'If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It’—101 Most Famous Quotes of All Time

Have you ever wondered how some people get to be so successful? It may appear that their road was easy or they got a lucky break. However, if you take the time to understand all of the pitfalls and trials that many go through before reaching their goals, you will learn that it takes lots of work and perseverance. Life is full of ups and downs and knowing how to handle them goes a long way in fulfilling your dreams. Some of the most well-known people have a lot to say about the road to success. In fact, we have rounded up a whopping 101 famous quotes that offer plenty of insight into living well.

Success can mean many things and it's more than just a job. Sure, we all want to achieve great things in our careers but there is something to be said for good character as well. The impact that you have on other people is huge. So, how do you leave your mark on society, stay true to yourself and reach your life goals? The answer could be as simple as daring to step out. That's what a lot of these iconic people have done and they haven't even let failures get in the way. 

When it comes to pursuing our dreams, two of our enemies are fear and doubt. As Franklin D. Roosevelt has said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself". When we have courage and perseverance, we can accomplish many great things. 

We are lucky to have those who have gone before us—teaching us from their life experiences. These famous quotes summarize those experiences in short impactful phrases that are a great source of inspiration.

101 Best Quotes by Famous People

1. "If you can dream it, you can do it." — Walt Disney

2. "If you look at what you have in life, you'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, you'll never have enough." — Oprah Winfrey

3. "If you set your goals ridiculously high and it's a failure, you will fail above everyone else's success." — James Cameron

4. "Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." — Mother Teresa

5. "Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else." — Margaret Mead

6. "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." — Benjamin Franklin

7. "You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated." — Maya Angelou

8. "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." —Thomas A. Edison

9. "Life is never fair, and perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not." — Oscar Wilde

10. "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." — John Lennon

11. "Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." — Winston S. Churchill

12. "If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time." — Steve Jobs

13. "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." — Robert Louis Stevenson

14. "Don't be distracted by criticism. Remember — the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you." — Zig Ziglar

15. "The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same." — Colin R. Davis

16. "Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out." — John Wooden

17. "Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value." — Albert Einstein

18. "It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." — Aristotle

19. "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great." — John D. Rockefeller

20. "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart." — Helen Keller

Related: The Man Behind the Theories and Equations—We've Got 50 Brilliant Albert Einstein Quotes!

Famous Quotes By Athletes

21. “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take.” — Wayne Gretzky

22. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” — Michael Jordan

23. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” — Billie Jean King

24. “The only person who can stop you from reaching your goals is you.” — Jackie Joyner-Kersee

25. “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” — Michael Phelps

26. “I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.” — Kobe Bryant

27. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger

28. “I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all.” — Simone Biles

29. “It is more difficult to stay on top than to get there.” — Mia Hamm

30. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” — Muhammad Ali

31. “Don’t walk through life just playing football. Don’t walk through life just being an athlete. Athletics will fade. Character and integrity and really making an impact on someone’s life, that’s the ultimate vision, that’s the ultimate goal – bottom line.” — Ray Lewis

32. “You’re playing a game, whether it’s Little League or Game 7 of the Word Series. It’s impossible to do well unless you’re having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there’s pressure. But I just look at it as fun.” — Derek Jeter

33. “Winners never quit and quitters never win.” — Vince Lombardi

34. “Don’t think about the start of the race, think about the ending.” — Usain Bolt

35. “I really think a champion is defined not by their wins, but how they can recover when they fall.” — Serena Williams

36. "Never let the fear of striking out get in your way." — Babe Ruth

37. "Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." — Lance Armstrong

38. “The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.” — Les Brown

39. “I  hated every minute of training, but I said, don’t quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” — Muhammad Ali

40. “If you do the work you get rewarded. There are no shortcuts in life.” — Michael Jordan

Related: 31 Unforgettable Carol Burnett Quotes

Famous Quotes By Political Figures

41. "Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country." — JFK 

42. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." — Franklin Delano Roosevelt

43. "Government of the people, by the people, for the people." — Abraham Lincoln

44. "Speak softly and carry a big stick." — Theodore Roosevelt

45. “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed it ourselves.” — Abraham Lincoln

46. “The greatest good we can do our country is to heal its party divisions & make them one people. I do not speak of their leaders who are incurable, but of the honest and well-intentioned body of the people.” — Thomas Jefferson

47. “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely.” — Franklin Roosevelt

48. “Let us not despair but act. Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past – let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” — JFK

49. “The terms of peace may be negotiated by political leaders, but the fate of peace is up to each of us.” — Barack Obama

50. “Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understand the problems of running a country.” — Margaret Thatcher

51. “Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.” — Harry S. Truman

52. “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, “here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well”.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

53. “A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

54. “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” — General George Patton

55. “To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.” — George Washington

56. “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” — Thomas Jefferson

57. “If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.” — Benjamin Franklin

58. “The price of greatness is responsibility.” — Winston Churchill

59. "We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." — Ronald Reagan 

60. "If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." — Ronald Reagan

Related: 75 James Baldwin Quotes That Tell the Story of Black America

Famous Quotes For Inspiration

61. "I’ve read the last page of the Bible. It’s all going to turn out all right.” — Billy Graham

62. "Some of the most powerful times are when we’re quiet.” — Michael W. Smith

63. "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

64. "Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about." — Marilyn Monroe

65. "Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but they don't quit." — Conrad Hilton

66. "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." — Colin Powell

67. "Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don't wish it were easier; wish you were better." — Jim Rohn