the cathedral. Including personal details as well as sensory ones would create a wonderful balance of imagery and reflection.

Essay Example #10: Journaling

Flipping past dozens of colorful entries in my journal, I arrive at the final blank sheet. I press my pen lightly to the page, barely scratching its surface to create a series of loops stringing together into sentences. Emotions spill out, and with their release, I feel lightness in my chest. The stream of thoughts slows as I reach the bottom of the page, and I gently close the cover of the worn book: another journal finished.

I add the journal to the stack of eleven books on my nightstand. Struck by the bittersweet sensation of closing a chapter of my life, I grab the notebook at the bottom of the pile to reminisce.

“I want to make a flying mushen to fly in space and your in it” – October 2008

Pulling back the cover of my first Tinkerbell-themed diary, the prompt “My Hopes and Dreams” captures my attention. Though “machine” is misspelled in my scribbled response, I see the beginnings of my past obsession with outer space. At the age of five, I tore through novels about the solar system, experimented with rockets built from plastic straws, and rented Space Shuttle films from Blockbuster to satisfy my curiosities. While I chased down answers to questions as limitless as the universe, I fell in love with learning. Eight journals later, the same relentless curiosity brought me to an airplane descending on San Francisco Bay.

“I wish I had infinite sunsets” – July 2019

I reach for the charcoal notepad near the top of the pile and open to the first page: my flight to the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes. While I was excited to explore bioengineering, anxiety twisted in my stomach as I imagined my destination, unsure of whether I could overcome my shyness and connect with others.

With each new conversation, the sweat on my palms became less noticeable, and I met students from 23 different countries. Many of the moments where I challenged myself socially revolved around the third story deck of the Jerry house. A strange medley of English, Arabic, and Mandarin filled the summer air as my friends and I gathered there every evening, and dialogues at sunset soon became moments of bliss. In our conversations about cultural differences, the possibility of an afterlife, and the plausibility of far-fetched conspiracy theories, I learned to voice my opinion. As I was introduced to different viewpoints, these moments challenged my understanding of the world around me. In my final entries from California, I find excitement to learn from others and increased confidence, a tool that would later allow me to impact my community.

“The beauty in a tower of cans” – June 2020

Returning my gaze to the stack of journals, I stretch to take the floral-patterned book sitting on top. I flip through, eventually finding the beginnings of the organization I created during the outbreak of COVID-19. Since then, Door-to-Door Deliveries has woven its way through my entries and into reality, allowing me to aid high-risk populations through free grocery delivery.

With the confidence I gained the summer before, I took action when seeing others in need rather than letting my shyness hold me back. I reached out to local churches and senior centers to spread word of our services and interacted with customers through our website and social media pages. To further expand our impact, we held two food drives, and I mustered the courage to ask for donations door-to-door. In a tower of canned donations, I saw the value of reaching out to help others and realized my own potential to impact the world around me.

I delicately close the journal in my hands, smiling softly as the memories reappear, one after another. Reaching under my bed, I pull out a fresh notebook and open to its first sheet. I lightly press my pen to the page, “And so begins the next chapter…”

The structuring of this essay makes it easy and enjoyable to read. The student effectively organizes their various life experiences around their tower of journals, which centers the reader and makes the different stories easy to follow. Additionally, the student engages quotes from their journals—and unique formatting of the quotes—to signal that they are moving in time and show us which memory we should follow them to.

Thematically, the student uses the idea of shyness to connect the different memories they draw out of their journals. As the student describes their experiences overcoming shyness at the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes and Door-to-Door Deliveries, this essay can be read as an Overcoming Obstacles essay.

At the end of this essay, readers are fully convinced that this student is dedicated (they have committed to journaling every day), thoughtful (journaling is a thoughtful process and, in the essay, the student reflects thoughtfully on the past), and motivated (they flew across the country for a summer program and started a business). These are definitely qualities admissions officers are looking for in applicants!

Although this essay is already exceptionally strong as it’s written, the first journal entry feels out of place compared to the other two entries that discuss the author’s shyness and determination. It works well for the essay to have an entry from when the student was younger to add some humor (with misspelled words) and nostalgia, but if the student had either connected the quote they chose to the idea of overcoming a fear present in the other two anecdotes or if they had picked a different quote all together related to their shyness, it would have made the entire essay feel more cohesive.

Where to Get Your Personal Statement Edited

Do you want feedback on your personal statement? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Next Step: Supplemental Essays

Essay Guides for Each School

How to Write a Stellar Extracurricular Activity College Essay

4 Tips for Writing a Diversity College Essay

How to Write the “Why This College” Essay

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

How to Write a Strong Personal Statement

by Ruth Gotian and Ushma S. Neill

Summary .   

Whether applying for a summer internship, a professional development opportunity, such as a Fulbright, an executive MBA program, or a senior leadership development course, a personal statement threads the ideas of your CV, and is longer and has a different tone and purpose than a traditional cover letter. A few adjustments to your personal statement can get your application noticed by the reviewer.

• Make sure you’re writing what they want to hear. Most organizations that offer a fellowship or internship are using the experience as a pipeline: It’s smart to spend 10 weeks and $15,000 on someone before committing five years and $300,000. Rarely are the organizations being charitable or altruistic, so align your stated goals with theirs
• Know when to bury the lead, and when to get to the point. It’s hard to paint a picture and explain your motivations in 200 words, but if you have two pages, give the reader a story arc or ease into your point by setting the scene.
• Recognize that the reviewer will be reading your statement subjectively, meaning you’re being assessed on unknowable criteria. Most people on evaluation committees are reading for whether or not you’re interesting. Stated differently, do they want to go out to dinner with you to hear more? Write it so that the person reading it wants to hear more.
• Address the elephant in the room (if there is one). Maybe your grades weren’t great in core courses, or perhaps you’ve never worked in the field you’re applying to. Make sure to address the deficiency rather than hoping the reader ignores it because they won’t. A few sentences suffice. Deficiencies do not need to be the cornerstone of the application.

At multiple points in your life, you will need to take action to transition from where you are to where you want to be. This process is layered and time-consuming, and getting yourself to stand out among the masses is an arduous but not impossible task. Having a polished resume that explains what you’ve done is the common first step. But, when an application asks for it, a personal statement can add color and depth to your list of accomplishments. It moves you from a one-dimensional indistinguishable candidate to someone with drive, interest, and nuance.

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Quotes In A Personal Statement: What You Need To Know

There is a great deal of debate around the use of quotes in personal statements, with assumption and misinformation rife. Unless the application guidelines specifically prohibit the use of quotes in a personal statement, you are free to use them, but only if they add value . Here’s the answer to how you should use quotes in a personal statement…

You can use quotes in a personal statement to evidence your wider reading and subject knowledge or to put your personal experiences into context for the reader. Quotes can also help you compare opinions, define positions and engage the reader when used appropriately.

There’s lots of detail on how to use quotes for each of these purposes, as well as the pitfalls to avoid, below…

Use a Quote to Evidence Wider Reading and Knowledge

Using a quote to show that you have undertaken and understood an aspect of wider reading related to your application is a powerful way to engage the reader. You need to make sure that the quote is relevant and that it actually demonstrates that you have read a book or article, not that you just used the first result that came up when you Googled it. Evidencing that you have a comprehensive understanding of the sector or industry into which your subject falls and the contemporary challenges within your field of study is vital, and using a brief quote to support your own original opinion is an ideal way to do this.

Look at the image below.

I’ve used the search term ‘quotes on Geography’ and immediately I have a range of options from which to choose.  Maybe I think the first one looks good; it’s a relevant quote, and a well-known source. The problem here is that thousands of other people will do the same, and including this quote doesn’t show any evidence of a depth of knowledge or understanding in the eyes of an admissions officer. It is also far too long for most personal statement length limits, and you may end up with too much of your content being someone else’s words.

It would be far more compelling to have read a significant book on contemporary geography , and to be able to use a specific, relevant quote from somewhere within that book. That would show wider reading and knowledge, but also a far higher level of commitment to your intended course of study than a quick internet search.

Use a Quote to Contextualise Personal Experience

A quotation can be used to convey an aspect of your own life experience more convincingly than a simple description of a moment or encounter might. If you have been inspired by a person in real life, online, in a storybook, in your research or in popular culture, and it’s relevant to the point you want to make , then use a quote. Some examples of the kinds of quotations that might underpin a powerful point in a personal statement might be…

Everyone has the right to compassionate healthcare, free at the point of delivery. Someone Inspiring

Perhaps you attended a lecture in the past, or heard a speech that you’ve always remembered, and words similar to the ones above motivated you to pursue a study of Medicine. You might well want to use the quote to introduce and outline your commitment, your focus or your ambition.

You can make a difference to the world if you study hard. A Parent or Grandparent

Maybe you had a parent or grandparent who gave you this piece of advice and you’ve never forgotten it. Perhaps it plays a part in your desire to study Engineering or Physics. If so, it might be a legitimate quote to use to introduce your connection with the subject.

To read is to enter another world. To write is to open the door to that world for generations to come. Your favourite Author

This could easily be a quote from the introduction to a childhood book that might have prompted your creativity or inspired your imagination. As a consequence, this could be a wonderfully relevant quote to use in a personal statement related to the creative arts or literature. Any quote can be compelling to the reader and illustrate your connection to a subject or industry if it genuinely acts as a relevant link between your experiences, the course and your academic ambitions.

Use a Quote to Compare and Contrast Viewpoints

If your personal statement is one which could successfully utilise opposing viewpoints to show understanding and wider research, then quotations can be an excellent way to evidence a depth of understanding whilst writing in a concise way. Don’t use too many quotes to achieve this, as you will end up with a personal statement that seems repetitive and tells the reader more about the quotes than about the applicant, but judicious use of this technique can certainly be effective.

Suppose you are writing a personal statement related to Theatre Studies. To show your understanding of key practitioners and artistic movements, as well as your own approach to practice, you might begin with a comparative quote. Maybe something like…

You could then go on to discuss your own experiences in more detail, relating them to the demands of the course. By comparing other perspectives through the use of quotations, not only do you show a depth of understanding, but you provide a context for your own approach.

If you want to illustrate opposing viewpoints whilst also offering a relevant opinion, your passage might look something like this…

Mistakes You MUST Avoid When Using Quotations

Now that you have some examples of the most effective ways to use quotes in your personal statement, it is worth finishing with a consideration of the mistakes to avoid when using quotations…

Do not use quotes if they cause your personal statement to pass the word limit or veer off-topic. They should be avoided if too much of your own voice is lost, or their use becomes repetitive. Quotations that are commonly used, used without relevance or used inaccurately will harm, not support your application.

If you would like some advice on getting started with your personal statement , then check this post out, or use this resource to develop some excellent sentence starters.

Last of all, don’t forget to check out Grammarly . It’s a tremendously effective, free software application that helps you get your spelling and grammar to a precise and accurate level. I often recommend it to the applicants I work with, especially if the are plannin gto move in into higher education, where it is an essential for essays and papers. You can check out the benefits here or clik the banner.

Good luck with your personal statement, and don’t forget to contact me if you’d like some 1-1 support. You’ve got this! D

Research and content verified by Personal Statement Planet.

David Hallen

I've worked in the Further Education and University Admissions sector for nearly 20 years as a teacher, department head, Head of Sixth Form, UCAS Admissions Advisor, UK Centre Lead and freelance personal statement advisor, editor and writer. And now I'm here for you...

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Home › Motivational Quotes

Motivational Quotes

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If you’re reading this, then you’re here for one reason – motivation . These motivational quotes are the place to start when you need a boost.

While it’s sometimes difficult to know what to do, we still have to get started. And what better way than to learn from those who have lived and shared the messages that motivated them.

So whether you’re lacking motivation or just need a little push to get going, get ready to be seriously motivated!

Here are our best motivating quotes to propel you to do more, be more, and achieve your goals today.

Page Contents

Top 10 Motivational Quotes

We talk on principal, but act on motivation. Walter Savage Landor

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. Mark Twain

Winners never quit, and quitters never win. Vince Lombardi

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Joe Kennedy

The best way to predict the future is to create it. Abraham Lincoln

Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you. Arnold Palmer

Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great. John D. Rockefeller

Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning. Robert Kiyosaki

The Best Motivational Quotes

It’s ok to need a little something extra to kick start your efforts sometimes. Finding motivation when you need it is often an important step to higher achievement.

Do you know what motivates you? In case that’s not an easy question to answer, we hope you’ll find something to motivate you right here with the best motivational words we could find.

So whether you’re at work, school, or anywhere in between, these lines should stoke your fires.

The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me. Ayn Rand

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. Herman Melville

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Arthur Ashe

Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start. Nido Qubein

You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them. Michael Jordan

Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do. Oprah Winfrey

You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. Christopher Columbus

One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals. Michael Korda

You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. Martin Luther King Jr.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Aristotle

God always strives together with those who strive. Aeschylus

Change your thoughts and you change your world. Norman Vincent Peale

It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. Babe Ruth

The only person you should try to be better than, is the person you were yesterday. Matty Mullens

Never give up , for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. Harriet Beecher Stow

The difference between a stumbling block and a stepping stone is how high you raise your foot. Benny Lewis

Study while others are sleeping; work while others are loafing; prepare while others are playing; and dream while others are wishing. William Arthur Ward

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination. Tommy Lasorda

More powerful than the will to win is the courage to begin. Orrin Woodward

Don’t be pushed by your problems; be led by your dreams. Ralph Waldo Emerson

You don’t drown by falling in water; you drown by staying there. Robert Collier

If you’re going through hell, keep going Winston Churchill

Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly. Robert Schuller

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. Thomas Edison

Fortune sides with him who dares. Virgil

If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done. Thomas Jefferson

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. Maria Robinson

Motivational Quotes for Work

Nothing will work unless you do. Maya Angelou

The more I want to get something done the less I call it work. Richard Bach

The work you do when you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life. Jessica Hische

Focus on being productive instead of busy. Tim Ferriss

The beginning is the most important part of the work. Plato

An employee’s motivation is a direct result of the sum of interactions with his or her manager. Bob Nelson

If you don’t value your time, neither will others. Stop giving away your time and talents- start charging for it. Kim Garst

Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out. John Wooden

There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits. Michael Phelps

Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs. Farrah Gray

If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you. Steve Jobs

To be successful you must accept all challenges that come your way. You can’t just accept the ones you like. Mike Gafka

If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work. Thomas J. Watson

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. Vidal Sassoon

We aim above the mark to hit the mark. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential. John C. Maxwell

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

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. Albert Einstein

The individual who says it is not possible should get out of the way of those doing it. Tricia Cunningham

You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction. George Lorimer

I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. Thomas Jefferson

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking. William Butler Yeats

Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it. Greg Anderson

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word – excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it. Pearl S. Buck

Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they’ve started. David Allen

Motivational Quotes for Students

Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. John Wooden

The wise does at once what the fool does at last. Balthasar Gracian

To know and not to do, is not to know. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Zeal without knowledge is fire without light. Thomas Huxley

Perfection is boring. Getting better is where all the fun is. Dragos Roua

Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter. Francis Chan

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. Alice Walker

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. Henry David Thoreau

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. Carl Sagan

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards. Vernon Sanders Law

Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground. Theodore Roosevelt

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. Leonardo da Vinci

There are two kinds of people in this world; those who want to get things done, and those who don’t want to make mistakes. John C. Maxwell

If you are not willing to risk the usual you will have to settle for the ordinary. Jim Rohn

Live out of your imagination, not your history. Stephen Covey

If the decisions you make about where you invest your blood, sweat, and tears are not consistent with the person you aspire to be, you’ll never become that person. Clayton M. Christensen

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. Albert Einstein

Always remember that you are absolutely unique; just like everyone else. Margaret Mead

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 safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. Mark Twain

The will to succeed is important, but what’s more important is the will to prepare. Bobby Knight

Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Michael Jordan

We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. Ronald Reagan

There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed. Ray Goforth

Motivational Thoughts

We become what we think about most of the time, and that’s the strangest secret. Earl Nightingale

Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success. Dale Carnegie

If you continue to think they way you’ve always thought, you’ll continue to get what you’ve always got. Kevin Trudeau

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it. William Arthur Ward

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. Aristotle Onassis

The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning. Pele

Good things come to people who wait, but better things come to those who go out and get them. Grant Cardone

Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. Leo Buscaglia

Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. Theodore N. Vail

You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals. Booker T. Washington

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best. Epictetus

Nurture your mind with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes. Benjamin Disraeli

Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door. Coco Chanel

Work like there is someone working 24 hours a day to take it away from you. Mark Cuban

I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. Stephen Covey

Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you. George Whitefield

I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. Jimmy Dean

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. Michael Jordan

You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get. Michael Phelps

Whatever the mind of man can conceive, and bring itself to believe, it can achieve. Napoleon Hill

Find a victory in every defeat to remain hopeful, and find a defeat in every victory to remain humble. Orrin Woodward

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them. Denis Watiley

The tragedy in life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach . Benjamin Mays

Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. Robert Louis Stevenson

Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia. Charles Schulz

Don’t downgrade your dream just to fit your reality. Upgrade your conviction to match your destiny. Stuart Scott

Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star. W. Clement Stone

Quotes about Motivation

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. Zig Ziglar

Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly. Stephen Covey

There is only one motivation, and that is desire. No reasons or principle contain it or stand against it. Jane Smiley

Everything boils down to motivation. Brendon Burchard

Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice. Wayne Dyer

Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal — a commitment to excellence — that will enable you to attain the success you seek. Mario Andretti

Competition is the best form of motivation. Cordae

Motivation, passion, and focus have to come from the top. Kevin Plank

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. Jim Ryun

Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you’re willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it. Lou Holtz

Music – it’s motivational and just makes you relax. Taika Waititi

When you fail you learn from the mistakes you made and it motivates you to work even harder. Natlaie Glubis

I’m not one for those motivational speeches. I’ve always been more of an example guy. Carey Price

People always need to hear good motivational speeches. Rudy Ruettiger

Real obsession needs an unconscious motivation behind it. Damon Galgut

Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it. Dwight D. Eisenhower

With the new year comes a refueled motivation to improve on the past one. Gretchen Bleiler

Once something is a passion, the motivation is there. Michael Schumacher

A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning. Pat Riley

For me, motivation is a person who has the capability to recruit the resources he needs to achieve a goal. Arsene Wenger

Don’t worry about motivation. Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes. It is unreliable – and when you are counting on motivation to get your goals accomplished, you will likely fall short. Jocko Willink

Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity. Bo Bennett

I think it all comes down to motivation. If you really want to do something, you will work hard for it. Edmund Hillary

Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can’t be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people. Lee Iacocca

I didn’t need to be motivated by other people overlooking me. My motivation was internal, to be better every day. Adam Thielen

Our greatest motivation in life comes from not knowing the future. Thomas Frey

The changing of the goals helps keep the motivation fresh. Bradley Wiggins

Other people’s success spurs me on to do well and gives me motivation. Nicholas Hoult

Self-Motivation Quotes

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. Booker T. Washington

You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. A.A. Milne

I’m self-motivated. I’m motivated for myself to be the best I can be – for me to do that, I have to have my own motivation, my own positive energy. Deshaun Watson

I am not afraid… I was born to do this. Joan of Arc

The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success. Bruce Feirstein

Don’t wait for your feelings to change to take the action. Take the action and your feelings will change. Barbara Baron

If you want to make a permanent change, stop focusing on the size of your problems and start focusing on the size of you! T. Harv Eker

Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene. Arthur Christopher Benson

If people are doubting how far you can go, go so far that you can’t hear them anymore. Michele Ruiz

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul. Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears. Laird Hamilton

It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then. Lewis Carroll

The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s what you’re made of. Not the circumstances. Anthony J. James

You are confined only by the walls you build yourself. Andrew Murphy

What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. Plutarch

Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit. Bern Williams

It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe. Muhammad Ali

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. Norman Vincent Peale

The number one reason people fail in life is because they listen to their friends, family, and neighbors. Napoleon Hill

Where there is a will, there is a way. If there is a chance in a million that you can do something, anything, to keep what you want from ending, do it. Pry the door open or, if need be, wedge your foot in that door and keep it open. Pauline Kael

When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too. Paulo Coelho

With self-discipline most anything is possible. Theodore Roosevelt

When you’ve got something to prove, there’s nothing greater than a challenge. Terry Bradshaw

Throw me to the wolves and I will return leading the pack. Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it. Arnold Toynbee

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. Vince Lombardi

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above it. Washington Irving

All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers. Orison Swett Marden

Motivating Quotes

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all. Dale Carnegie

Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going. Sam Levenson

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe. Anatole France

Never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time. Charles Dickens

You may only succeed if you desire succeeding; you may only fail if you do not mind failing. Philippos

Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action. Benjamin Disraeli

Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. George Addair

Your passion is waiting for your courage to catch up. Isabelle Lafleche

Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. George Herbert

There are only two options regarding commitment. You’re either in or you’re out. There is no such thing as life in-between. Pat Riley

Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Winston Churchill

Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is. Mary Anne Roadacher-Hershey

Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. Abraham Lincoln

Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life. Robin Sharma

Do or do not. There is no try. Yoda, Star Wars : The Empire Strikes Back

If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on. Sheryl Sandberg

Give yourself an even greater challenge than the one you are trying to master and you will develop the powers necessary to overcome the original difficulty. William J. Bennett, The Book of Virtues

Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay. Simone de Beauvoir

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. Anne Frank

Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today. James Dean

Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility of defeat. Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses… on your powers, instead of your problems. Paul J. Meyer

My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength. Michael Jordan

If you want to achieve greatness stop asking for permission. Brian Tracy

Taking it easy won’t take you anywhere. Nike Slogan

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

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten. Neil Gaiman

Do what you feel in your heart to be right―for you’ll be criticized anyway. Eleanor Roosevelt

Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory. George S. Patton

When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it – but all that had gone before. Jacob Riis

We hope all of these motivational quotes have you pumped up and ready to take action.

Whatever type of motivation works for you, the important part is to use it to achieve your goals. We all have the potential to do more and be more when we want to be. So go find yours and live up to it today!

More Motivational Quote Categories

• Attitude Quotes
• Dale Carnegie Quotes
• Determination Quotes
• Discipline Quotes
• Finding Yourself Quotes
• Hard Work Quotes
• Helping Others Quotes
• Leadership Quotes
• Meditation Quotes
• Moving On Quotes
• Never Give Up Quotes
• Nike Quotes
• Procrastination Quotes
• Sports Quotes
• Success Quotes
• Teamwork Quotes
• Zig Ziglar Quotes

Quincy Seale

5 thoughts on “Motivational Quotes”

Those collections are meaningful and easy to remember. “Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.” is my favourite one and hope I can do what I want to do soon. Thank you for sharing.

Every quote you shared is very motivating and will help who is really looking for some motivation. For some of motivational blog and stories you can visit my website.

Wow!! It was a beautiful collection of quotes. Some not heard of (best part of your collection that it’s not filled with the common ones) but so deep and meaningful. Great piece of work! Glad came across this. Was looking for some quote for our magazine and looks like I’ve reached the destination.

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” First time hearing this quote and I think it’s brilliant! Thanks for this article, Quincy!

Excellent list, thank you for this.

I would like to add a quote from the late hero, Kobe Bryant.

“Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.”

This would be great to share in your article.

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100 Best Motivational Quotes to Inspire Anyone

Motivational and inspirational quotes can pick you up on a bad day and inspire you to even greater heights..

Need a little inspiration? Need a quick burst of self motivation?

Here you go:

• "Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it." Henry David Thoreau
• "If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary." Jim Rohn
• "Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life-think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success." Swami Vivekananda
• "If you are willing to do more than you are paid to do, eventually you will be paid to do more than you do." Anonymous
• "Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." Winston Churchill
• "Whenever you see a successful person, you only see the public glories, never the private sacrifices to reach them." Vaibhav Shah
• "Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value." Albert Einstein
• "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." Charles Darwin
• "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." Eleanor Roosevelt
• "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Eleanor Roosevelt
• "The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success." Bruce Feirstein
• "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great." John D. Rockefeller
• "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." Albert Einstein
• "There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: those who are afraid to try and those who are afraid you will succeed." Ray Goforth
• "Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." Robert Collier
• "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear -- not absence of fear." Mark Twain
• "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." Pablo Picasso
• "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
• "The successful warrior is the average man, with laserlike focus." Bruce Lee
• "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." Steve Jobs
• "Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don't wish it were easier; wish you were better." Jim Rohn
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• "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Thomas A. Edison
• "What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?" Robert Schuller
• "Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing." Abraham Lincoln
• "Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential." John Maxwell
• "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Maya Angelou
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• "Think of what you have rather than of what you lack. Of the things you have, select the best and then reflect how eagerly you would have sought them if you did not have them." Marcus Aurelius
• "Happiness is where we find it, but very rarely where we seek it." J. Petit Senn
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• "Expecting life to treat you well because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian." Shari R. Barr
• "View your life from your funeral: Looking back at your life experiences, what have you accomplished? What would you have wanted to accomplish but didn't? What were the happy moments? What were the sad? What would you do again, and what wouldn't you do?" Victor Frankl
• "Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time...serenity, that nothing is." Thomas Szasz
• "To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart." Eleanor Roosevelt
• "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." William Arthur Ward
• "Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others." Robert Louis Stevenson
• "The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets people to do the greatest things." Ronald Reagan
• "Power isn't control at all-power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn't someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own." Beth Revis
• "Don't tell people how to do things; tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results." George S. Patton Jr.
• "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." Dwight D. Eisenhower
• "Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan." John F. Kennedy
• "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." Peter F. Drucker
• "Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing." Albert Schweitzer
• "Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them." John C. Maxwell
• "The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones." Brandon Sanderson
• "Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another." John C. Maxwell
• "You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you're not passionate enough from the start, you'll never stick it out." Steve Jobs
• "A leader ... is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind." Nelson Mandela
• "Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off." Colin Powell
• "Do you know that one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas." Margaret Thatcher
• "A leader is a dealer in hope." Napoleon
• "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it." Theodore Roosevelt
• "If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him. Men will believe what they see. Let them see." Henry David Thoreau
• "I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself." Robert E. Lee
• "Consensus: the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values, and policies in search of something in which no one believes, but to which no one objects; the process of avoiding the very issues that have to be solved, merely because you cannot get agreement on the way ahead. What great cause would have been fought and won under the banner: 'I stand for consensus?'" Margaret Thatcher
• "A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go but ought to be." Rosalynn Carter
• "There is a difference between being a leader and being a boss. Both are based on authority. A boss demands blind obedience; a leader earns his authority through understanding and trust." Klaus Balkenhol
• "You get in life what you have the courage to ask for." Nancy D. Solomon
• "In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." Max De Pree
• "A leader isn't someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others so that they may have the strength to stand on their own." Beth Revis
• "Always remember, Son, the best boss is the one who bosses the least. Whether it's cattle, or horses, or men, the least government is the best government." Ralph Moody
• "If you really want the key to success, start by doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing." Brad Szollose
• "Give as few orders as possible," his father had told him once long ago. "Once you've given orders on a subject, you must always give orders on that subject." Frank Herbert (from Dune )
• "The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes." Tony Blair
• "Wisdom equals knowledge plus courage. You have to not only know what to do and when to do it, but you have to also be brave enough to follow through." Jarod Kintz
• "In a battle between two ideas, the best one doesn't necessarily win. No, the idea that wins is the one with the most fearless heretic behind it." Seth Godin
• "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea." Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• "Remember, teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability." Patrick Lencioni
• "Leadership is an action, not a position." Donald McGannon
• "Surround yourself with great people; delegate authority; get out of the way." Ronald Reagan
• "I cannot give you a formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody." Herbert Bayard Swope
• "Show me the man you honor and I will know what kind of man you are." Thomas John Carlisle
• "A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason." J.P. Morgan
• "If you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be great at anything." Tom Rath
• "Average leaders raise the bar on themselves; good leaders raise the bar for others; great leaders inspire others to raise their own bar." Orrin Woodward
• "Don't blow off another's candle for it won't make yours shine brighter." Jaachynma N.E. Agu
• "Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision." Peter F. Drucker
• "When you put together deep knowledge about a subject that intensely matters to you, charisma happens. You gain courage to share your passion, and when you do that, folks follow." Jerry Porras
• "People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision." John Maxwell
• "A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit." John Maxwell
• "A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." George Patton
• "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." William Arthur Ward
• "Silent gratitude isn't very much to anyone." Gertrude Stein
• "The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you." John E. Southard
• "Keep your eyes open and try to catch people in your company doing something right, then praise them for it." Tom Hopkins
• "You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do." Eleanor Roosevelt
• "Low self-confidence isn't a life sentence. Self-confidence can be learned, practiced, and mastered-just like any other skill. Once you master it, everything in your life will change for the better." Barrie Davenport
• "Shyness has a strange element of narcissism, a belief that how we look, how we perform, is truly important to other people." Andre Dubus
• "Do it or not. There is no try." Yoda
• "Rarely have I seen a situation where doing less than the other guy is a good strategy." Jimmy Spithill
• "The best revenge is massive success." Frank Sinatra
• "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." Ayn Rand
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By Nik Taylor (Editor, The Uni Guide) | 18 August 2023 | 22 min read

How to write an excellent personal statement in 10 steps

Stand out from the crowd: here's how to write a good personal statement that will get you noticed

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Your personal statement forms a core part of your university application, and the sooner you get going, the better you can make it. You may think that your personal statement won’t matter as much to unis as your grades and experience but a great personal statement could make all the difference between you and a candidate with the same grades. Sure, your application might not reach that deal breaker stage. But is it something you want to leave to chance?  Here we’ll take you through the process of planning, writing and checking a good personal statement, so you end up with something you can submit with confidence. And to make sure the advice we're giving you is sound, we’ve spoken to admissions staff at loads of UK universities to get their view. Look out for video interviews and advice on applying for specific subjects throughout this piece or watch our personal statement playlist on YouTube .

• Are you looking for personal statement examples? Check our library of hundreds of real personal statements, on The Student Room

Personal statement deadlines

You'll need to make sure you've got your personal statement written well in advance of your application deadline. Below are the main university application deadline dates for 2024 entry.

2024 entry deadlines

16 October 2023: Deadline for applications to Oxford and Cambridge universities, along with most medicine, dentistry, and veterinary courses.   31 January 2024: Deadline for applications to the majority of undergraduate courses. After this date, universities will start allocating places on these courses –   but you can still apply after the 31 January deadline , as this article explains . 30 June 2024:  Students who apply after this date will be entered into Clearing .

• Read more: Ucas deadlines and key application dates

What is a personal statement?

A personal statement is a central part of your Ucas application, where you explain why you’ve chosen a particular course and why you’ll be good at it. It's your chance to stand out against other candidates and hopefully get that all-important offer. You only write one personal statement which is then read by each university you apply to, so if you are applying for more than one subject (or it's a combined course) it's crucial that you include common themes or reference the overall skills needed for all subjects. Personal statements are especially important if you’re trying to get on a very competitive course, where you need to do anything you can to stand out to admissions tutors. Courteney Sheppard, senior customer experience manager at Ucas, advises that your personal statement is "the only part of the application that you have direct control over. Do lots of research to demonstrate your passion, curiosity and drive to pursue your chosen subject." There’s a limit on how much you can write: your personal statement can be up to 4,000 characters (including spaces) or 47 lines of 95 characters (including spaces); whichever is shorter. This may appear generous (read: long) but once you've got going you may find yourself having to edit heavily.

• Read more: teacher secrets for writing a great personal statement

1. Plan what you want to cover

The first thing you need to do is make a plan. Writing a personal statement off the top of your head is difficult. Start by making some notes, answering the following questions:

• What do you want to study?
• Why do you want to study it?
• What is there about you that shows you’re suited to studying this subject at university? Think about your personality, as well as your experiences.
• What are your other interests and skills?

These few points are going to form the spine of your personal statement, so write them in a way that makes sense to you. You might want to make a simple bulleted list or you might want to get all arty and use a mindmap. Whatever you choose, your aim is the same. You want to get it clear in your own head why a university should offer you a place on its course. Getting those details down isn't always easy, and some people find it helpful to make notes over time. You might try carrying a notebook with you or set up a memo on your phone. Whenever you think of something useful for your personal statement, jot it down. Inspiration sometimes comes more easily when you’re thinking about something else entirely. It might help to take a look at The Student Room for some sample personal statements by university and sample personal statements by subjects , to give you an idea of the kind of thing you want to include. 

• Read more: personal statement FAQs

2. Show off your experience

Some things are worth adding to your personal statement, some things are not. Firmly in the second camp are your qualifications. You don’t need to mention these as there’s a whole other section of your personal statement where you get to detail them very precisely. Don’t waste a single character going on about how great your GCSE grades are – it’s not what the admissions tutor wants to read. What they do want to see is: what have you done? OK, so you’ve got some good grades, but so do a lot of other applicants. What have you done that’s different, that shows you off as someone who really loves the subject you’re applying for? Spend some time thinking about all the experience you have in that subject. If you’re lucky, this might be direct work experience. That’s going to be particularly appropriate if you’re applying for one of the more vocational subjects such as medicine or journalism . But uni staff realise getting plum work experience placements is easier for some people than others, so cast your net wider when you’re thinking about what you’ve done. How about after-school clubs? Debating societies? Are you running a blog or vlog? What key skills and experience have you picked up elsewhere (eg from hobbies) that could be tied in with your course choice? Remember, you’re looking for experience that shows why you want to study your chosen subject. You’re not just writing an essay about what you're doing in your A-level syllabus. Use this checklist as a guide for what to include:

• Your interest in the course. Why do you want to spend three years studying this subject at university?
• What have you done outside school or college that demonstrates this interest? Think about things like fairs/exhibitions, public lectures or voluntary work that is relevant to your subject.
• Relevant work experience (essential for the likes of medicine, not required for non-vocational courses such as English )
• Skills and qualities required for that career if appropriate (medicine, nursing and law as obvious examples)
• Interest in your current studies – what particular topics have made an impression on you?
• Any other interests/hobbies/experiences you wish to mention that are relevant either to the subject or 'going to uni'. Don't just list your hobbies, you need to be very selective and state clearly what difference doing these things has made to you.
• Plans for a gap year if you’re deferring entry.

Read more: 6 steps you need to take to apply to university

3. Be bold about your achievements

Don't be bashful about your achievements; that’s not going to help you get into uni. It's time to unleash your inner Muhammed Ali and get all “I am the greatest” with your writing. Do keep it focused and accurate. Do keep your language professional. But don’t hide your qualities beneath a layer of false modesty. Your personal statement is a sell – you are selling yourself as a brilliant student and you need to show the reader why that is true. This doesn’t come naturally to everyone, and if you’re finding it difficult to write about how great you are it’s time to enlist some help. Round up a friend or two, a family member, a teacher, whoever and get them to write down your qualities. Getting someone else’s view here can help you get some perspective. Don’t be shy. You are selling your skills, your experience and your enthusiasm – make sure they all leap off the screen with the way you have described them.

• Read more: the ten biggest mistakes when writing your personal statement  

4. How to start your personal statement

Type your personal statement in a cloud-based word processing program, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word and don’t copy and paste it into Ucas Hub until it’s finished.  One of the benefits of doing it this way is that you can run spell check easily. (Please note, though, that Word adds "curly" quotation marks and other characters (like é or ü) that won't show up on your Ucas form, so do proofread it on Ucas Hub before submitting it to ensure it is how you typed it.)  Another big benefit is that you'll always have a backup of what you've written. If you're being super careful, you could always save your statement in another place as well. Bear in mind that extra spaces (eg adding spaces to the beginnings of paragraphs as indentation) are removed on Ucas. In your first sentence, cut to the chase. Why do you want to do the course? Don’t waste any time rambling on about the daydreams you had when you were five. Just be clear and concise – describe in one line why this course is so important to you. Then, in the rest of your intro, go into more detail in demonstrating your enthusiasm for the course and explaining how you decided this is what you want to do for the next three or more years. However you choose to start your statement, just avoid the following hoary old chestnuts. These have been some of the most used lines in personal statements over the years – they are beyond cliche, so don’t even think about it.

• From a young age I have (always) been [interested in/fascinated by]…
• For as long as I can remember, I have…
• I am applying for this course because… 
• I have always been interested in… 
• Throughout my life I have always enjoyed… 
• Reflecting on my educational experiences… 
• [Subject] is a very challenging and demanding [career/profession/course]… 
• Academically, I have always been… 
• I have always wanted to pursue a career in… 
• I have always been passionate about…   

5. Focus your writing on why you've chosen that subject

So you’ve got your intro done – time to nail the rest of it. Bear in mind that you’ve got to be a little bit careful when following a personal statement template. It’s easy to fall into the trap of copying someone else’s style, and in the process lose all of your own voice and personality from your writing. But there is a rough order that you can follow, which should help keep you in your flow. After your opening paragraph or two, get into any work experience (if you’ve got it). Talk about extracurriculars: anything you've done which is relevant to the subject can go here – hobbies, interests, volunteering. Touch on your career aspirations – where do you want this course to take you? Next, show your enthusiasm for your current studies. Cite some specific examples of current work that you enjoyed. Show off your relevant skills and qualities by explaining how you’ve used these in the past. Make sure you’re giving real-world examples here, not just vague assertions like “I’m really organised and motivated”. Try to use examples that are relevant.   Follow this up with something about you as a person. Talk about non-academic stuff that you like to do, but link it in some way with the course, or with how it shows your maturity for dealing with uni life. Round it all off by bringing your main points together, including a final emphasis of your commitment to studying this particular course.

• Read more: how to write your personal statement in an evening  

6. How long should a personal statement be?

You've got to work to a very specific limit when writing your personal statement. In theory you could use up to 4,000 characters – but you’re probably more likely to be limited by the line count. That's because it's a good idea to put line breaks in between your paragraphs (to make it more readable) and you only get a maximum of 47 lines. With this in mind, 3,500 characters is a more realistic limit. But when you’re getting started you should ignore these limits completely. At first, you just want to get down everything that you feel is important. You'll probably end up with something that is far too long, but that's fine. This is where you get to do some polishing and pruning. Keep the focus of your piece on the course you’re applying for, why you want to do it and why you’re perfectly suited to it. Look through what you’ve written so far – have you got the balance right? Chop out anything that goes on a bit, as you want each point to be snappy and succinct.

• Read more: universities reveal all about personal statements  

7. Keep it simple

8. Smart ways to end your personal statement

Writing a closing line that you’re happy with can feel as tricky as coming up with your opener. What you’re looking for here is a sign-off that is bold and memorable. The final couple of sentences in your statement give you the opportunity to emphasise all the good stuff you’ve already covered. Use this space to leave the reader in no doubt as to what an excellent addition you would be to their university. Pull together all your key points and – most importantly – address the central question that your personal statement should answer: why should you get a place on the course?

• Read more: universities explain how to end your personal statement with a bang  

9. Make sure your personal statement has no mistakes

Now you’ve got a personal statement you’re happy with, you need to make sure there are no mistakes. Check it, check it a second time, then check it again. Once you’ve done that, get someone else to check it, too. You will be doing yourself a massive disservice if you send through a personal statement with spelling and/or grammatical errors. You’ve got months to put this together so there really is no excuse for sending through something that looks like a rush job. Ask your teachers to look at it, and be prepared to accept their feedback without getting defensive. They will have seen many personal statements before; use what they tell you to make yours even better. You’ve also got another chance here to look through the content of your personal statement, so you can make sure the balance is right. Make sure your focus is very clearly on the subject you are applying for and why you want to study it. Don’t post your personal statement on the internet or social media where anyone can see it. You will get picked up by the Ucas plagiarism checker. Similarly, don't copy any that you find online. Instead, now is a good time to make your parents feel useful. Read your personal statement out to them and get them to give you feedback. Or try printing it out and mixing it up with a few others (you can find sample personal statements on The Student Room). Get them to read them all and then try to pick yours out. If they can't, perhaps there's not enough of your personality in there.  

10. Don't think about your personal statement for a whole week

If you followed the advice at the very start of this guide, you’ve started your personal statement early. Good job! There are months before you need to submit it. Use one of these weeks to forget about your personal statement completely. Get on with other things – anything you like. Just don’t go near your statement. Give it a whole week and then open up the document again and read through it with fresh eyes. You’ll gain a whole new perspective on what you’ve written and will be well placed to make more changes, if needed.

• Read more: how to write your personal statement when you have nothing interesting to say  

10 steps to your ideal personal statement

In summary, here are the ten steps you should follow to create the perfect personal statement.  

Personal statement dos and don'ts

• Remember that your personal statement is your personal statement, not an article written about your intended field of study. It should tell the reader about you, not about the subject.
• Only put in things that you’re prepared to talk about at the interviews.
• Give convincing reasons for why you want to study the course – more than just "enjoying the subject" (this should be a given).
• For very competitive courses, find out as much as you can about the nature of the course and try to make your personal statement relevant to this.
• Be reflective. If you make a point like 'I like reading', 'I travelled abroad', say what you got from it.
• Go through the whole thing checking your grammar and your spelling. Do this at least twice. It doesn’t matter if you’re not applying to an essay-based course – a personal statement riddled with spelling mistakes is just going to irritate the reader, which is the last thing you want to do. If this is something you find difficult then have someone look over it for you.
• Leave blank lines between your paragraphs. It’s easier for the reader to get through your personal statement when it’s broken into easily digestible chunks. Remember that they’re going to be reading a lot of these! Make yours easy to get through.
• Get someone else's opinion on your statement. Read it out to family or friends. Share it with your teacher. Look for feedback wherever you can find it, then act upon it.
• Don’t write it like a letter. Kicking off with a greeting such as "Dear Sir/Madam" not only looks weird, it also wastes precious space.
• Don’t make jokes. This is simply not the time – save them for your first night in the union.
• Don’t criticise your current school or college or try to blame teachers for any disappointing grades you might have got.
• Be afraid of details – if you want your PS to be personal to you that means explaining exactly which bits of work or topics or activities you've taken part in/enjoyed. It's much more compelling to read about one or two detailed examples than a paragraph that brushes over five or six.
• Just list what you're doing now. You should pull out the experiences that are relevant to the courses which you're applying to.
• Mention skills and activities without giving examples of when they have been demonstrated by you or what you learnt from them. Anyone can write "I have great leadership skills" in a PS, actually using a sentence to explain when you demonstrated good leadership skills is much rarer and more valuable.
• Refer to experiences that took place before your GCSEs (or equivalent).
• Give explanations about medical or mental health problems. These should be explained in your reference, not your PS.
• Apply for too many different courses, making it difficult to write a convincing personal statement which supports the application.
• Write a statement specific to just one institution, unless you're only applying to that one choice.
• Copy and paste the statement from somewhere else! This means do not plagiarise. All statements are automatically checked for plagiarism by Ucas. Those that are highlighted by the computer system are checked manually by Ucas staff. If you’re found to have plagiarised parts of your statement, the universities you apply to will be informed and it could jeopardise your applications.
• Use ChatGPT or another AI program to write your personal statement for you. Or, if you do, make sure you thoroughly edit and personalise the text so it's truly yours. Otherwise you're very much at risk of the plagiarism point above.

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100 Powerful Inspirational Quotes About Life, Success and Getting Motivated

These positive sayings — from short sayings to longer messages — can work wonders.

Finding motivation and inspiration to power through life's daily obstacles can be tough — especially when tragedy or conflict make it difficult to maintain an optimistic outlook. The stress in your career , amid relationships and everyday hassles can quickly take a toll on your mental health. Pausing for a moment to look to inspiring leaders, both within your own circle and the world at large, can help keep the flame of positivity burning bright within your life ( at any age !).

Our list of the very best inspirational quotes can help; these short, powerful and often funny metaphors, written excerpts and snippets of historical speeches can provide a much-needed spark of motivation . Hearing from these celebrated personalities and notable thought pioneers can kick off progress on brand-new goals, get you through recent personal tragedies or empower you to take charge of your relationships.

Below, you'll find our collection of quotes from beloved figures — powerhouse actors, musicians, authors and more — who have experienced a lot of ups and downs, but still managed to derive some insight through it all. From Michelle Obama to Lindsey Vonn, C.S Lewis to Eleanor Roosevelt, these positive affirmations will uplift you and prepare you for what lies ahead.

"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way." —Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." —William James, American philosopher and psychologist

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." —Mahatma Ghandi

"Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them." —Madam C.J. Walker, American entrepreneur and activist

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." —Thomas Edison

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity." —Amelia Earhart

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." —Michael Altshuler, American author and motivational speaker

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." —Jimmy Dean

"You get what you give." —Jennifer Lopez

"It is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change." —Queen Elizabeth II

"If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you, you haven't done much today." —Mikhail Gorbachev

"In the long run, you make your own luck — good, bad, or indifferent." —Loretta Lynn

RELATED: Quotes About Happiness to Help You Feel Great

"If my mind can conceive it, if my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it." —Muhammad Ali

"Believe you can and you're halfway there." —Theodore Roosevelt

"Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination" —Mae Jemison, American engineer

"We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained." —Marie Curie, French physicist and chemist

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do." —Steve Jobs

"I scorched the earth with my talent and I let my light shine." André Leon Talley, American fashion journalist

"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'I'm possible !'" —Audrey Hepburn

"Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." —Helen Keller

"Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn’t have the power to say yes." —Eleanor Roosevelt

"It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent." —Madeleine Albright , former U.S. Secretary of State

RELATED: Inspiring Quotes About Change, Because We Never Stop Evolving

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." —C.S. Lewis

"When you have a dream, you've got to grab it and never let go." —Carol Burnett , American comedian and actress

"Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow's reality." —Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist

"All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them." —Walt Disney

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." —Henry David Thoreau

"All dreams are within reach. All you have to do is keep moving towards them." —Viola Davis, American actress

"Dreams don’t have to just be dreams. You can make it a reality; if you just keep pushing and keep trying, then eventually you’ll reach your goal." —Naomi Osaka, Japanese tennis player

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." —Norman Vincent Peale, American clergyman

"There is nothing impossible to they who will try." —Alexander the Great

RELATED: Quotes About Managing Anxiety to Help Comfort You Through Tough Days

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." —Winston Churchill

"Champions keep playing until they get it right." —Billie Jean King, American tennis player

"We will fail when we fail to try." —Rosa Parks

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." —Albert Einstein

"Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don't fight them. Just find a new way to stand." —Oprah Winfrey

"It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." —Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa

"Our predecessors overcame many troubles and much suffering, but each time got back up stronger than before." —Shinzo Abe, former Prime Minister of Japan

"I have learned not to allow rejection to move me." —Cicely Tyson, American actress

"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

"It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome." —William James

"Attitude is the 'little' thing that makes a big difference." —Winston Churchill

"Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results." —Willie Nelson

"If you’re not positive energy, you’re negative energy." —Mark Cuban

"Inspiration comes from within yourself. One has to be positive. When you're positive, good things happen." —Deep Roy , Kenyan-British actor and pupeteer

"Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you." —Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast

"I don't harp on the negative because if you do, then there's no progression. There's no forward movement. You got to always look on the bright side of things, and we are in control. Like, you have control over the choices you make." —Taraji P. Henson , American actress

"I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing." —Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick

"Where there's hope, there's life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again." —Anne Frank in The Diary of a Young Girl

"Once you face your fear, nothing is ever as hard as you think." —Olivia Newton-John , British-Australian singer and actress

"You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." —A.A. Milne

"You must do the things you think you cannot do." —Eleanor Roosevelt

"The Sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on." —Charles Dickens

"When your dreams are bigger than the places you find yourself in, sometimes you need to seek out your own reminders that there is more. And there is always more waiting for you on the other side of fear." –Elaine Welteroth

"Happiness is not something readymade; it comes from your own actions." —The Dalai Lama

"You do not find the happy life. You make it." —Camilla Eyring Kimball

"Happiness is not by chance, but by choice." —Jim Rohn

"Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open." —John Barrymore

"The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it." —Mother Theresa

"Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful." —Hazrat Inayat Khan

"Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive." —Hafez

"For one to have complete satisfaction from flowers, you must have time to spend with them." —Grace Kelly

RELATED: Inspirational Mental Health Quotes That Are Supportive and Empowering

"Always work hard and have fun in what you do because I think that's when you're more successful. You have to choose to do it." —Simone Biles

"I never dreamed about success. I worked for it." —Esteé Lauder

"Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor." —Truman Capote

"What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do." —Bob Dylan

"The best revenge is massive success." —Frank Sinatra

"Try to be a rainbow in someone else's cloud." —Maya Angelou

"If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else." —Booker T. Washington

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." —Ronald Reagan

"It has always been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult." —Queen Elizabeth II

"You can't rely on how you look to sustain you, what sustains us, what is fundamentally beautiful is compassion; for yourself and your those around you." —Lupita Nyong'o

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." —Albert Einstein

"It’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then." —Lewis Caroll in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

"It isn't where you came from. It's where you're going that counts." —Ella Fitzgerald

"Tough times never last, but tough people do." —Robert H. Schuller

"One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals." —Michelle Obama

"You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script." —Oprah Winfrey

"You make a choice: continue living your life feeling muddled in this abyss of self-misunderstanding, or you find your identity independent of it. You draw your own box." —Meghan Markle

"It is never too late to be what you might have been." —George Eliot

"I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific." —Lily Tomlin

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals." —Zig Ziglar

"You don't always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens." —Mandy Hale

"Life has got all those twists and turns. You’ve got to hold on tight and off you go." —Nicole Kidman

"Life changes very quickly, in a very positive way, if you let it." —Lindsey Vonn

"We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us." —Joseph Campbell

"Keep your face always toward the sunshine — and shadows will fall behind you." —Walt Whitman

"There is always light. If only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it." —Amanda Gorman

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." —Aristotle

"No matter what you're going through, there's a light at the end of the tunnel." —Demi Lovato

"Remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." —Henry Ford

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." —Nelson Mandela

"A dead-end street is a good place to turn around." —Naomi Judd

"The most wasted of days is one without laughter." —E.E. Cummings

"Don't save your best for when you think the material calls for it. Always bring your full potential to every take, and be on top of your job, or they will replace you." —Gabrielle Union

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive." —Maya Angelou

"We do not fall in love with the package of the person; we fall in love with the inside of a person." —Anne Heche ​​

"Limit your ' always' and your ' nevers .'" —Amy Poehler

"Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory." —Dr. Seuss

"My least favorite phrase in the English language is 'I don't care.'" —James Caan

Zee Krstic is a content strategy manager for Hearst Magazines, focusing on SEO optimization and other editorial strategies for four brands, including Country Living, House Beautiful, ELLE Decor and VERANDA. He previously served as Health Editor for Good Housekeeping between 2019 and 2023, covering health news, diet and fitness trends as well as executing wellness product reviews in conjunction with the Good Housekeeping Institute. Prior to joining Hearst, Zee fostered a strong background in women's lifestyle media with eight plus years of editorial experience, including as a site-wide editor at Martha Stewart Living after developing a nutrition background as an assistant editor at Cooking Light . Zee produces service-based health coverage, as well as design and travel content, for Hearst brands on a contributor basis; he has written about food and dining for Time, among other publications.

Caroline is a writer and editor with almost a decade of experience. From 2015 to 2019, she held various editorial positions at Good Housekeeping , including as health editor, covering nutrition, fitness, wellness, and other lifestyle news. She's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism and dreams of the day Northwestern will go back to the Rose Bowl.  

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165 Inspirational Quotes To Keep You Motivated In Life

Inspirational quotes can help motivate us and create a positive outlook on life and work when we need it most. They do so by harnessing the power of positive thinking. Reframing our brains to think positively is a key step in leading a happy and successful life.

You make a choice when you decide how you will react to any given situation. If you’re choosing (sometimes subconsciously) to complain and think negatively, your natural reaction will be to dwell on the negatives of every situation.

When you actively choose to think positively, regardless of how absolutely ridiculous it may seem, you will turn the situation into a development plan for growth, helping you become a better problem-solver and leader . Over time and after reframing your mind to think positively about problems, you’ll stay motivated , inspired, and empowered to take on any challenge that comes your way!

While reading through this list of the best motivational quotes in English, I recommend writing down some of the best inspirational and motivational quotes that resonate with you and your current situation. After writing them down, find the most motivational thought or the most inspiring passage, read it out loud, and then really try to understand the meaning.

You may find these inspirational quotes may come in handy when you’re having a hard day and need a little extra encouragement a and motivational line!  So read these, write some down, and refer to them often.

Inspirational Quotes

The power of positive thinking is remarkable. When you think of something that brings you joy, your brain releases endorphins. Those endorphins fill you with the feeling of well-being.

Positive thinking helps you frame your mindset and change your life.

But when we feel down, it’s often difficult to conjure up things that make us happy. That’s why having some positive inspirational quotes or a motivated line on hand can be helpful in situations like that.

From short inspirational quotes and widely relatable anecdotes to motivational quotes specifically about work and life in general, here is a list of some of my favorite inspirational quotes.

Inspirational Quotes For Your Personal Life

• “People tell you the world looks a certain way. Parents tell you how to think. Schools tell you how to think. TV. Religion. And then at a certain point, if you’re lucky, you realize you can make up your own mind. Nobody sets the rules but you. You can design your own life.”— Carrie Ann Moss
• “Some women choose to follow men, and some choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn’t love you anymore.” — Lady Gaga
• “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”― George Bernard Shaw
• “You are the sum total of everything you’ve ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot ― it’s all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.” ― Maya Angelou

Inspirational Quotes For Positive Thinking

• “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” – Suzy Kassem
• “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford
• “Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you’re willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.” —Lou Holtz
• “The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius

Inspirational Quotes For Happiness

• “You are who you are meant to be. Dance as if no one’s watching. Love as if it’s all you know. Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.” James Dean
• “You do not find the happy life. You make it.” — Camilla Eyring Kimball
• “You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, Love like you’ll never be hurt, Sing like there’s nobody listening, And live like it’s heaven on earth.” ― William W. Purkey
• “Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” – Abraham Lincoln

Inspirational Quotes For Dark Times

• “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle
• “You learn more from failure than from success. Don’t let it stop you. Failure builds character.” — Unknown
• “Fairytales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairytales tell children that dragons can be killed.” – G K Chesterton

Inspirational Quotes From Fairy Tales

• “Just because it’s what’s done doesn’t mean it’s what should be done!”- Cinderella
• “With a smile and a song, life is just like a bright sunny day. Your cares fade away.” – Snow White
• “When we get to the end of the story, you will know more than you do now…” – Hans Christian Andersen, The Snow Queen
• “The most important thing in life is to stop saying ‘I wish’ and start saying ‘I will’. Consider nothing impossible then treat possibilities as probabilities.” -Charles Dickens

 Inspirational Quotes For Risk-Taking

• “Learn as if you will live forever, live like you will die tomorrow.” — Mahatma Gandhi
• “It is only when we take chances, when our lives improve. The initial and the most difficult risk that we need to take is to become honest. —Walter Anderson
• “Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”- Brian Tracy

Inspirational Quotes To Build Confidence

• “Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.”– Helen Keller
• “We generate fears while we sit. We overcome them by action. Fear is nature’s way of warning us to get busy.” –  Dr. Henry Link
• “The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.” – Hasidic Proverb
• “What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110% all the time.” – Don Zimmer
• “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”― Marilyn Monroe
• “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” – Nelson Mandela
• “Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one. You cannot make any useful contribution in life unless you do this.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
• “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” —E.E. Cummings
• “You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.” Zig Ziglar

Inspirational Quotes To Help You Excel

• “Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.” –  Malala Yousafzai
• “The best way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” ― Walt Disney
• “Leaders set high standards. Refuse to tolerate mediocrity or poor performance.” – Brian Tracy
• “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.” –Vince Lombardi

Inspirational Quotes To Overcome Bad News

• “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean
• “Don’t Let Yesterday Take Up Too Much Of Today.” – Will Rogers
• “We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou
• “Leaders never use the word failure. They look upon setbacks as learning experiences.” – Brian Tracy

Inspirational Quotes For Positive Thoughts

• “We become what we think about” – Earl Nightingale
• “There are no limits to what you can accomplish, except the limits you place on your own thinking.” – Brian Tracy
• “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller
• “Develop an ‘attitude of gratitude.’ Say thank you to everyone you meet for everything you do.” – Brian Tracy

Inspirational Quotes To Stay Motivated

• “Today’s accomplishments were yesterday’s impossibilities.” – Robert H. Schuller
• “Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” – Helen Keller
• “Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just one step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Famous Quotes from Successful People

In your success journey, inspiration guides and motivates you through challenges. Explore the wisdom of successful people who have not only achieved greatness, but have also left a trail of inspiration for others to follow.

Inspirational Quotes By William James

• “It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome.” – William James
• “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” -William James
• “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”― William James

Inspirational Quotes By Henry David Thoreau

• “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”― Henry David Thoreau
• “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” ― Henry David Thoreau
• “As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.” ― Henry David Thoreau
• “There is no remedy for love but to love more.” ― Henry David Thoreau

Inspirational Quotes By Oprah Winfrey

• “You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script.” — Oprah Winfrey
• “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” — Oprah Winfrey
• “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” – Oprah Winfrey
• “Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” ― Oprah Winfrey
• “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.”― Oprah Winfrey

Inspirational Quotes About Life By Ralph Waldo Emerson

• “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “Life is a journey, not a destination.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Inspirational Quotes By Albert Einstein

• “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein
• “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.” – Albert Einstein
• “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” – Albert Einstein
• “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein

Motivational Quotes

Motivational quotes, like the inspirational quotes above, are meant to inspire action. These quotes have the potential to encourage you to become the best version of yourself.

Let your positivity and optimism inspire you and  lead you to find success elsewhere. That’s my favorite way to achieve success.

These quotes are here to help motivate you to reach your peak performance. Read them when you need a push to work towards your goals.

You experience external change only once you change internally. Start today and watch how everything around you begins to change!

Motivational Quotes To Be Successful

• “When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.” – Paulo Coelho
• “While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.” Henry Link
• “Imagine your life is perfect in every respect; what would it look like?” – Brian Tracy
• “We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” Chuck Palahniuk
• “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Wishing is not enough; we must do.” – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
• “Reading is to the mind, as exercise is to the body.” – Brian Tracy
• “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” —George Lorimer
• “Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see further.” —Thomas Carlyle

Motivational Quotes To Pursue A New Dream

• “Waiting insistently in front of a tightly closed door is unfair to all of the open doors! Give a chance to the open doors!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
• “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
• You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go. Dr. Seuss
• “You make a choice: continue living your life feeling muddled in this abyss of self-misunderstanding, or you find your identity independent of it. You draw your own box.”— Duchess Meghan
• “The key responsibility of leadership is to think about the future. No one else can do it for you.” – Brian Tracy
• “Make your life a masterpiece, imagine no limitations on what you can be, have, or do.”  – Brian Tracy

Motivational Quotes For Moving Forward

• “Every closed door isn’t locked and even if it is…YOU just might have the key! Search within to unlock a world of possibilities!”― Sanjo Jendayi
• “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”— Sylvester Stallone in Rocky Balboa
• “It’s easy to stand in the crowd but it takes courage to stand alone.” Mahatma Gandhi
• “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.”― Robert Frost
• “I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.” – Michael Phelps
• “To see what is right and not do is a lack of courage.” – Confucius.

Motivational Quotes To Stay On The Right Track

• “Life has got all those twists and turns. You’ve got to hold on tight and off you go.”— Nicole Kidman
• “The effective leader recognizes that they are more dependent on their people than they are on them. Walk softly. ” – Brian Tracy
• “One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.” – Michelle Obama
• “Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, ‘It can’t be done.’” – Eleanor Roosevelt
• “It takes courage to examine your life and to decide that there are things you would like to change, and it takes even more courage to do something about it.” – Sue Hadfield

Motivational Quotes To Stay Positive

• “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” – Og Mandino
• “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.” – John Wooden
• “It hurt because it mattered.” – John Green
• “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” -Zig Ziglar
• “Make sure your worst enemy is not living between your own two ears…”― Nitya Prakash
• “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” – Dolly Parton
• “Life changes very quickly, in a very positive way, if you let it.”  – Lindsey Vonn
• “Every moment is a fresh beginning.” – T.S. Eliot
• “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” -Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” —Muhammad Ali

Motivational Quotes For A Successful Outcome

• “The only limits you have are the limits you believe.” Wayne Dyer
• “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” ― Marie Curie
• “Do what you can with all you have, wherever you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
• “Change the game, don’t let the game change you.” – Macklemore

Short Motivational Quotes

• “Self-doubt kills talent.” Edie McClurg
• “You get what you give.” – Jennifer Lopez
• “Your life only gets better when you get better.”- Brian Tracy

Motivational Quotes For Work

• “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” — Michael Jordan
• “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” – Steve Jobs
• “Entrepreneurs are great at dealing with uncertainty and also very good at minimizing risk. That’s the classic entrepreneur.” – Mohnish Pabrai.
• “Integrity is the most valuable and respected quality of leadership. Always keep your word.” – Brian Tracy

Motivational Quotes To Change The World

• “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”— Maya Angelou
• “People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”- Rob Siltanen
• “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffet
• “Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.” – Brian Tracy

Motivational Quotes For The Whole Human Race

• “War is not the answer, because only love can conquer hate.” — Marvin Gaye
• “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell
• “Light tomorrow with today!” –  Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• “Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.”  – Mae Jemison
• “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”― Mae West
• “My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.” — Henry Ford

Motivational Quotes by Famous People

In a world that often presents numerous challenges and obstacles, motivation helps push you forward toward your goals. Here, we’ll look at the empowering words of successful people who have made a significant impact on the world.

Motivational Quotes By Martin Luther King, Jr.

• “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “The time is always right to do what is right.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Motivational Quotes By Winston Churchill

• “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill
• “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill
• “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” ― Winston Churchill
• “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” ― Winston Churchill

Motivational Quotes By Thomas Edison

• “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. There is no substitute for hard work.”  – Thomas Edison
• “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”― Thomas A. Edison
• “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this – you haven’t.”― Thomas Edison
• “Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.” ― Thomas A. Edison

Stay On Track With Daily Inspirational Quotes

These positive quotes can push you towards progress and help you accomplish the goals you create for yourself.

Use these words of inspiration whenever you feel like you need a boost. They can guide you through any challenge and allow you to face any situation head-on. But the encouraging words do not stop here. I have so much more to share with you to boost your confidence and keep your mind focused on all the positive possibilities you can accomplish.

Sign up today to receive my  Daily Motivational Quotes Email  every day for the next 30 days. These daily quotes are sure to get you inspired for success!

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About Brian Tracy — Brian is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. You can follow him on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest , Linkedin and Youtube .

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100 Short Quotes That Will Inspire You (FAST)

By Maxime Lagacé

Maxime is the founder of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page .

Best Quotes – Very Short – Inspirational – Wise – Takeaways – Further Readings

Here are 100 short inspirational quotes for you.

I’ve been collecting and using them since 2004.

And one thing I’ve learned is this:

The most effective and inspiring quotes are the shortest.

For example, one of the quotes I’ve repeated the most in my head is “stay hungry, stay foolish” by Steve Jobs.

It’s only 4 words long.

But it’s packed with wisdom and power.

The best part?

It’s a practical quote you can apply in your life.

Like most quotes you’ll find here.

So, I guarantee you’ll find inspiration FAST .

It’s a collection I’ve been upgrading and pruning for 19+ years.

I hope you’ll like it as much as I do.

Are you ready for great one-liners, simple thoughts, and wise sayings to start your day?

Let’s begin!

The Best Short Quotes

He who is brave is free. Seneca

You can totally do this.

We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough. Helen Keller

The fastest road to meaning and success: choose one thing and go all in. Maxime Lagacé

Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong. Winston Churchill

Try again. Fail again. Fail better. Samuel Beckett

Impossible is for the unwilling. John Keats

I can and I will.

No pressure, no diamonds. Thomas Carlyle

Don’t tell people your plans. Show them your results.

Prove them wrong.

Good things happen to those who hustle. Anaïs Nin

Go forth on your path, as it exists only through your walking. Augustine of Hippo

No guts, no story. Chris Brady

Take the risk or lose the chance.

Screw it, let’s do it. Richard Branson

Boldness be my friend. William Shakespeare

Keep going. Be all in. Bryan Hutchinson

Dream big. Pray bigger.

If you want it, work for it.

Leave no stone unturned. Euripides

Stay foolish to stay sane. Maxime Lagacé

And so the adventure begins.

You can if you think you can. George Reeves

Whatever you are, be a good one. Abraham Lincoln

Broken crayons still color.

Grow through what you go through.

Do it with passion or not at all.

Once you choose hope, anything’s possible. Christopher Reeve

If it matters to you, you’ll find a way. Charlie Gilkey

She believed she could, so she did.

The past does not equal the future. Tony Robbins

Forget about style; worry about results. Bobby Orr

Success is the child of audacity. Benjamin Disraeli

Whatever you do, do with all your might. Marcus Tullius Cicero

If you’re going through hell, keep going. Winston Churchill

When nothing goes right, go left.

Every noble work is at first impossible. Thomas Carlyle

We are twice armed if we fight with faith. Plato

Be faithful to that which exists within yourself. André Gide

Let him that would move the world first move himself. Socrates

Persistence guarantees that results are inevitable. Paramahansa Yogananda

My life is my message. Mahatma Gandhi

I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees. Euripides

The true success is the person who invented himself. Al Goldstein

Fall seven times, stand up eight. Japanese proverb

Each day provides its own gifts. Marcus Aurelius

• 79 Positive Quotes To Uplift Yourself
• 77 Life Lessons Quotes (To Learn And Grow)
• 57 Life Goes On Quotes That Will Move You

Very Short Quotes (For Tattoos, Mantras, etc.)

I love you.

You matter.

Choose joy.

Choose happy.

Take it easy.

Be in the now.

Live the moment.

Keep going.

Keep your chin up.

Relax. Seriously. Ryan Holiday

Paradise is a mindset. Maxime Lagacé

Keep moving forward.

Fear less. Love more.

Work hard. Stay humble.

Enjoy the little things.

The best is yet to come.

Collect moments – not things.

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

It’s not a loss, it’s a lesson.

More Short Inspirational Quotes

Be a voice. Not an echo.

Every wall is a door. Ralph Waldo Emerson

If youth knew; if age could. Sigmund Freud

Time is the soul of this world. Pythagoras

Life begins where fear ends. Osho

Stars can’t shine without darkness.

Be who you needed when you were young.

Find what you love and let it kill you. Charles Bukowski

Related : 10 Gentle Ways to Find Inspiration in Everyday Life (andymort.com)

Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today. Will Rogers

The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship. William Blake

Peace of mind is freedom from desire. Shane Parrish

Know yourself and you will know what to do. Maxime Lagacé

The less you want, the richer you are. Yanni

You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop. Rumi

Freedom is taking what comes. Maxime Lagacé

Small And Simple Quotes

You have to be odd to be number one. Dr. Seuss

Wherever you are, be there totally. Eckhart Tolle

The quieter you become, the more you can hear. Ram Dass

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

A man can’t ride your back unless it’s bent. Martin Luther King Jr

Failure is success if we learn from it. Malcolm Forbes

Chop your own wood and it will warm you twice. Henry Ford

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. Henry David Thoreau

What counts can’t always be counted; what can be counted doesn’t always count. Albert Einstein

The man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. James Crook

Fools chase. The wise relax. Maxime Lagacé

Key Takeaways

• Life is short . Be patient with results and impatient with actions.
• You can accomplish many things. But start with ONE and give it your 100%. Then go to the next.
• Choose hope and positivity. But remember: what’s valuable is not easy.
• Stop overthinking. Planning is fine, but life gets better when you expect less and trust more.
• You have one life. And it’s right now. In front of you. So GO!

Further Readings

• Topic: Life
• 100 Life Quotes To Transform Your Life Today
• 100 One Word Quotes (For Quick Inspiration)
• 101 Two Word Quotes (Find Motivation And Inspiration)
• 100+ Of The Most Famous Quotes Of All Time
• 75 Words of Wisdom From The Best Minds (Ever)
• 5 Ways to Find Inspiration (hint: stop looking for it!) (notsomoderngirl.com)
• How To Get Motivated Now (becalmwithtati.com)
• 120 Inspirational Quotes For Teens To Cheer Yourself Up
• 100 Inspirational Quotes For Women To Empower You
• 130 Inspirational Quotes For Men
• 87 Deep Quotes That Will Make You Think

Hope you liked these short inspirational quotes! If you did, share one of them with a friend today!

What’s your favorite short quote? And remember: words can transform your life, if you find the right ones.

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50+ Job Quotes That Could Change How You Feel About Your Career

Some days are just a slog. We all have days when we can’t get focused, are convinced we’re on the wrong path, or just plain feel exhausted. Whether you’re looking to apply for that job you'll actually love waking up for, building up the confidence to ask for that promotion, or trying to figure out what you should do with your life, you might need a little boost.

So we’ve pulled together 50 career quotes to help you look at your job from a different perspective, motivate you to keep working toward your goals, or inspire you to take that next step.

Read More: 45 Inspirational Quotes That Will Get You Through the Work Week

“Find out what you like doing best, and get someone to pay you for doing it.”  —Katharine Whitehorn

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”  —Alice Walker

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”  —M. Scott Peck

“If you don’t feel it, flee from it. Go where you are celebrated, not merely tolerated.”  —Paul F. Davis

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”  —Confucius

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”  —Milton Berle

“Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.”  —Kurt Cobain

“Nothing will work unless you do.”  —Maya Angelou

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.”  —Winston Churchill

“The future depends on what you do today.”  —Mahatma Gandhi

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”  —Mae West

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”  —Stephen Covey

“Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.”  —Chris Grosser

“Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”  —Francis of Assisi

“Write your own book instead of reading someone else’s book about success.”  —Herb Brooks

“Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.”  —Gore Vidal

“Getting fired is nature’s way of telling you that you had the wrong job in the first place.”  —Hal Lancaster

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”  —Eleanor Roosevelt

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”  —Steve Jobs

“There is nothing like a concrete life plan to weigh you down. Because if you always have one eye on some future goal, you stop paying attention to the job at hand, miss opportunities that might arise, and stay fixedly on one path, even when a better, newer course might have opened up.”  —Indra K. Nooyi

“A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory.”  —Arthur Golden

“There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”  —Nelson Mandela

“Do the best you can in every task, no matter how unimportant it may seem at the time. No one learns more about a problem than the person at the bottom.”  —Sandra Day O’Connor

“Whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy.”  —Paulo Coelho

“To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”  —Elbert Hubbard

“If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.”  —Sheryl Sandberg

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”  —Oscar Wilde

“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”  —Gloria Steinem

“A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never go back to its old dimensions.”  —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”  —Mark Twain

“He who never makes an effort, never risks a failure.”  —Anonymous

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”  —Lao Tzu

“You know, everybody has setbacks in their life, and everybody falls short of whatever goals they might set for themselves. That's part of living and coming to terms with who you are as a person.”  —Hillary Rodham Clinton

“If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.”  —Seth Godin

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.”  —Les Brown

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”  —Mother Teresa

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you until it seems that you cannot hold on for a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time when the tide will turn.”  —Harriet Beecher Stowe

“Make sure your own worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.”  —Laird Hamilton

“There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart. Pursue these.”  —Michael Nolan

“When the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, it may be that they take better care of it there.”  —Cecil Selig

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.”  — Amelia Earhart

“Don’t feel sorry for yourself, only assholes do that.”  —Haruki Murakami

“I was once afraid of people saying ‘Who does she think she is?’ Now I have the courage to stand and say, ‘This is who I am.’”  —Oprah

“The best revenge is massive success.”  —Frank Sinatra

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”  —Beverly Sills

“I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.”  —Charles Swindoll

“If you want to achieve greatness, stop asking for permission.”  —Eddie Colla

“I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time.”  —Anna Freud

“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”  —Martin Luther King Jr.

"There isn’t any great mystery about me. What I do is glamorous and has an awful lot of white-hot attention placed on it. But the actual work requires the same discipline and passion as any job you love doing, be it as a very good pipe fitter or a highly creative artist." — Tom Hanks

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”  —William James

“If you want to be a true professional, do something outside yourself.”  —Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Regina Borsellino contributed writing, reporting, and/or advice to this article.

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76 Positive Quotes to Brighten Your Day

In case you're in need of a little optimism right now.

Lauren is a former editor at Real Simple and currently serves as a senior digital editor for Better Homes & Gardens.

Positive quotes are just one tool we can use to improve our mood and mental health . These succinct sayings might increase your productivity at work, help you feel more optimistic about your life, or make a seemingly dark day a little brighter. However, it's true that some quotes resonate more than others.

We chose the following positive quotes because they represent the most inspirational and uplifting quotes we could find. Sometimes all we need to feel better is a little perspective from another person who has been there and thrived. Nevertheless, if you find these quotes don't motivate you, don't fret. Sometimes it's better to lean into your negative moods, instead of trying to force toxic positivity .

Whether you share them in a text, as a social media post caption, or as a spoken mantra, these uplifting, motivating words and sayings are sure to bring good vibes to any situation.

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible.’”

Corinne Mucha/RS

—Audrey Hepburn

“I cannot express how important it is to believe that taking one tiny—and possibly very uncomfortable—step at a time can ultimately add up to a great distance.”

RS/Corinne Mucha

—Tig Notaro

“Here comes the sun. And I say, it’s all right."

—The Beatles, "Here Comes the Sun"

“Do your thing and don't care if they like it.”

—Tina Fey, Bossypants

“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than the things I haven’t done."

—Lucille Ball

“Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.”

—Maya Angelou

“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”

—Ruth Bader Ginsberg

"A dead end is just a good place to turn around."

—Naomi Judd

"Choose to be optimistic, it feels better."

RS/Corinne Much

"Just say yes and you’ll figure it out afterwards."

"you can’t make a cloudy day a sunny day, but you can embrace it and decide it’s going to be a good day after all.".

—Jane Lynch

"Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life."

—Amy Poehler

"You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will."

—Stephen King

"In your life expect some trouble. But when you worry, you make it double. But don't worry, be happy, be happy now."

—Bobby McFerrin

"You’re in the same boat with a lotta your friends. Waitin’ for the day your ship’ll come in, and the tide's gonna turn and it’s all gonna roll your way."

—Dolly Parton, "9 to 5"

"Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you."

—Walt Whitman

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

– C.S. Lewis

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving."

– Albert Einstein

"It is never too late to be what you might have been."

– George Eliot

"Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful."

– Hazrat Inayat Khan

"We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

– Joseph Campbell

"Happiness is not by chance, but by choice."

"if i cannot do great things, i can do small things in a great way.".

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive."

– Maya Angelou

"You are enough just as you are."

– Meghan Markle

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot."

– Michael Altshuler

"You make a life out of what you have, not what you're missing."

– Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer."

– Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

"At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done—then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago."

– Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

"Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done."

– Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy

"That is one good thing about this world ... there are always sure to be more springs."

– L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea

"These things are good things."

– Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat

"Pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it."

– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

– Oscar Wilde

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."

– Marilyn Monroe

"You cannot change what you are, only what you do."

– Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass

"Thou must gather thine own sunshine."

– Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

"It is not enough to have a good mind; the important thing is to use it well."

– Rene Descartes

"People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be."

– Harvey Mackay

"Walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps."

– Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

"Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."

– Babe Ruth

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The Sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."

– Alexander Graham Bell

"Lay plans for something big by starting with it when small."

"no exact recipe for today. gather all available ingredients and whip yourself up something delicious.".

– Lin-Manuel Miranda, Gmorning/Gnight

"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."

– Henry Miller

"It's how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success."

– David Feherty

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

– Thomas A. Edison

"It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan."

– Eleanor Roosevelt

"Do anything, but let it produce joy."

– Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."

– Desmond Tutu

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."

– Charles Dickens

"As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way."

– Mary Anne Radmacher

"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."

– Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

"That's what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing."

– Simone de Beauvoir

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose."

– Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You'll Go!

"You rarely win, but sometimes you do."

– Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

"I've got nothing to do today but smile."

– Simon and Garfunkel

"I believe great people do things before they are ready."

– Amy Poehler, Yes Please

"I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go."

– Langston Hughes

"If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done."

– Bruce Lee

"For me, becoming isn't about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn't end."

– Michelle Obama, Becoming

"Anything is possible with sunshine and a little pink."

– Lilly Pulitzer

"Imagine this: What would happen if we were all brave enough to believe in our own ability, to be a little more ambitious? I think the world would change."

– Reese Witherspoon

"You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness."

– Diane von Furstenberg

"Take your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don't settle for them."

"we do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.".

– J.K. Rowling

“Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t, pretend that you do and, at some point, you will.”

– Venus Williams

"Believe you can and you're halfway there."

– Theodore Roosevelt

“You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.”

– Brené Brown

“If you see someone without a smile, give 'em yours!”

– Dolly Parton

“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”

– Oprah Winfrey

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."

– William James

“For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

– Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb

“You are your best thing.”

– Toni Morrison, Beloved

“There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work than follow your passions–in a way that serves the world and you.”

– Sir Richard Branson

Related Articles

CV personal statement examples

If you want to secure job interview, you need a strong personal statement at the top of your CV.

Your CV personal statement is a short paragraph which sits at the very top of your CV – and it’s aim is to summarise the benefits of hiring you and encourage employers to read your CV in full.

In this guide I have included 17 CV personal statement examples from a range of professions and experience levels, plus a detailed guide of how to write your own personal statement that will get you noticed by employers

CV templates 

17 CV personal statement examples

To start this guide, I have included 10 examples of good personal statements, to give you an idea of how a personal statement should look , and what should be included.

Note: personal statements are generally used by junior candidates – if you are experienced, check out our CV profile examples instead.

Graduate CV personal statement (no experience)

Although this  graduate has no paid work experience, they compensate for it by showcasing all of the skills and knowledge the have gained during their studies, and demonstrating how they apply their knowledge in academic and personal projects.

When you have little or no experience, it’s important to draw out transferable workplace skills from your studies and extracurricular work, to showcase them to employers.

Graduate CV personal statement (part time freelance experience)

This candidate has graduated with a degree in biochemistry but actually wants to start a career in digital marketing after providing some digital freelance services to fund their studies.

In this case, they haven’t made much mention of their studies because they aren’t relevant to the digital marketing agencies they are applying to. Instead they have focused their personal statement around their freelance work and passion for the digital field – although they still mention the fact they are degree educated to prove their academic success.

Build your CV now 

School leaver CV personal statement (no experience)

This candidate is 16 years old and has no work experience whatsoever, but they compensate for this by detailing their academic achievements that relate to the roles they are applying for (maths and literacy are important requirements in finance and accountancy roles).

They also add some info on their extracurricular activities and school work-placements, to strengthen this student CV further.

    Top tips for writing a CV personal statement

• Thoroughly research the jobs and companies you are planning to apply for to identify the type of candidate they are looking for – try to reflect that in your personal statement
• Don’t be afraid to brag a little – include some of your most impressive achievements from education, work or personal life
• Focus on describing the benefits an employer will get from hiring you. Will you help them to get more customers? Improve their workplace? Save them time and money?
• If you have no work experience, demonstrate transferable workplace skills from your education, projects, or even hobbies

School leaver CV personal statement (part time experience)

Although this person has only just left school, they have also undertaken some part-time work in a call centre alongside their studies.

To make the most of this experience, they have combined their academic achievements with their workplace exposure in this personal statement.

By highlighting their GCSE results, summer programme involvement, work experience and expressing their ambitions to progress within sales, this candidate really makes an appealing case for hiring them.

College leaver CV personal statement (no experience)

This candidate has left college with good grades, but does not yet have any work experience.

To compensate for the lack of workplace exposure, they have made their A level results prominent and highlighted skills and experience which would benefit the employers they are targeting.

Any recruiter reading this profile can quickly understand that this candidate has great academic achievements, a passion for IT and finance and the ability to transfer their skills into an office environment.

College student CV personal statement (freelance experience)

As this student has picked up a small amount of freelance writing work during their studies, they have made sure to brag about it in their personal statement.

They give details on their relevant A level studies to show the skills they are learning, and boost this further by highlighting the fact that they have been applying these skills in a real-life work setting by providing freelance services.

They also include key action verbs that recruiters will be looking for , such as creative writing, working to deadlines, and producing copy.

Academic CV personal statement

Aside from junior candidates, the only other people who might use a personal statement, are academic professionals; as their CV’s tend to be more longer and detailed than other professions.

This candidate provides a high level overview of their field of study, length of experience, and the roles they have held within universities.

School leaver CV personal statement with and sports experience

Although this person has no work experience, they are still able to show employers the value of hiring them by selling their other achievements and explaining how they could benefit an organisation.

They expand on their sports club involvement to demonstrate their teamwork, leadership skills, communication and motivation, which are all important traits in the workplace, and will be looked upon favourably by recruiters and hiring managers.

They also draw upon their future plans to study business studies and take a part time job, to further prove their ambition and dedication.

History graduate CV personal statement

This history graduate proves their aptitude for both academic achievement and workplace aptitude by showcasing valuable skills from their degree and voluntary work.

They do this by breaking down the key requirements for each and showing how their skills could be beneficial for future employers, such as listening, communication, and crisis management.

They also describe how their ability to balance studies alongside voluntary work has not only boosted their knowledge and skills, but also given excellent time management and organisational skills – which are vital assets to any employer.

Law graduate CV personal statement

This legal graduate makes the most from their work university work placements by using it to bulk out the contents of their CV personal statement.

They include their degree to show they have the necessary qualifications for legal roles, which is crucial, but more importantly, they showcase how they applied their legal skills within a real-life work setting.

They give a brief overview of the types of legal professionals they have been working alongside and the type of work they have been carrying out – this is all it takes to get the attention of recruiters and show employers they have what it takes to fulfil roles in the legal sector.

Medical student CV personal statement

This medical student proves their fit for the role by showcasing the key skills they have gained from their studies and their work experience placements.

In just these few sentences, they are able to highlight the vast amount of experience they have across different disciplines in the industry, something which is particularly important in the medical sector.

As they have not graduated yet and are still studying, they have provided proof of their most recent grades. This can give the recruiter some indication as to the type of grade they could be graduating with in the near future.

Masters student CV personal statement

This masters student has started by specifying their area of study, in this case, accounting, and given details about the specific areas of finance they are most interested in. This can hint towards their career goals and passions.

They have then carefully listed some of the key areas of accounting and finance that they are proficient in. For example, business finance, advanced corporate finance and statistics.

They have also outlined some of the transferable skills needed for accounting roles that employers will be looking out for, such as communication, attention to detail and analytical skills.

Finance student CV personal statement

As this finance student has recently undertaken some relevant work experience, they’ve made sure to shout about this in their personal profile.

But more than this, they have included a list of some of the important finance skills they gained as a result of this work experience – for example, financial reporting, processing invoices and month-end reconciliations.

Plus, through power words and phrases such as ‘prevent loss’ and ‘ improve upon accuracy and efficiency’, they have also showcased how they can apply these skills in a workplace setting to benefit the potential employer.

Internship  CV personal statement

This digital marketing professional has started their personal profile by outlining their most relevant qualifications and work experience, most notably their freelance role as a content manager.

They have also provided examples of some of the key marketing skills that potential employers might be looking for, including very detailed examples of the platforms and tools they are proficient in – for example, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest.

They have then closed their statement by giving a detailed description of the type of role or opportunity they are looking for. In this case, an in-house position in a marketing company.

Graduate career changer personal statement

Switching careers as a graduate can be tough. Especially when it comes to writing a personal statement that will attract employers in your new chosen field.

This candidate is looking to move from history teaching into journalism, so they have created a statement which briefly mentions their current workplace, but mainly focuses on highlighting transferable skills which are relevant to journalism. They achieve this by discussing the writing skills they use in their current role, and mentioning their hobby of writing – including some publications they have been featured in for extra brownie points.

Business management graduate personal statement

This business management proves their ability to work within a junior business management position by swiftly highlighting their impressive degree (to ensure it is not missed) and summarising some of the real-life experience they have gained in management during their university placements and volunteering. They do not let their lack of paid work experience, stop them demonstrating their valuable skills.

PhD graduate

PhD graduate roles attract a lot of competition, so it’s important that your CV contains a personal statement that will quickly impress and attract recruiters.

This candidate provides a short-but-comprehensive overview of their academic achievements, whilst demonstrating their exceptional level of knowledge in research, languages and publication writing.

By highlighting a number of skills and abilities that are in high-demand in the academic workplace, this CV is very likely to get noticed and land interviews.

How to write a personal statement for your CV

Now that you’ve seen what a personal statement should look like and the type of content it should contain, follow this detailed guide to one for your own CV – and start racking those interviews up.

Guide contents

What is a CV personal statement?

Cv personal statement or cv profile, personal statement format, what to include in a cv personal statement.

• Personal statement mistakes

How to write persuasively

A personal statement is a short paragraph at the top of your CV which gives employers an overview of your education, skills and experience

It’s purpose is to capture the attention of busy recruiters and hiring managers when your CV is first opened – encouraging them to read the rest of it.

You achieve this by writing a tailored summary of yourself that explains your suitability for the roles you are applying for at a very high level, and matches your target job descriptions .

One question candidates often ask me is , “what is the difference between a personal statement and a CV profile?”

To be honest, they are almost the same – they are both introductory paragraphs that sit at the top of your CV… but there are 2 main differences

A personal statement tends to be used more by junior candidates (graduates, school leavers etc.) and is relatively long and detailed.

A CV profile tends to be favoured by more experienced candidates , and is shorter in length than a personal statement.

Note: If you are an experienced candidate, you may want to switch over to my CV profile writing guide , or example CV profiles page.

To ensure you grab recruiters’ attention with your personal statement, lay it out in the following way.

Positioning

You need to ensure that your personal statement sits at the very top of your CV, and all of it should be totally visible to readers, without the need to scroll down the page.

Do this by reducing the top page margin and minimising the space taken up by your contact details.

This will ensure that your whole personal statement can be seen, as soon as your CV is opened.

We have a Word CV template which can help you to get this right.

Size/length

Your personal statement needs to contain enough detail to provide an introduction to your skills and knowledge, but not so much detail that it bores readers.

To strike the right balance, anything between 8-15 lines of text is perfect – and sentences should be sharp and to-the-point.

As with the whole of your CV or resume , your personal statement should be written in a simple clean font at around size 10-12 to ensure that it can be read easily by all recruiters and employers.

Keep the text colour simple , ensuring that it contrasts the background (black on white is best) and break it into 2 or even 3 paragraphs for a pleasant reading experience.

It should also be written in a punchy persuasive tone, to help you sell yourself and increase your chances of landing interviews , I cover how to do this in detail further down the guide.

Quick tip: A poorly written CV will fail to impress recruiters and employers. Use our quick-and-easy CV Builder to create a winning CV in minutes with professional CV templates and pre-written content for every industry.

Once you have the style and format of your personal statement perfected, you need to fill it with compelling content that tells recruiters that your CV is worth reading.

Here’s what needs to go into your personal statement…

Before you start writing your personal statement, it’s crucial that you research your target roles to find out exactly what your new potential employers are looking for in a candidate.

Run a search for your target jobs on one of the major job websites , look through plenty of adverts and make a list of the candidate requirements that frequently appear.

This research will show you exactly what to include in your personal statement in order to impress the recruiters who will be reading it.

Education and qualifications are an important aspect of your personal statement, especially if you are a junior candidate.

You should highlight your highest and most relevant qualifications, whether that is a degree, A levels or GCSEs. You could potentially go into some more detail around modules, papers etc. if they are relevant to the roles you are applying for.

It’s important that you discuss the experience you have gained in your personal statement, to give readers an idea of the work you are comfortable undertaking.

This can of course be direct employed work experience, but it doesn’t have to be.

You can also include:

• School/college Uni work placements
• Voluntary work
• Personal projects
• Hobbies/interests

As with all aspects of your CV , the content should be tailored to match the requirements of your target roles.

Whilst discussing your experience, you should touch upon skills used, industries worked in, types of companies worked for, and people you have worked with.

Where possible, try to show the impact your actions have made. E.g . A customer service agent helps to make sales for their employer.

Any industry-specific knowledge you have that will be useful to your new potential employers should be made prominent within your personal statement.

For example

• Knowledge of financial regulations will be important for accountancy roles
• Knowledge of IT operating systems will be important for IT roles
• Knowledge of the national curriculum will be important for teachers

You should also include some information about the types of roles you are applying for, and why you are doing so. Try to show your interest and passion for the field you are hoping to enter, because employers want to hire people who have genuine motivation and drive in their work.

This is especially true if you don’t have much work experience, as you need something else to compensate for it.

CV personal statement mistakes

The things that you omit from your personal statement can be just as important as the things you include.

Try to keep the following out of your personal statement..

Irrelevant info

Any information that doesn’t fall into the requirements of your target roles can be cut out of your personal statement. For example, if you were a professional athlete 6 years ago, that’s great – but it won’t be relevant if you’re applying to advertising internships, so leave it out.

Generic clichés

If you are describing yourself as a “ dynamic team player with high levels of motivation and enthusiasm” you aren’t doing yourself any favours.

These cliché terms are vastly overused and don’t provide readers with any factual details about you – so keep them to a minimum.

Stick to solid facts like education, skills , experience, achievements and knowledge.

If you really want to ensure that your personal statement makes a big impact, you need to write in a persuasive manner.

So, how do you so this?

Well, you need to brag a little – but not too much

It’s about selling yourself and appearing confident, without overstepping the mark and appearing arrogant.

For example, instead of writing.

“Marketing graduate with an interest in entering the digital field”

Be creative and excite the reader by livening the sentence up like this,

“Marketing graduate with highest exam results in class and a passion for embarking on a long and successful career within digital”

The second sentence is a much more interesting, makes the candidate appear more confident, throws in some achievements, and shows off a wider range of writing skills.

Quick tip: A poorly written CV will fail to impress recruiters and employers. Use our quick-and-easy CV Builder to create a winning CV in minutes with professional templates and pre-written content for every industry.

Your own personal statement will be totally unique to yourself, but by using the above guidelines you will be able to create one which shows recruiters everything they need.

Remember to keep the length between 10-20 lines and only include the most relevant information for your target roles.

You can also check our school leaver CV example , our best CV templates , or our library of example CVs from all industries.

Good luck with the job hunt!

Passion doesn’t always come easily. Discover your inner drive and find your true purpose in life.

From learning how to be your best self to navigating life’s everyday challenges.

Discover peace within today’s chaos. Take a moment to notice what’s happening now.

Gain inspiration from the lives of celebrities. Explore their stories for motivation and insight into achieving your dreams.

Where ordinary people become extraordinary, inspiring us all to make a difference.

Take a break with the most inspirational movies, TV shows, and books we have come across.

From being a better partner to interacting with a coworker, learn how to deepen your connections.

Take a look at the latest diet and exercise trends coming out. So while you're working hard, you're also working smart.

Sleep may be the most powerful tool in our well-being arsenal. So why is it so difficult?

Challenges can stem from distractions, lack of focus, or unclear goals. These strategies can help overcome daily obstacles.

Unlocking your creativity can help every aspect of your life, from innovation to problem-solving to personal growth.

How do you view wealth? Learn new insights, tools and strategies for a better relationship with your money.

100 Powerful Motivational Quotes to Help You Rise Above

100 motivational and inspiratinal quotes about life and success to help you conquer lifes challenges..

Every member of the human race knows that life can present difficult challenges, often taking all the fun out of our day to day lives. To overcome these obstacles there are a lot of good strategies you can employ, and very often the answer lies within. 

One great way to dig deep and overcome your difficulties is to get motivated! You may need motivation for work, home life, or simply to gain the extra positive energy necessary to develop success and get through the week. 

Enjoy the inspirational quotes below, and remember that the only limit to achieving our desires is one of imagination! Create your own happy life by filling it with purpose, and you can achieve excellence and fulfill your own dreams and your own life plan on your terms.

Motivational Quotes: Information to Inspire Your Life

There Is No Greater Thing You Can Do With Your Life And Your Work Than Follow Your Passions – In A Way That Serves The World And You. RICHARD BRANSON (more Richard Branson quotes)

Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it. ROALD DAHL

If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one. DOLLY PARTON

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. HELEN KELLER

Life is a series of baby steps along the way and if you add up these tiny little steps you take toward your goal, whatever it is, whether it's giving up something, a terrible addiction or trying to work your way through an illness. HODA KOTB

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough. OPRAH WINFREY (more Oprah Winfrey quotes)

To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone. REBA MCENTIRE

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking: “What’s in it for me?” BRIAN TRACY

The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. OPRAH WINFREY

As soon as something stops being fun, I think it’s time to move on. Life is too short to be unhappy. Waking up stressed and miserable is not a good way to live. RICHARD BRANSON

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, '"What are you doing for others?""

Martin luther king, jr. (more martin luther king, jr. quotes), "i've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why i succeed.", michael jordan, "nothing can dim the light that shines from within.", maya angelou, "it's not what we have in life but who we have in our life that matters.", margaret laurence, "embrace the glorious mess that you are.", elizabeth gilbert, "sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.", "when one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.", helen keller, "life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how i react to it.", charles swindoll, "don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.", robert louis stevenson, "without passion, you don’t have energy. without energy, you have nothing.", warren buffett (more warren buffett quotes), "it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. if you think about that, you’ll do things differently.", warren buffett, "remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.", dale carnegie, work for that feeling that you have accomplished something…don’t waste your time on this earth without making a mark., "life is not fair, get used to it", "the only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.", ralph waldo emerson, "live for each second without hesitation.", we define ourselves far too often by our past failures. that’s not you. you are this person right now. you’re the person who has learned from those failures., "you don’t need to be better than anyone else, you just need to be better than you used to be.", success quotes to inspire and help you overcome roadblocks.

For some, there is only one motivation that they need, and that’s providing for their family. For others (like Elon Musk, for example) motivation can be harder to come by - especially if your goal is to move the human race forward and onto Mars!. 

Everyone feels like quitting at some point, and no one has all the answers. And even though it can be tempting to get under the blanket and shut out the world sometimes, quitting won’t make the challenges go away. If you give zero effort, you’ll have exactly the same number of chances at getting what you want.

Use these motivational quotes for work, for your personal life, and for anything that requires that extra boost of motivation.

When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favour. ELON MUSK (more Elon Musk quotes)

Talent is god-given. Be humble. Fame is Man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. JOHN WOODEN

Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose. WAYNE DYER

The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees Opportunity In Every Difficulty. WINSTON CHURCHILL (more Winston Churchill quotes)

If you can tune into your purpose and really align with it, setting goals so that your vision is an expression of that purpose, then life flows much more easily. JACK CANFIELD

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. NAPOLEON HILL (more Napoleon Hill quotes)

A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided. TONY ROBBINS (more Tony Robbins quotes)

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. HENRY DAVID THOREAU

By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands – your own. MARK VICTOR HANSEN

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. JOHN LENNON

You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it. CHARLES BUXTON

You cannot afford to live in potential for the rest of your life; at some point, you have to unleash the potential and make your move. ERIC THOMAS

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. CALVIN COOLIDGE

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure. PAULO COELHO

Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine. ROY T. BENNETT

The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do. SWATI SHARMA

You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind. DALE CARNEGIE

I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. JIMMY DEAN

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I’m possible'! AUDREY HEPBURN

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. HENRY FORD

Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. GEORGE ADDAIR

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. NORMAN VINCENT PEALE

If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you. LES BROWN

Someone else’s success does not equal a failure for you. JOE ROGAN

Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts. WINSTON S. CHURCHILL

Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value. ALBERT EINSTEIN

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. STEVE JOBS

Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. ALICE WALKER

You have to see failure as the beginning and the middle, but never entertain it as an end. JESSICA HERRIN, FOUNDER AND CEO OF STELLA & DOT

Inspirational Quotes About Persevering Through Difficulty: From Albert Einstein to Babe Ruth

It may be just an opinion, but a so-called “minimum wage work ethic” will not get you want you want (or deserve!). Use the following handpicked motivational quotes to inspire you to not give up, but rather, to come through the other side and emerge as a winner!

I like criticism. It makes you strong. LEBRON JAMES

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. ALBERT EINSTEIN

Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about. WINSTON CHURCHILL

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. THOMAS EDISON

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. ARISTOTLE ONASSIS

It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up. VINCE LOMBARDI

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. HENRY FORD

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

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. CONFUCIUS

Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny. C.S. LEWIS

When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

It always seems impossible until it’s done. NELSON MANDELA

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. NELSON MANDELA

Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed. BOB RILEY

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. MAHATMA GANDHI

You’re going to go through tough times – that’s life. But I say, ‘Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.’ See the positive in negative events. JOEL OSTEEN

Every problem is a gift –- without problems we would not grow. TONY ROBBINS

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did. MARK TWAIN (more Mark Twain quotes)

Believe you can and you’re halfway there. THEODORE ROOSEVELT

It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that’s where transformation happens. That’s how change occurs. JILLIAN MICHAELS

The man who says he can, and the man who says he can’t are both correct. CONFUCIUS

Never give up. You only get one life. Go for it! RICHARD E. GRANT

You just can’t beat the person who never gives up. BABE RUTH

If you can’t, you must. If you must, you can. TONY ROBBINS

It is never too late to be what you might have been. GEORGE ELIOT

You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over. RICHARD BRANSON

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. ROBERT F. KENNEDY

Motivational Quotes for Women - From Eleanor Roosevelt to Lady Gaga

We all look forward to strong, successful and independent women. But have you ever wondered how they managed to become strong and successful? 

Here are some motivational quotes about success for you to achieve your ambitious goals from some of the most impressive women throughout history.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. MAYA ANGELOU (more Maya Angelou quotes)

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. MARGARET MEAD (more Margaret Mead quotes)

Life imposes things on you that you can’t control, but you still have the choice of how you’re going to live through this. CELINE DION

Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as you can. HILLARY CLINTON

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE

I've always been famous, it's just no one knew it yet. LADY GAGA (more Lady Gaga quotes)

Any actress who appears in public without being well-groomed is digging her own grave. JOAN CRAWFORD

Fame is not the glory! Virtue is the goal, and fame only a messenger, to bring more to the fold. VANNA BONTA

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. HELEN KELLER

My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent. RUTH BADER GINSBERG

Happiness is letting go of what you think your life is supposed to look like and enjoying it for everything that it is. MANDY HALE

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

Without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great success. MARTHA STEWART

If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just. ANITA RODDICK

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. AMELIA EARHART

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated. MAYA ANGELOU

Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me. ARIANNA HUFFINGTON

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass but learning to dance in the rain. VIVIAN GREENE

Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, dig deep within yourself to conquer fears. Never let anyone bring you down. You got to keep going. CHANTAL SUTHERLAND

We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. BARBARA DE ANGELIS

I may be kindly, I am ordinarily gentle, but in my line of business I am obliged to will terribly what I will at all. CATHERINE THE GREAT

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform. DIANE MARIECHILD

Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult. CHARLOTTE WHITTON

I want to do is because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others. AMELIA EARHART

Some women choose to follow men, and some choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn’t love you anymore. LADY GAGA

Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country. MARGARET THATCHER (more Margaret Thatcher quotes)

Motivational Quotes for Business 

Starting a business is tough, but if you want to change the world and make money while you’re at it, you might need some inspirational quotes and motivational quotes to get you going. You can not only plan to be a success, you can plan to succeed beyond your wildest dreams! Who knows – you could be the next Steve Jobs! Let these quotes for business inspire you, remind you of why you started in the first place, and get you out of your comfort zone.

Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. GEORGE HERBERT

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. ZIG ZIGLAR

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure. HELLEN KELLER

Play by the rules, but be ferocious. PHIL KNIGHT

Every problem is a gift—without problems we would not grow. ANTHONY ROBBINS

You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong. WARREN BUFFETT

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. HENRY DAVID THOREAU

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. ANAÏS NIN

Don’t settle for what life gives you; make life better and build something. ASHTON KUTCHER

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 safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. MARK TWAIN

Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you. GEORGE WHITEFIELD

When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it. JIM ROHN

Fortune always favours the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself. P. T. BARNUM

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. THOMAS A. EDISON

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. DALE CARNEGIE

When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there. ZIG ZIGLAR

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. PELE

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

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. WINSTON CHURCHILL

I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. STEPHEN COVEY

The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same. COLIN R. DAVIS

Opportunities don't happen. You create them. CHRIS GROSSER

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. HERMAN MELVILLE

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. MICHAEL JORDAN

Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming. RICHARD BRANSON

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. COLIN POWELL

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. VIDAL SASSOON

There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them. SETH GODIN

Motivational Quotes for College Students - Quotes About Life in School and Beyond

Being a college student is stressful. After all, preparing for the real world is not an easy job! We can all use a little bit of help getting through, so check out these motivational quotes about life to keep you resilient.

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up. NELSON MANDELA

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. OG MANDINO

It never gets easier. You just get better. JORDAN HOECHLIN

The true success is the person who invented himself. AL GOLDSTEIN

All progress takes place outside the comfort zone. MICHAEL JOHN BOBAK

Make the most of yourself….for that is all there is of you. RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. W. CLEMENT STONE

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above them. WASHINGTON IRVING

Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. THEODORE N. VAIL

With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world. Dalai Lama

Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle. CHRISTIAN D. LARSON

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. WALT DISNEY

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. CONFUCIUS

Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better. JIM ROHN

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did. MARK TWAIN

Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. JOSHUA MARINE

Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now. DENIS WAITLEY

College is the reward for surviving high school. JUDD APATOW

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. MALCOLM X

Every year, many, many stupid people graduate from college. And if they can do it, so can you. JOHN GREEN

Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest when you haven't planted. DAVID BLY

College inspired me to think differently. It's like no other time in your life. LARA OLEYNIK

Motivational Quotes from Celebrities

Everyone looks for a little wisdom and inspiration now and then, even celebrities. Here are some of the top motivational quotes from celebrities to push you forward on your journey to success. Allow these inspirational quotes to fill your mind with clarity and purpose, straight from Hollywood.

You never really learn much from hearing yourself speak. GEORGE CLOONEY

Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. LUCILLE BALL

Don't give it five minutes if you're not going to give it five years. MEGHAN MARKLE​

Every day is not a success. Every year is not a success. You have to celebrate the good. REESE WITHERSPOON

Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable. COCO CHANEL

I refuse to accept other people’s ideas of happiness for me. As if there’s a ‘one size fits all’ standard for happiness. KANYE WEST

Life is being on the wire, everything else is just waiting. KARL WALLENDA

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

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default. J.K. ROWLING

When you take risks you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important. ELLEN DEGENERES  

Stick around. Don’t lose your heart, just keep going, keep at it. MARK RUFFALO

I'd rather be called a boy and play with paper airplanes than be called a man and play with a girl's heart. NIALL HORAN

I don’t like to share my personal life… it wouldn’t be personal if I shared it. GEORGE CLOONEY

The image is one thing and the human being is another. It's very hard to live up to an image, put it that way. ELVIS PRESLEY

I've always been famous, it's just no one knew it yet. LADY GAGA

Your imperfections make you beautiful, they make you who you are. So just be yourself, love yourself for who you are and just keep going. DEMI LOVATO

No matter how talented you are, not everybody is going to like you. But that’s life, just stay strong. JUSTIN BIEBER

Don’t feel stupid if you don’t like what everyone else pretends to love. EMMA WATSON

If you can do what you do best and be happy, you are further along in life than most people. LEONARDO DICAPRIO

Ignore the naysayers. Really the only option is, head down and focus on the job. CHRIS PINE

I’ve learned it’s important not to limit yourself. You can do whatever you really love to do, no matter what it is. RYAN GOSLING

I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be herself. EMMA STONE

I’m a big believer in accepting yourself and not really worrying about it. JENNIFER LAWRENCE

I don’t do things for the response or the controversy. I just live my life. RIHANNA

Motivational Quotes for Entrepreneurs

Planting a sapling and starting your own business are similar in terms of growth. First, you need to invest money and time. Then, gently taking care of your new project, you must build with no expectations in return. During the entrepreneurial journey, you may require constant motivation. 

Here is a collection of motivational quotes for entrepreneurs to help you keep the fires burning bright. Hopefully, these inspirational quotes will help you so that you never lose the passion you need to succeed.

I never dreamed about success. I worked for it. ESTÉE LAUDER

Don’t let others convince you that the idea is good when your gut tells you it’s bad. KEVIN ROSE, CO-FOUNDED DIGG

Think big and don’t listen to people who tell you it can’t be done. Life is too short to think small. TIM FERRISS

I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite. G.K. CHESTERTON

I don’t know the word ‘quit.’ Either I never did, or I have abolished it. SUSAN BUTCHER

Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. THEODORE ROOSEVELT

If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time. STEVE JOBS

Almost everything worthwhile carries with it some sort of risk, whether it’s starting a new business, whether it’s leaving home, whether it’s getting married, or whether it’s flying into space. CHRIS HADFIELD

Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. WILL RODGERS

The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere. BARACK OBAMA

Winners never quit and quitters never win. VINCE LOMBARDI

The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell. ANDREW CARNEGIE

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. WALT DISNEY

Success depends on employees. For me knowing and connecting with my employees is very important. DIVINE NDHLUKULA, FOUNDER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR OF DDNS SECURITY OPERATIONS LTD

Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless. JAMIE PAOLINETTI

Do not focus on numbers. Focus on doing what you do best. It’s about building a community who want to visit your site every day because you create value and offer expertise. CASSEY HO, FOUNDER OF BLOGILATES.COM

In the age of transparency, honesty, and generosity, even in the form of an apology, generate goodwill. ALEXANDER ASSEILY, FOUNDER OF JAWBONE

If you know too much before the start, then you will get overwhelmed. Come up with an original idea, and don’t copy because there will be no passion. You need that otherworldly passion. Just start. JENI BRITTON BAUER

Don’t try to do everything by yourself, but try to connect with people and resources. Having that discipline and perseverance is really important. CHIEU CAO

It’s necessary to find a mentor who can invest time to know your personal capabilities and business model. NIGEL DAVIES, FOUNDER OF CLAROMENTIS

Don’t get distracted. Never tell yourself that you need to be the biggest brand in the whole world. Start by working on what you need at the present moment and then what you need to do tomorrow. So, set yourself manageable targets. JAS BAGNIEWSKI, CO-FOUNDER OF EVE SLEEP

You have to get good at ceding control and not taking things personally. Even seasoned entrepreneurs have struggled with that. I think it’s about not taking failures personally and also not taking successes personally. LEILA JANAH, FOUNDER OF SAMASOURCE AND LXMI

Your ability to attract, evaluate, and forge strong working relationships with co-founders, early employees, and investors often mean the difference between failure and success. CLARA SHIH, CO-FOUNDER OF HEARSAY SYSTEMS

My advice is to focus on the importance of forging a long-term relationship, whether with colleagues, partners, or customers. It is often easy to get caught up in short-term decisions. SHEILA LIRIO MARCELO, FOUNDER OF CARE.COM

If you’re starting something on your own, you better have a passion for it, because this is hard work. SALLIE KRAWCHECK, CO-FOUNDER OF ELLEVEST

Be nicer to your customers than your competitors. RICHARD REED, CO-FOUNDER OF INNOCENT DRINKS

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Forced to feel ashamed for her weight and appearance, Kate Winslet struggled with her body image for years. The media loved to tease her for being “the fat girl,” but there was ONE PERSON who saw the real her. What did Leo see in Kate? And what important message does Kate have for young women everywhere?

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio's True Friendship

Kate Winslet has not always been sure of herself. "I was always comparing myself to others. You see I've been bullied at school, they call me blubber, they teased me for wanting to act."

While it's nearly impossible to think of the gorgeous and talented Winslet as anything other than a force to be reckoned with, years of being teased and the media's love for taking shots at her weight did their damage.

"I was sort of made to feel ashamed of myself, my appearance."

But when co-star and friend, Leonardo DiCaprio stepped in, he had only a few words of encouragement that helped to shape a new outlook for the Titanic actress. An outlook that she was able to share with other women, including her young daughter , Mia.

"You know, happiness it isn't a search for, you know ,facial physical perfection. You know, it comes from inside."

Poor Boy Couldn’t Afford to Bury His Mom - So He Takes Matters Into His Own Hands

Poor Boy Begs For Money to "Bury My Mama" With Heartbreaking Sign

A week ago, 11-year-old Kayden Ely experienced the devastating loss of his mother, Shannon Mount. Her unexpected passing didn't just leave Kayden and his four siblings without their mom, it also left the family in dire financial straits.

Desperate to raise funds for his mom's funeral, Kayden took to the streets of his small town in Georgia begging for help. For two days the heartbroken little boy stood next to the railroad tracks, holding a sign that read, "Please help me bury my mama!"

Grieving Boy's Desperate Plea for Help

Kayden Ely says goodbye to his mom, Shannon Mount; Kayden Ely and his older brother raise funds for their mom's funeral.

Facebook.com/Jennifer Fife

Shannon Mount, 45, went into cardiac arrest on July 8. Her boyfriend, Billy Upton, tried to save her, performing CPR on her until paramedics arrived and were able to revive her. After spending several days on life support, she passed away.

Without life insurance and unable to afford the astronomical bill of her 8 days in emergency care (never mind burial expenses) Kayden didn't have the luxury of taking time to grieve his mom.

Instead, he made it his mission to give her a proper goodbye.

Armed with his homemade sign, Kayden spent hours standing on the side of the road, praying passing motorists would notice and want to help.

Not only did community members step up and come to his aid with donations, hugs, and prayers, but they also shared the young boy's plight on social media and contacted local news stations to spread the word. They even joined him on the ground, helping him set up a hotdog stand to make more money.

But the small town giving didn't stop there. An anonymous donor contacted the family, offering to pay for the cost of a burial plot, and several local businesses put out jars to collect spare change. The funeral home, Good Shepherd, also gave the family a significant discount.

GoFundMe Campaign Raises More Than 10x the Original Goal

www.gofundme.com

Inspired by Kayden's strength and determination to provide a resting place for his mom, Jennifer Grissom, his cousin and guardian, also launched a GoFundMe .

"Shannon did not have life insurance, she has an 11-year-old that is left without the only thing he ever knew," Jennifer wrote on the page.

"He has been standing on [the] side of the road for 2 days with a sign to help bury his mama."

She initially set a goal of $7,100, just enough to cover the costs of the funeral which can run upwards of $12,000 in some states.

But then the donations started pouring in. And that $7,100 quickly became $70,000. More than 1700 people have come forward to donate, all of them motivated by one singular thought: "No child should ever have to worry about paying for a funeral."

Jennifer says she plans on using the extra funds to "make sure Kayden gets to do things children his age get to do; sports, camps, etc." She's also using it to buy him clothes, school supplies, and necessities, and start a college fund.

In an update on the page, she wrote, "Today we took him to Walmart so he could get a bed set and he got a few things he needed."

Adding, "When we were leaving his aunt asked him, 'Why are you so happy' and he replied...'Me and mama didn’t have much money we were poor, and I didn’t get to go buy stuff like this' and all this baby got was a bed set, toothbrush, pillows and pillow cases. He is so thankful. Thank y'all for making him smile."

But most importantly, a grieving little boy is getting his wish. Shannon, who is described as a "straight shooter...who loved her kids fiercely" in her obituary, will be properly laid to rest at the end of the month.

Paying it Forward

Kayden Ely gives away free hot dogs and drinks.

To thank his community for their incredible support, Kayden decided to pay it forward.

He set up another hotdog stand, only this time instead of charging for the dogs and drinks, he gave them away for free; a fitting gesture of gratitude for an 11-year-old boy.

He also appeared in a brief Facebook video with Jennifer, thanking everyone for their donations and helping to get the word out to the community. But even more meaningful than the monetary support was the outpouring of emotional support.

"We want to thank everybody that stopped," Jennifer said. "You know, there were some people who just wanted to give him a hug or some people that wanted to pray with him and tell him they're sorry for his loss."

"Some people stopped and just wanted to help us cook hot dogs. A man stopped and he helped us hold a sign. That means so much to us, it really does."

Grief can be incredibly isolating and when you lose the most important person in your life, it's even more so.

Kayden is only 11 years old, he shouldn't have to know the devastating pain of loss. But having a supportive community will go a long way in making him feel a little less alone.

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Grieving Daughter Finds Note In Fossil Purse While Thrifting

Thrifting can net all sorts of treasures. Shoppers can snatch up everything from vintage clothes to mid-century modern furniture to kitschy knick-knacks, all without breaking the bank.

But for one grieving woman, she found a hidden gem that was truly priceless.

Unexpected Thrift Store Find

Photo of a little girl with her father and a black purse.

TikTok/Abrielle Clausing

On January 13, 2021, Abrielle Clausing's world fell apart. Her father unexpectedly passed away from Covid-19. As anyone who has experienced grief knows, the journey isn't a straight one. It ebbs and flows with some days being significantly harder than others.

It was during a "particularly hard grief week" when Abrielle, 24, decided to embark on some retail therapy. She used to love thrifting with her dad, and no one loved a good deal more than he did.

However, she didn't just want to shop for the sake of shopping, she had a very specific item she wanted in mind.

"My sister and I decided to go thrifting and I told her I wanted to find a vintage Fossil brand purse," she explains in a now-viral TikTok video .

And wouldn't you know, Abrielle did indeed end up finding "the cutest vintage Fossil brand purse" - seriously what are the chances?

And as if that wasn't serendipitous enough, it was about to get a whole lot more remarkable.

Inside the purse was a handwritten note:

"When you read this you will be far from me in miles but not in my heart. I'm here. I love you."

She immediately took it as a sign from her beloved dad.

" I knew it was from him," she told People . "I always check the inside of the bag before I buy it to make sure it’s in good condition. When I stuck my hand in it, I felt the piece of paper and when I took it out and found the note, I read it out loud to my sister."

"When I saw the note, it just confirmed that he was with us," she added. "He’s always with us."

Response To The Viral TikTok

www.tiktok.com

Abrielle's heartwarming video has garnered nearly one million views and over 1,000 comments and it's making believers out of every single one of us.

"I'm so afraid that death is final and we just stop existing. But some things can't be explained. There has to be more out there!!"

"This was def him 🥹💙"

"I’m literally crying so hard. Someone would have had to carry me out of the thrift 😭"

"I'm honestly at a loss for words. Wow. Just wow."

Even Fossil weighed in, writing, "What a beautiful note to find. Your dad's love will always be with you. Sending you and your family a big, warm hug."

Her TikTok also opened the floodgates for others to share the signs they've received from lost loved ones.

"My brother passed away & years later I was at a checkout line in the store & at the cash register was a young school photo of him that someone left.... never made sense but I'll never forget it."

"About 30 seconds after bursting in tears thinking about my grandpa a car merged in front of me and the license plate was his name and his age when he died 😭😭"

"When my mom passed, days after I found an email that not me nor my sister had opened or read before. It was an email my mom sent us 4 years before with the message “open it when I’m gone, love, mom”. It had a beautiful letter as an attachment."

Love Lives On

The note Abrielle Clausing found in a Fossil bag while thrifting is now part of a cherished collage.

People.com/Abrielle Clausing

Abrielle has given the note a place of honor, right smack in the middle of a framed collage of her favorite sayings and things.

It's a beautiful reminder that the love she shared with her dad lives on, even though he is gone.

And whether you believe in fate or not, you have to admit the universe had an uncanny way of showing up just when she needed it to.

After all, what are the odds that a stranger penned a note with the exact words she needed to hear, placed it in the exact bag she was looking for, AND that bag ended up in the exact thrift store she was shopping in? Pretty astronomical.

And yet, here we are.

Life is full of unexpected, magical moments that often happen when we least expect it. And sometimes those moments bring us the comfort and connection we need most, reminding us that love...is never truly lost.

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