
If you want to become a better man, it makes sense to start by studying the lives and words of great men who’ve lived before you. When you look at quotes from great men in history, you see some interesting trends emerge:
First, many see their success stemming from simply persevering. Not succeeding at the first try—far from it—but pushing forward even when they’re facing failure.
Second, they show us the importance of mastering the “inner game”—taming their own minds and reframing situations so they could continue to fight, innovate, or just keep charging ahead.
Third, they show us that a man earns little by trying to better than someone else: as Churchill so eloquently says, true gains happen when a man is challenged to be better than his former self…while still being gracious to his fellow man.
And finally, it’s clear that great men truly embrace the habit of taking ACTION.
Here are some of my favorite inspirational quotes on being a better man. In my humble opinion, these are words every man should live by if he wants to get the most out of life.
Inspiring Quotes Every Man Should Live By
“Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”
–Winston Churchill
“If you try, you risk failure. If you don’t, you ensure it.”
–Anonymous
“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”
–William Shakespeare
“If one advances confidently in the direction of one’s dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
–Henry David Thoreau
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
–Albert Einstein
“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Courage is grace under pressure.”
–Ernest Hemingway
“Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.”
–Theodore Roosevelt
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
–Albert Einstein
“What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.”
–Tim Ferriss
“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.”
–Dale Carnegie
“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”
–Norman Vincent Peale
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
–Gandhi
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
–Mark Twain
“It takes a great man to be a good listener.”
–Calvin Coolidge
“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”
–Mark Twain
“Action is the foundational key to all success.”
–Pablo Picasso
“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”
–Babe Ruth
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
–Mark Twain
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
–Lao Tzu
Want more quotes on how to be a better man? Check out this post:
101 Motivational Quotes on Being a Gentleman