Short, piercing quotes from manga! A collection of one-liners that can change your life

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is spinning-top tricks.
Music writer / guitarist / Certified web writing practitionerHoshino Takashi
Drawing on over 30 years of experience with guitars and bands since my high school days, I specialize in music-related articles and have handled many feature pieces to date. While my tastes lean toward genres like hard rock and heavy metal since I first picked up the guitar, I make a point of listening to a wide range of styles, both Japanese and Western, on a daily basis. I began working as a freelance writer in 2018. I hold a Web Writing Practical Certification, and in addition to writing, I’m also studying video editing. In my private life, I’m raising an elementary school child and stay active while supporting their extracurriculars, such as parkour and dance.

When you read manga or watch anime, don’t you sometimes come across a quote that suddenly pierces your heart? It’s often the shorter lines that resonate more deeply than long speeches.

The resolve to follow your own path, the importance of hard work, a way of living without regrets—short lines spoken by characters are packed with a powerful essence of life.

In this article, we’ll introduce famous quotes from manga and anime that you’ll want to share with someone.

You’re sure to find words that gently give you a push forward.

Short, piercing quotes from manga! A collection of one-liners that can change your life (11–20)

Instead of wasting time worrying, do at least one thing.NEW!Doraemon

It’s a phrase that conveys the idea that taking action is better than overthinking, because doing so might lead you to a solution.

Rather than agonizing over the overall approach, it encourages tackling the tasks right in front of you one by one, with the message that a goal lies beyond them.

It also prompts us to consider the mindset that by charting a path as you act, you may arrive at a better solution.

The content also seems to express an emphasis on efficiency—the notion that time spent standing still and overthinking is wasted.

Raise the rankinglower

kappamaki

Report a problem

It’s your fault because you keep repeating the same thing no matter how many times you’re scolded.NEW!Doraemon

If you don’t want to be scolded, you need to understand why you were scolded.

If you just think it’s annoying or unpleasant, you’ll likely repeat the same thing.

After all, if you don’t understand what was wrong, you can’t reflect on it.

People can grow, but to do so, it’s crucial not to repeat the same mistakes.

Don’t let the words of someone important to you—or words meant for your own good—go in one ear and out the other; listen carefully and take them to heart.

If you don’t, you’ll eventually be written off.

Raise the rankinglower

sasashina

Report a problem

If you’re bad at it, why don’t you try to get better?NEW!Doraemon

Gian introduces a farm team system to the baseball team and declares that anyone demoted to the second squad can’t play in games.

Nobita, who considers himself the worst on the team, is deeply shocked.

Doraemon scolds him with these words: It’s not bad to be poor at baseball.

But it is bad not to make an effort to improve.

If you just cry about how you don’t like it, you won’t stay on the first squad, so instead of lamenting, you should at least make some effort.

Raise the rankinglower

sasashina

Report a problem

Give it your all without overthinking it! Sometimes an unexpected path will open up.NEW!Doraemon

This line conveys the idea that action comes before overthinking, and that the path forward opens up once you move.

It expresses that when you get caught up in unnecessary thoughts, you can’t give your all; if you first act with full effort without overthinking, the chances of a good path opening up increase.

It also suggests that by taking action—giving it your all—you may find a path you never would have thought of while you were stuck worrying.

It’s a phrase that radiates drive, saying that needless thoughts only get in the way of doing your best.

Raise the rankinglower

kappamaki

Report a problem

An overly grand resolution will surely fizzle out in three days.NEW!Doraemon

It’s a starkly realistic message that suggests if your resolve is too grand, you’re more likely to give up quickly.

It also conveys the idea that it’s better to start with small goals and build on them; that approach is more likely to work.

Even when setting big goals, it makes you realize how important it is to set smaller milestones along the way and achieve them little by little.

Within words that seem to cut to the bone, there’s a proposal for improving how we think—a gentleness that offers guidance.

Raise the rankinglower

kappamaki

Report a problem

If the whole of Japan sank to your level, it would be the end of the world.NEW!Doraemon

These are Doraemon’s scathing words to Nobita, who tried to use a gadget to bring the intelligence of all Japanese people down to his own level.

The phrasing conveys how low Nobita’s level is, and the way Doraemon says it—directly, though troubled—adds a comedic touch.

It not only rejects the idea of lowering abilities to the least capable, but also conveys the message that it’s precisely because everyone’s abilities differ that mutual support sustains the world as it is.

It teaches us not to judge things solely by differences in ability, but to recognize those differences as important.

Raise the rankinglower

kappamaki

Report a problem

Short, piercing quotes from manga! A collection of life-changing one-liners (21–30)

The future keeps changing a lot with just the slightest trigger.NEW!Doraemon

These words speak to how the future can change, which also ties into why Doraemon came to the present.

They express the idea that the future branches into countless possibilities through the small choices of everyday life—that little triggers can keep reshaping what lies ahead.

Seeing the future as a collection of all possible choices also makes the potential for a better future feel more tangible.

Because even small things can change the future, the words also come across as a message that we should always make choices we won’t regret.

Raise the rankinglower

kappamaki

Report a problem