Inspirational quotes on the subject of moving forward in life.

April 28, 2014 11:22 AM

I am designing a poster for a personal project on the subject of "always moving forward" and "taking the next step" – do you have any quotes that you live by on that subject?

Currently I have "You'll never leave where you are, until you decide where you'd rather be" which is more or less perfect. It's perhaps a little on the long side and I have no idea who the writer was. Would love to here any phrases that people keep close to them, with sentimental attachment or not.

posted by stackhaus23 to Media & Arts (18 answers total)

Best answer: I have a sentimental attachment to the Chinese idiom yi gu zuo qi- one drumbeat creates courage. It has a similar meaning to 'strike while the iron is hot,' but it's more about taking advantage of and believing in your own personal readiness, rather than simply noticing when an action would be favorable. Like, abandon doubt and believe that you can succeed, and you will.
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:28 AM on April 28, 2014 [1 favorite]

No matter how far down the wrong path you've gone, turn around.
posted by quincunx at 11:40 AM on April 28, 2014 [2 favorites]

Here are a few that I've collected over the years that have been meaningful to me, on the persistence to keep moving forward:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent... Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” - Calvin Coolidge

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." - Earl Nightingale

"It's funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back everything is different." - C.S. Lewis
posted by SpacemanStix at 11:46 AM on April 28, 2014 [3 favorites]

You can't move forward if you don't stop looking behind you.
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 11:48 AM on April 28, 2014

Best answer: One quote by C.S. Lewis that I've always loved goes like this, "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind."

And I think the following one applies more to the concept of moving forward. "Once you've made your decision, don't look back. Make it work." - Frank Sonnenberg.

That last one always helps me whenever I am disappointed with something currently happening in my life. It makes me realize that it really is up to me to make things better and that worrying about the past accomplishes nothing.
posted by NowYouKnow at 12:09 PM on April 28, 2014 [1 favorite]

"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome."
- Samuel Johnson
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:09 PM on April 28, 2014 [3 favorites]

"The first rule of Italian driving -- what's behind me is not important."
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:11 PM on April 28, 2014 [1 favorite]

"A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way." -- Mark Twain

"A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for." -- William G.T. Shedd
posted by blob at 12:31 PM on April 28, 2014 [2 favorites]

Brainy Quote has some suggestions as well.
posted by blob at 12:33 PM on April 28, 2014

"Proceed, and be bold!"
- Samuel Mockbee
posted by ITheCosmos at 2:22 PM on April 28, 2014

Best answer: Everything good in your life from now on will be a direct result of where you are right now.

rephrase to taste, it's my thought rather than a quote and I'm sure it could be put less clunkily.
posted by Sebmojo at 2:45 PM on April 28, 2014

Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him.


--Aldous Huxley
posted by Michele in California at 2:49 PM on April 28, 2014

" A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" by Laozi
posted by SyraCarol at 3:37 PM on April 28, 2014

“You can't plow a field simply by turning it over in your mind.” ― Gordon B. Hinckley
posted by qsysopr at 5:01 PM on April 28, 2014 [4 favorites]

I don't know where I read it, but I try to keep in mind "Sometimes a wrong turn leads you to exactly where you need to be".
posted by billiebee at 5:07 PM on April 28, 2014

Response by poster: These are fantastic, thanks so much for the thoughts.
posted by stackhaus23 at 12:17 AM on April 29, 2014

“It is Not Because Things are Difficult that We Do Not Dare; It Is Because We Do Not Dare that They are Difficult.”
posted by cynicalidealist at 5:45 AM on April 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Churchill
posted by lalochezia at 8:58 AM on April 29, 2014