The environment around us is a rich source of inspiration, whether we require a crowning end to a novel that has taken two years to write, are in need of an ideal name for a new-born daughter, or summoning the willpower to abandon a fruitless job and pursue new endeavours. Indeed, history’s most powerful quotes have been delivered by the world’s most eloquent speakers and profound thinkers, examples being Martin Luther King, Jr., Lao-Tzu, and Frederick Douglass. Nonetheless, surprising places and unexpected sources can provide us with momentum and inspiration.
This list presents quotes to inspire you for whatever you need a little boost for. Some of them come from the most evil people in history, and some come from people we think to be dumb or stupid. They’re also here to make you think; just because somebody may be known as a dunce or has done terrible things, does it make them incapable of brilliance? Let us know if you’re surprised or shocked by any of these sources while finding some nuggets of inspiration to make you think about the world differently from our list of 25 Inspirational Quotes From Unlikely Sources.
Audrey Hepburn
Source: AKON, Image: debarshiray via Flickr “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, ‘I’m possible!'”
Saddam Hussein
Source: iheartintelligence, Image: Wikipedia “Remember that God has enabled you to become an example of love, forgiveness, and brotherly co-existence. I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave a space for a person to be fair, and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking and keeps away one from balanced thinking and making the right choice.”
Mike Tyson
Source: Sun Sentinel, Image: Wikimedia “A man that’s a friend of everyone is an enemy to himself.”
Carter Chambers, from The Bucket List
Source: Hubspot, Image: Wikipedia “You know, the ancient Egyptians had a beautiful belief about death. When their souls got to the entrance to heaven, the guards asked two questions. Their answers determined whether they were able to enter or not. ‘Have you found joy in your life?’ ‘Has your life brought joy to others?’”
Chuck Norris
Source: AKON, Image: Wikipedia “A lot of people give up just before they’re about to make it. You know, you never know when that next obstacle is going to be the last one.”
General George S. Patton
Source: Hubspot, Image: Wikipedia “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.”
Attila the Hun
Source: iheartintelligence, Image: Wikipedia “It takes less courage to criticize the decisions of others than to stand by your own.”
Milton Berle
Source: AKON, Image: Wikimedia “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”
Idi Amin
Source: iheartintelligence, Image: Wikipedia “If we knew the meaning to everything that is happening to us, then there would be no meaning.”
Bob Marley
Source: AKON, Image: Wikipedia “The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”
Woody Allen
Source: Hubspot, Image: Wikipedia “If you’re not failing now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything innovative.”
Joseph Goebbels
Source: iheartintelligence, Image: Wikipedia “Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place.”
Mike Tyson
Source: Sun Sentinel, Image: Wikimedia “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
Sherlock Holmes
Source: Hubspot, Image: Wikipedia “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
Megan Fox
Source: AKON, Image: en.wikipedia “When you stop chasing the wrong things, you give the right things a chance to catch you.”
Barbie, from Toy Story 3
Source: Reddit, Image: coolinsights via Flickr “Authority should derive from the consent of the governed, not from the threat of force.”
Kim Il-Sung
Source: iheartintelligence, Image: Wikimedia “Peace secured by slavish submission is not peace.”
Looking for more unusual quotes? Here are 25 Quotes By Infamous Leaders And Dictators.
Mary J. Blige
Source: AKON, Image: Wikipedia “No matter what people’s opinions may be, they’re only just that – people’s opinions. You have to believe in your heart what you know to be true about yourself. And let that be that.”
George Clooney
Source: Hubspot, Image: Wikipedia “You never really learn much from hearing yourself talk.”
Edna Mode, from The Incredibles
Source: cracked.com, Image: Sarah Ackerman via Flickr “I never look back darling; it distracts from the now.”
Captain Jack Sparrow
Source: Reddit, Image: Wikimedia “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.”
Butters, from South Park
Source: Reddit, Image: sackerman519 via Flickr “Well yeah, and I’m sad, but at the same time I’m really happy that something could make me feel that sad. It’s like, it makes me feel alive, you know? It makes me feel human. And the only way I could feel this sad now is if I felt something really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good, so I guess what I’m feeling is like a, beautiful sadness. I guess that sounds stupid.”
Mewtwo
Source: Reddit, Image: PokéDudes Red via YouTube “I see now that the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.”
Marilyn Monroe
Source: Hubspot, Image: Wikipedia “If I’d observed all the rules, I’d never have got anywhere.”
Walt Disney
Source: Hubspot, Image: traveljunction via Flickr “Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it, they will want to come back and see you do it again, and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.”
Would you like to hear more inspirational quotes? Check out 25 Sun Tzu Quotes To Help You Succeed In Everything.
