![peonies and bike](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.southernliving.com/thmb/SSj9PlZEYAzbNhx0O6Um2xgxvB8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-962775962-98a7d1041465439f84edb44c629c363f.jpg)
Read these inspiring quotes for May for a fresh perspective on life. Whether you're looking for a bit of encouragement as the seasons change or a classic reminder that everything will be okay, these positive quotes will surely lift your spirits and fill your heart. Write them in a notecard or set them as the screensaver on your phone for an everyday prompt. Phrases from celebrities, authors, and famous, notable individuals make us reflect on our lives with a new perspective. With 75 choices, there is an inspiring May quote for everyone.
![climbing roses](https://www.southernliving.com/thmb/pukrra7kbKSx9xL5OAKebfBW1D8=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-1002373802-f31abbcbb10747b1b24eb3f18f410ff2.jpg)
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Quotes About Hope
![CS Lewis Quote](https://www.southernliving.com/thmb/eXzPL3bdL489IXD3t1d0GqpNpME=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/cs-lewis-may-quote-6283ceed28d74273a356f561f48e5b71.jpg)
- "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." - C.S. Lewis
- "It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." - Aristotle Onassis
- "What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals." - Zig Ziglar
- "No matter what you're going through, there's a light at the end of the tunnel." - Demi Lovato
- "There is nothing impossible to him who will try." - Alexander the Great
- "Don't wait. The time will never be just right." - Napoleon Hill
- "You don't always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens." - Mandy Hale
- “There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.” - J.R.R. Tolkien
- “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” - William Faulkner
- “Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.” - Barack Obama
- “It’s amazing how a little tomorrow can make up for a whole lot of yesterday.” - John Guare
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Quotes About Perseverance
![Serena Williams May Quote](https://www.southernliving.com/thmb/RpK1r3x6DcHKw3-OBnXWsAlSdDU=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/serena-williams-may-quote-eb4a6183d034430d86c3b58845c49234.jpg)
- "A champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall." - Serena Williams
- "Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." - Helen Keller
- "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill
- "When you have a dream, you've got to grab it and never let go." - Carol Burnett
- "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." - Albert Einstein
- "It isn't where you came from. It's where you're going that counts." - Ella Fitzgerald
- "Life changes very quickly, in a very positive way, if you let it." - Lindsey Vonn
- "The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." - Michael Altshuler
- "Life has got all those twists and turns. You've got to hold on tight and off you go." - Nicole Kidman
- “When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.” - Theodore Roosevelt
- “Once you face your fear, nothing is ever as hard as you think.” - Olivia Newton-John
- "You give 110 percent all the time, not just when you feel like it." - Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights
03
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Quotes About Happiness
![Jim Rohn May Quote](https://www.southernliving.com/thmb/nkjtS8lcYlcn_EEEtO9mrp-3toM=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/jim-rohn-may-quote-bb1c4a2bef8e4145bfeaa558e63044e1.jpg)
- "Happiness is not by chance, but by choice." - Jim Rohn
- "You do not find the happy life. You make it." - Camilla Eyring Kimball
- "The most wasted of days is one without laughter." - E. E. Cummings
- "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow." - Helen Keller
- "Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive." – Hafez
- "Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open." - John Barrymore
- "If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." - Roald Dahl
- "Inspiration comes from within yourself. One has to be positive. When you're positive, good things happen." - Deep Roy
- “Being happy isn't having everything in your life be perfect. Maybe it's about stringing together all the little things.” ― Ann Brashares, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
- “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” - Dalai Lama XIV
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Quotes About Inspiration
![Malala Yousafzai May Quote](https://www.southernliving.com/thmb/x3Ou9nFe3ddT3gpZF5AhiLKQoh4=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Malala-Yousafzai-may-quote-ca90e6a04e0749f6bc4a16affa737a01.jpg)
- "Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow's reality." - Malala Yousafzai
- "Motivation comes from working on things we care about." - Sheryl Sandberg
- "I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." - Jimmy Dean
- "It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome." - William James
- "Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong." - Ella Fitzgerald
- "We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us." - Joseph Campbell
- "My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive." - Maya Angelou
- "It is never too late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot
- "Never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination." - Mae Jemison
- "Inspiration is some mysterious blessing which happens when the wheels are turning smoothly." - Quentin Blake
- “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” - Muhammad Ali
- “You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” – Maya Angelou
- “Every morning, you have two choices: continue to sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase them." - Arnold Schwarzenegger
- “Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn
- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
- “You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.” — Dolly Parton
- “Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” – Farrah Gray
05
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Quotes About Optimism
![Rosa Parks May Quote](https://www.southernliving.com/thmb/qo0DpdLoQhPRCJj5j4Z9UiS5-Ko=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/rosa-parks-may-quote-dc63343f0d7a4a4baf47251274c2db1b.jpg)
- "Each person must live their life as a model for others." - Rosa Parks
- "With the right kind of coaching and determination you can accomplish anything." - Reese Witherspoon
- "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way." - Martin Luther King Jr.
- "Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." - William James
- "Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory." - Dr. Seuss
- "No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world." - Robin Williams
- "If you look at what you have in life, you'll always have more." - Oprah Winfrey
- "Some people look for a beautiful place. Others make a place beautiful." - Hazrat Inayat Khan
- "Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power." - William James
- "There is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it." - Amanda Gorman
- “You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.” - Michelle Obama
- “Each day comes bearing its gifts. Untie the ribbon.” - Ann Ruth Schabacker
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Short Quotes for May
![Audrey Hepburn May Quote](https://www.southernliving.com/thmb/EVHamvWQWdGsxB43deemP_DZMr0=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/audrey-hepburn-may-quote-ff61ccc630e14e13bdebc279b7f95f87.jpg)
- "Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'I'm possible!'" - Audrey Hepburn
- "Be the change that you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
- "Try to be a rainbow in someone else's cloud." - Maya Angelou
- "Spread love everywhere you go." - Mother Teresa
- "You must do the things you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt
- "The power of imagination makes us infinite." - John Muir
- "You are enough just as you are." - Meghan Markle
- "Believe you can and you're halfway there." - Theodore Roosevelt
- “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” – Estee Lauder
- “May is the month of expectation, the month of wishes, the month of hope.” - Emily Brontë
- “One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.” - Sigmund Freud
- "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." – Oscar Wilde
- "If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney
Tell us why!