A collection of quotes to make your motto—brief words from great figures that can change your life
Encountering words that give you a push at life’s turning points or sweep away your doubts.
Among them, short quotes you hold close as a personal motto can bring courage and a fresh perspective to everyday life.
In this article, we present a carefully selected collection of short quotes.
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Collection of Quotes to Use as Your Motto: Short Words from Great Figures That Can Change Your Life (1–10)
As you stretch yourself to broaden your horizons, it’s possible you’ll actually grow taller. That’s part of what makes life interesting.NEW!Saburō Shiroyama
This quote left by the novelist Saburō Jōyama teaches us the importance of taking on challenges.
Don’t you sometimes find yourself thinking with a narrow perspective? It’s easy to let yourself be carried along without broadening your view or attempting anything new.
But if you widen your perspective just a little, you may realize that what you face is easier to overcome than you thought.
When you stretch yourself to take on a challenge, you begin to see a different landscape—as if you’ve actually grown taller.
When you want to take that first step, remember these words.
Unless the whole world becomes happy, individual happiness is impossible.NEW!Kenji Miyazawa
These are words by Kenji Miyazawa, the poet and writer of children’s stories famous for the poem “Be Not Defeated by the Rain.” Kenji Miyazawa is also known for works such as Night on the Galactic Railroad, The Restaurant of Many Orders, and Matasaburo of the Wind.
All humans live by supporting one another.
Even if we feel as though we live on our own, it’s hard to completely separate ourselves from others.
In other words, unless those around us are happy and the entire world becomes happy, our own happiness cannot truly exist.
Not only do we want our own happiness, but we also want the people around us and people across the world to be happy—these are words to keep close to heart.
It is the heart that makes a world without amusements into an interesting one.NEW!Shinsaku Takasugi
“Make an unamusing world amusing”…
It is said that Shinsaku Takasugi composed only this upper line.
Shinsaku Takasugi was a feudal retainer of the Choshu domain at the end of the Edo period and is known as the founder of the Kiheitai militia.
He fell ill before fulfilling his ambitions, and this is the verse he composed at that time.
The lower line, “It is the heart that makes a place livable,” is said to have been composed by Nomura Botoni, who was nursing him.
Takasugi wrote that whether one lives amusingly in a world that is, by nature, not amusing depends on one’s state of mind, while Nomura Botoni answered that whether the world feels unamusing or not also depends on one’s own feelings.
It’s a verse through which you can enjoy the differing values of Shinsaku Takasugi and Nomura Botoni.
Collection of Quotes to Use as Your Motto: Short Words from Great Figures That Can Change Your Life (11–20)
Go your own way and let people say whatever they want.Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri, a philosopher hailed as the greatest poet of Italian literature and known for his profound influence on Renaissance culture.
His famous words, “Follow your own path, and let people talk,” resonate with the life he led—continuing his writing during a wandering existence after being exiled from the political sphere.
People often worry about how others see even the dreams they themselves have drawn, and they waver at the voices of those who have nothing to do with them.
Yet he teaches us that there is no need to lend an ear to the words of those who irresponsibly deny us.
Etched in your heart as a personal motto, this quote will help you keep the courage to stand by your convictions.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.NEW!Yoshihide Suga
This is the motto of Yoshihide Suga, who served as Chief Cabinet Secretary and as Japan’s 99th Prime Minister.
It originally comes from the words of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States.
Lincoln had a strong desire to abolish the slave system that was widespread in America at the time.
Aiming to advance reforms against slavery, he sought public office, but he lost elections multiple times.
Nevertheless, he kept challenging himself without giving up, eventually won, and accomplished his goal of emancipating the slaves.
Mr.
Suga, too, did not come from a political family but from a farming household in a rural area, which gave him a strong commitment to policies such as regional revitalization.
Because he acted with such strong conviction toward politics, new paths opened up for him.
May we also engrave these words in our hearts and press forward.
Nothing makes you regret more deeply than indecision.René Descartes
René Descartes, the French mathematician whose statement “I think, therefore I am,” proposed in his own writings, is counted among the most famous propositions in the history of philosophy.
His maxim “Nothing is more conducive to regret than indecision” teaches the importance of making decisions in life.
If you take on a challenge and fail, you may feel regret, but you can reflect on it and use the experience next time.
However, if you cannot bring yourself to decide to take on the challenge, nothing happens—there is nothing to reflect on, only the regret of inaction remains, and that cannot be undone.
This is a message worth keeping as a personal motto to help reduce regrets in life.
Heaven does not extend a helping hand to those who do not act for themselves.William Shakespeare
The poet William Shakespeare, who left behind numerous works including the four great tragedies and is hailed as a leading figure of English Renaissance drama.
The famous quote, “Heaven helps those who help themselves,” may prompt us to confront our own actions.
Reality is not so easy that miracles will happen if we leave things to fate or to others.
This saying teaches us that things turn around as if aided by heaven precisely because of what we have built up through our own actions.