One-line Quotes from Great Figures That Strike the Heart | A Collection of Words That Leave a Deep Impression
Amid the layers of history, memorable quotes are born.
Often, the depths of those words carry the speaker’s feelings or even reflect their entire way of life.
Sometimes, words packed with hints—like the wisdom of our predecessors—can even save a life.
Precious words born from perspectives we can’t see ourselves, or from hard-won experience.
Among such wonderful sayings, I’ve picked out ones that are “simple” or just “a single phrase.”
Learning about the person behind the words and their origins will surely make you feel even more connected to them.
May they give you strength to live each day!
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One-Line Quotes from Great People That Strike the Heart | A Collection of Words That Leave a Deep Impression (1–10)
If you can take one step, you can take another.Todd Skinner (free climber)
Todd Skinner, an American free climber active since the 1980s, was known for free-climbing numerous routes around the world, including the Salathé Wall on El Capitan.
Free climbing is a method of ascending cliffs using only minimal equipment and one’s own body.
Here are his words from someone who climbed in such a perilous style: Taking the very first step is hard in anything, but once you take that step, you can take another, and then another.
His words encourage us to have the courage to start by taking that first step.
The person I aspire to be is myself.Yuzuru Hanyu (figure skater)
These are words Yuzuru Hanyu said in 2014, and at first glance many people might have thought, “What does that mean?” The phrase conveys the idea that he wasn’t aiming to be like some other skater, but was focused solely on improving himself.
You can feel the positive attitude of constantly striving to beat his personal best; perhaps it’s a statement only someone like him, performing at the very top of the figure skating world, could make.
There is no piece that cannot move forward.Makoto Nakahara (Shogi Player)
These are the words of Makoto Nakahara, the 16th Meijin who was active as a professional shogi player from the Showa into the Heisei era.
He points out that while some shogi pieces—like the pawn, knight, and lance—cannot move backward, there are no pieces that cannot move forward.
Each piece has its own way of moving—one step straight ahead, diagonally, and so on—but all of them can move forward without fail.
This applies not only to shogi but also to our lives, giving us the courage to say, “I can move forward too!”
One-line Quotes from Great Minds That Strike the Heart | A Collection of Words Etched Deep in the Soul (11–20)
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.Helen Keller (activist)
These are words spoken by Helen Keller, known as an American activist, in her 1941 book Let Us Have Faith.
She emphasizes how important it is to take on challenges in life.
Helen Keller, of course, is known for having lost her hearing and sight in childhood.
Her life changed dramatically when she met Anne Sullivan at the age of seven and learned manual alphabet from her.
Perhaps it is precisely because she continued to take on challenges despite her significant disabilities that she could speak these words.
The world is beautiful only when the heart is open.Goethe (poet)
These are the words of the German poet Goethe, who was active from the 18th to the 19th century.
In fact, the quote doesn’t end there; it continues, “When your heart is closed, you can’t see anything.” In other words, it teaches us that it’s important to open our hearts and try to see.
At first glance it may seem difficult, and it might feel like an old-fashioned saying, but when you think about its meaning, you realize it’s a quote that can support our hearts even in modern society.
If you keep looking down, you won’t find a rainbow.Charles Chaplin
As you know, Charlie, the original king of comedy and a true man of cinema, left us with many famous sayings, such as “There is something as inevitable as death—that is life,” and “Imagination means nothing without doing.” Even while caught in the great whirlpool of war, Charlie never forgot to make people laugh.
If he were alive today, what words would he offer to a world struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic? His famous line beginning with “If you keep your head down…” seems to gently smile at us, as if to say, “It’s precisely when times are hard that we must lift our heads.”
You don’t obtain happiness; you cultivate a heart that can feel it.Hiroto Kōmoto (musician)
A famous quote by Hiroto Kōmoto, the vocalist of THE BLUE HEARTS, a band that sparked explosive popularity from the late 1980s and disbanded in 1995.
After playing in several bands, he is now active with The Cro-Magnons as well.
His words are often eye-opening—like, “Ah, how did I not notice that?”
