The power of positive thinking has garnered much attention in recent years. Empirical research also suggests many health benefits linked to positive thinking and optimistic attitudes. A Harvard study has found that optimistic women have a significantly reduced risk of dying from several major causes of death over eight years, compared to less optimistic women (1). We have listed 151 positive attitude quotes in this article to help you embrace your positive side and reap the multiple benefits of having an optimistic perspective on everything. Keep scrolling!
1. “Keep your face always toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman
2. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
3. “Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind for they are weeds that strangle confidence.” – Bruce Lee
4. “I do not believe in taking the right decision, I take a decision and make it right.” – Muhammad Ali Jinnah
5. “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou
6. “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar Wilde
7. “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.” – Muhammad Ali
8. “Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.” – Mahatma Gandhi
9. “If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” – Frances Hodgson Burnett
10. “I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.” – Walt Disney
11. “A positive attitude may not solve all our problems but that is the only option we have if we want to get out of problems.” – Subodh Gupta
12. “With a positive attitude, the world is your oyster. Without it, your world will be filled with ill fate and unfortunate circumstances.” – Lorena Laughlin
13. “The only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down.” – Stephen Richards
14. “When you are joyful, when you say yes to life and have fun and project positivity all around you, you become a sun in the center of every constellation, and people want to be near you.” – Shannon L. Alder
15. “If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges.” – Pat Riley
16. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.” – Helen Keller
17. “It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” – Germany Kent
18. “If you can quit, quit. If you can’t quit, stop complaining – this is what you chose.” – Joe Konrath
19. “Your attitude can take you forward or your attitude can take you down. The choice is always yours!” – Catherine Pulsifer
20. “What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity.” – J. Sidlow Baxter
21. “A positive attitude is a person’s passport to a better tomorrow.” – Jeff Keller
22. “Believing in negative thoughts is the single greatest obstruction to success.” – Charles F. Glassman
23. “Our beliefs about what we are and what we can be precisely determine what we can be” – Tony Robbins
24. “First steps are always the hardest but until they are taken the notion of progress remains only a notion and not an achievement.” – Aberjhani
25. “Nothing good stands without the right attitude. You may know how to do it, but if the attitude is negative, all you can say is ‘I could have done it’.” – Israelmore Ayivor
26. “Success in life is not for those who run fast, but for those who keep running and always on the move.” – Bangambiki Habyarimana
27. “Focus on an ocean of positives, not a puddle of negatives.” – Kevin Ansbro
28. “Building a positive attitude begins with having confidence in yourself.” – Roger Fritz
29. “Don’t hang with negative people. They will pull you down with them. Instead, invite them into your light and together you will both shine strong.” – L.F. Young
30. “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” – Dolly Parton
31. “Cultivate an optimistic mind, use your imagination, always consider alternatives, and dare to believe that you can make possible what others think is impossible.” – Rodolfo Costa
32. “Always strive to aim for the highest peak of the goals in life you have set, this way if you manage to reach even half way toward a goal, landing in the middle is not such a bad place to end up.” – Victoria Addino
33. “Nobody can be all smiley all the time, but having a good positive attitude isn’t something to shrug off.” – Yogi Berra
34. “Life is full of surprises, so you may as well get used to it.” – Susan Meddaugh
35. “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” – Dale Carnegie
36. “Never forget to smile because a positive attitude will surely motivate you to get back on your feet after you committed a huge mistake.” – Norbert Richards
37. “We choose and wear our clothes every morning. Attitude is the same. Positivity is an attitude – we can choose to wear it every morning” – Marako Marcus
38. “When the negative thoughts come — and they will; they come to all of us — it’s not enough to just not dwell on it…. You’ve got to replace it with a positive thought.” – Joel Osteen
39. “Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think.” – Benjamin Disraeli
40. “Affirmations do not create magic, but they are good to remind yourself that you’re doing great, and it can create a positive mindset.” – Pooja Agnihotri
41. “Decide to smile and keep upbeat. A scowling, bad-tempered face is far less attractive than a smiling, accepting one.” – Caroline Carr
42. “A strong positive attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug.” – Patricia Neal
43. “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” – Colin Powell
44. “It makes a big difference in your life when you stay positive.” – Ellen DeGeneres
45. “Heavens knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.” – Charles Dickens
46. “You’re off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.” – Dr. Seuss
47. “If you ignore a negative thought, it may be replaced by a positive one.” – Frank Sonnenberg
48. “There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought.” – Napoleon Hill
49. “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” – Scott Hamilton
50. “It’s no use being a devil if you want to beam light into the world. Radiate good energy and good energy will find its way back to you.” – Torron-Lee Dewar
51. “The most effective attitude to adopt is one of supreme acceptance.” – Robert Greene
52. “With a positive attitude it is possible to turn situations of failure into success.” – Dan Miller
53. “It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.” – Robert H. Schuller
54. “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle
55. “Plant positivity. Uproot negativity.” – Lorin Morgan-Richards
56. “Life is your seesaw. You may not stay balanced long, but you can aim for a high after every low.” – Sanita Belgrave
57. “You always have a choice, even if it is only a choice of your attitude.” – Henry Ford
58. “Having a positive attitude isn’t wishy-washy, it’s a concrete and intelligent way to view problems, challenges, and obstacles.” – Jeff Moore
59. “Attitude determines the altitude of life.” – E.F. Schumcher
60. “To be an overachiever you have to be an over-believer.” – Dabo Swinney
61. “Things have a way of working themselves out if we just remain positive.” – Lou Holtz
62. “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” – Lyndon B. Johnson
63. “A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.” – Wade Boggs
64. “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you will start having positive results.” – Willie Nelson
65. “You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.” – Joyce Meyer
66. “The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.” – Kobe Bryant
67. “A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success.” – Joyce Brothers
68. “Having the positive belief that it will all be OK just means that you hustle and make it work because failure is not even an option in your own mind.” – Natalie Massenet
69. “It’s a wonderful thing to be optimistic. It keeps you healthy and it keeps you resilient.” – Daniel Kahneman
70. “To succeed, you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.” – Tony Dorsett
71. “There is little difference in people but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.” – W. Clement Stone
72. “If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges.” – Pat Riley
73. “I believe in karma, and I believe if you put out positive vibes to everybody, that’s all you are going to get back.” – Kesha
74. “Your smile will give you a positive countenance that will make people feel comfortable around you.” – Les Brown
75. “Say and do something positive that will help the situation; it doesn’t take any brains to complain.” – Robert A. Cook
76. “A lot of times people look at the negative side of what they feel they cannot do. I always look on the positive side of what I can do.” – Chuck Norris
77. “When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy. It is very simple.” – Paulo Coelho
78. “In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.” – Dalai Lama
79. “When someone does something good, applaud! You will make two people happy.” – Samuel Goldwyn
80. “There is a sense that things, if you keep positive and optimistic about what can be done, do work out.” – Hillary Clinton
81. “The most positive men are the most credulous.” – Alexander Pope
82. “When push comes to shove, it ain’t the science that is going to lift you up – it’s the belief, the spiritual side of life, that’s going to lift you up, no matter what religion you are.” – Kirstie Alley
83. “I have always believed that you can think positive just as well as you can think negative.” – James Baldwin
84. “I think it is important to get your surroundings as well as yourself into a positive state – meaning surround yourself with positive people, not the kind who are negative and jealous of everything you do.” – Heidi Klum
85. “When you think positive, good things happen.” – Matt Kem
86. “What you feel inside reflects on your face. So be happy and positive all the time.” – Sridevi
87. “A positive atmosphere nurtures a positive attitude, which is required to take positive action.” – Richard M. DeVos
88. “Always go into meetings or negotiations with a positive attitude. Tell yourself you’re going to make this the best deal for all parties.” – Natalie Massenet
89. “Natural ability is important, but you can go far without it if you have the focus, drive, desire and positive attitude.” – Kirsten Sweetland
90. “It takes hard work, dedication, discipline and a positive attitude to get to the top – in business or in sports.” – George Blanda
91. “Adopting a really positive attitude can work wonders to adding years to your life, a spring to your step, a sparkle to your eye, and all of that.” – Christie Brinkley
92. “Positive attitude plus effort equals performance.” – Tommy Tuberville
93. “I have a very positive attitude in life. My insecurity, fear and need to know about tomorrow has fortunately eased. What is going to happen will happen anyway. So why break my head over it?” – Katrina Kaif
94. “There was always a feeling for me that it would work. That’s what keeps me going. You go in with a positive attitude and stay there, and that’s a big part of what does make it work.” – Shelley Long
95. “Live life to the fullest, and focus on the positive.” – Matt Cameron
96. “Our attitude towards others determines their attitude towards us.” – Earl Nightingale
97. “Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude.” – Ralph Marston
98. “I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude.” – Charles W. Swindoll
99. “The attitude is very important. Because your behavior radiates how you feel.” – Lou Ferrigno
100. “We cannot choose the things that will happen to us. But we can choose the attitude we will take toward anything that happens. Success or failure depends on your attitude.” – Alfred Armand Montapert
101. “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson
102. “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz
103. “Happiness is an attitude of mind, born of the simple determination to be happy under all outward circumstances.” – Donald Walters
104. “Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time.” – Elbert Hubbard
105. “Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.” – Norman Vincent Peale
106. “A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.” – Hugh Downs
107. “A great attitude to have in life is to learn how to be prepared for the worst- but also know how to expect the best in life.” – Dylan J. Cameron
108. “A positive attitude may not solve every problem but it makes solving any problem a more pleasant experience.” – Grant Fairley
109. “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% of how we react to it.” – John C. Maxwell
110. “An attitude of positive expectation is the mark of the superior personality.” – Brian Tracy
111. “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” – Neil Gaiman
112. “Miracles happen to those who believe in them.” – Bernhard Berenson
113. “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
114. “One small positive thought can change your whole day.” – Zig Ziglar
115. “When we are open to new possibilities, we find them. Be open and skeptical of everything.” – Todd Kashdan
116. “The best is yet to be.” – Robert Browning
117. “If you want light to come into your life, you need to stand where it is shining.” – Guy Finley
118. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Teddy Roosevelt
119. “If you are positive, you’ll see opportunities instead of obstacles.” – Widad Akrawi
120. “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah Winfrey
121. “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
122. “Accentuate the positive, Eliminate the Negative, latch onto the affirmative.” – Bing Crosby
123. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” – Vince Lombardi
124. “I will go anywhere as long as it’s forward.” – David Livingston
125. “My dear friend, clear your mind of can’t.” – Samuel Johnson
126. “Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive good things and good people will be drawn to you.” – Mary Lou Retton
127. “Turn every life situation into a positive one.” – Rhonda Byrne
128. “Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.” – William James
129. “You are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Mine
130. “Don’t focus on negative things; focus on the positive, and you will flourish.” – Alek Wek
131. “In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.” – Les Brown
132. “You always pass failure on the way to success.” – Mickey Rooney
133. “There is no advertisement as powerful as a positive reputation traveling fast.” – Brian Koslow
134. “When things go wrong, don’t go with them.” – Elvis Presley
135. “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” – Alphonse Karr
136. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie
137. “There are far, far better things ahead than anything we leave behind.” – C.S. Lewis
138. “Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.” – Roy T. Bennett
139. “The only place where your dreams become impossible is in your own thinking.” – Robert H. Schuller
140. “Positive thinking is more than just a tagline. It changes the way we behave. And I firmly believe that when I am positive, it not only makes me better, but it also makes those around me better.” – Harvey Mackay
141. “We become what we think about.” – Earl Nightingale
142. “Even though you are fed up, you gotta keep your head up.” – Tupac Shakur
143. “I have learned that positive thinking and encouragement are essential for leadership and progress.” – Richard M. DeVos
144. “I really believe in the power of positive thinking and the collective power of people’s thoughts spawning something into becoming reality.” – Finn Balor
145. “Positive thinking is a valuable tool that can help you overcome obstacles, deal with pain, and reach new goals.” – Amy Morin
146. “You can’t control the world, but when you control your thoughts, you bring order.” – Bernie Siegel
147. “Be a force of love as often as you can and turn away negative thoughts whenever you feel them surface.” – Wayne Dyer
148. “If things aren’t going so well, I try to stay positive and not give in to negative thoughts.” – Rosanna Arquette
149. “I shall stay calm in moments of stress and anxiety, so as to allow positive thoughts and actions to manifest from me.” – Leon Brown
150. “I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.” – Anne Frank
151. “Every wall is a door.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
We hope these 151 positive attitude quotes helped you gain a little perspective on maintaining a positive attitude each day. Read them when you need an extra push to overcome a challenge and share with your loved ones, too.
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