Just remembering them fills you with courage! Striking quotes that touch the heart from great figures and famous people
The words of those who have achieved or mastered something can sometimes give us courage and hope, can’t they?
People who are striving toward their dreams and goals, or who are trying to face what truly matters, may feel this even more strongly.
This time, we’ve compiled a list of striking quotes by great and notable figures that we’d like such people to know.
Each one is powerful, yet gently guiding.
We hope you’ll recall them when you need a push forward or want to reconnect with your own heart.
- Uplifting words by great figures and famous people that, despite their brevity, convey a sense of philosophy.
- Guaranteed to move you! Memorable words by great figures and famous people.
- Powerful words give you a push! Words that help you try even harder than before.
- It’s sure to resonate most with those who are striving! Words of encouragement from great figures and famous people.
- Quotes from great figures that give us the power to live
- Beautiful words by great and famous people that illuminate life
- Powerful yet gentle, words that save the heart... Encouraging words that lift you up in tough times.
- Words from great and famous people that make you forget negativity in an instant!
- Knowing it will surely save your heart… Short quotes to remember when times are tough
- Knowing this will surely ease your heart… Comforting words from great and famous people.
- Words to remember when you feel like running away—phrases to rally a weakened heart.
- Quotes on Effort: A curated selection of passionate messages left by great figures and famous people
- Gives you the power to face challenges! Inspiring words of courage from great and famous people.
Just remembering them fills you with courage! Memorable quotes that pierce the heart by great and notable figures (101–110)
Everyone has the right to determine their own destiny.Bob Marley
Singer-songwriter Bob Marley helped spread Jamaican music worldwide and raise its profile.
His famous quote, “Everyone has the right to decide their own destiny,” reminds us that we can shape our fate through our choices.
Many people, for various reasons, give up on life or get swept along by their circumstances and environment, and end up not living the life they envisioned.
This message—simple yet easily forgotten—that we decide our own lives is something we should remember as a guiding principle for living.
Whether one is large or small, it is important to keep one’s heart straight and not be bound by one’s own conditions.Miyamoto Musashi
NBA superstar Allen Iverson is about 180 cm tall.
In a league where many players are over 2 meters, he was quite small—or rather, the kind of height that makes anyone think, “That’s a bit… to succeed in the NBA.” When he won the scoring title and said, “If you worry about size, you’ll never get good at basketball,” it was an absolutely electrifying line.
Seeing Musashi’s words reminded me of that.
To say that one’s current circumstances have nothing to do with the way of the sword—indeed, with one’s life—is truly admirable.
I want to cherish this kind of positive mindset.
So what if you failed? Learn from the failure and just try again.Walt Disney
Walt Disney, the entrepreneur known as the creator behind the globally beloved Disney.
His famous quote, “So what if you fail? Learn from it and try again,” carries particular weight because he repeatedly faced bankruptcy and setbacks while growing his company into an international giant.
When we fail, we can be overwhelmed by a sense of finality and despair, but this positive mindset—that even failure can be turned into nourishment for success—surely gives courage to many.
It’s a powerful quote that encourages us to take on new challenges.
The word “give up” doesn’t exist in Shinji Ishimaru’s dictionary.Shinji Ishimaru
These are the words Mr.
Shinji Ishimaru spoke right after the Tokyo gubernatorial election results came in, laying out how he intends to move forward from here.
They express a resolve to devote his life to progress, insisting that this is no time to give up if we are to change a Japan facing daunting challenges.
The phrasing seems consciously reminiscent of Napoleon’s words, which is noteworthy, and it conveys an attitude of aiming to accomplish something monumental—akin to a revolution.
While declaring his own refusal to give up, he also seems to teach people the importance of not giving up.
If you truly have a sense of urgency, you should be able to make up your mind.Shinji Ishimaru
These were words included in the process of answering questions that were asked for clarification at a financial briefing in Akitakata City.
It conveys that each municipality, including Akitakata City, is built not only by politicians but also by the people who live there, and that it is important for everyone to understand the situation.
It expresses the idea that, rather than seeing it as someone else’s problem, we should view it as our own, and that having a precise sense of urgency is essential for a better future.
It calls on many people to recognize that if we want our town to survive, we must feel the urgency, be prepared, and work together.
I’ve found what to do with my life.Shinji Ishimaru
These are words from Shinji Ishimaru’s final appeal as a candidate on the day before the Tokyo gubernatorial election.
Reflecting on his path—from leaving the bank to becoming mayor of Akitakata, and then running for Tokyo governor—he says that by looking closely at the state of politics, he came to understand what he needed to do.
He conveys that acting with a sense of urgency—feeling that things couldn’t go on as they were and that he had to do something himself—has led him to this moment.
It’s a message that not only speaks to this campaign, but also signals his resolve going forward: to devote his life, wholeheartedly, to what he sees before him and believes must be done.
If we were just one minute earlier, we could save one more person.Calvin Coolidge
Let me introduce a powerful quote from Calvin Coolidge: “If you are one minute early, you can save one more person.” Calvin Coolidge was an American politician who also served as President.
This saying—“If you are one minute early, you can save one more person”—was apparently an American firefighting slogan that was introduced to Japan when the American Red Cross used it in 1923 (Taisho 12) to appeal for aid following the Great Kanto Earthquake.
These powerful words that crossed the ocean truly strike a chord, don’t they?
Beneath mud and earth lies solid rock; above clouds and mist shines the sun. At the height of discontent, there is still fortune, nor is hope absent.Kanzo Uchimura
I would like to introduce a famous saying by Kanzo Uchimura: “Beneath the mud lies bedrock; above the clouds and mist shines the sun.
Even at the height of complaint, happiness and hope are not absent.” Kanzo Uchimura was a Christian thinker active in the Meiji era.
Disasters can bring many hardships.
At such times, Uchimura left words he hoped we would remember.
It is said to mean that even when times are painful and difficult now, a stable and bright future surely awaits beyond.
He likens difficult situations to mud, and the bedrock represents the strength within us that lies beneath these serious problems.
Furthermore, he tells us that even when we feel or voice complaints, happiness and hope still exist.
Life brings all kinds of experiences, doesn’t it? Even so, we are reminded of the importance of maintaining a positive outlook.
It’s okay. Let’s rebuild again.Akio Tadano
These are the words of Akio Tadano, who ran a ryokan in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture—words about moving forward with a positive spirit even in the face of hardship.
At the time, many interviews carried a heavy sense of gloom and featured questions that stoked anxiety, which is why the fact that he delivered these words with a smile drew so much attention.
They convey a powerful hope amid uncertainty—the sense that by keeping on and not standing still, a new path will open.
The impression is further strengthened by the fact that Mr.
Tadano actually rebuilt his ryokan, embodying the importance of facing forward, just as he said.
Earthquakes will strike again and again. To prevent severe damage, we will build parks and roads.Shinpei Gotō
I would like to introduce a famous quote left by Shinpei Goto: “Earthquakes will come again and again.
To prevent great damage, we must build parks and roads.” From this saying, one can sense his conviction to protect human life.
Shinpei Goto devoted himself to the reconstruction after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, making present-day Tokyo a city resilient to disasters.
Immediately after the earthquake, he became Minister of Home Affairs and then Minister for Reconstruction to rebuild Tokyo, which had suffered immense damage.
Along with the quote, he conceived reconstruction measures, but at the time he faced criticism from those around him.
It is said that enormous funds were required to put them into action, and landowners opposed the purchase of tracts that had been reduced to burned-out fields by the quake.
Although his budget was cut, Goto poured his efforts into building a disaster-resilient city.
Thanks to those efforts, Tokyo became stronger against earthquakes than it had been in the past.