We can’t be all smiles all of the time, and even the most upbeat and cheery of us have days when nothing seems to go right and the world seems like rather a dark place.

If today is one of those days for you and you need a serious lift - or you’ve just got five minutes to fill in your lunch break and fancy reading something inspiring - then have a browse through these words to the wise from 30 inspirational people, and we guarantee they’ll leave you feeling motivated and inspired to achieve greatness.

1. “The best revenge is massive success.” – Frank Sinatra

2. “The mind is everything. What you think you become.” – Buddha

3. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs

4. “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford

5. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt

6. “Happiness is not something readymade; it comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama

7. “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

8. “In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
– Bill Cosby

9. “I would rather die of passion than of boredom.” – Vincent van Gogh

10. “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”
- Robin Williams

11. “Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” – Farrah Gray

12. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius

13. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” - Bill Gates

14. “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.” – Zig Ziglar

15. “Change your thoughts and you change the world” - Norman Vincent Peale

16. “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” - Mahatma Gandhi

17. “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
- Robert Louis Stevenson

18. “We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.” - Ronald Reagan

19. “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” – Albert Einstein

20. “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream.” - C. S. Lewis

21. “If you dream it, you can do it.” - Walt Disney

22. “Don’t gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver or gold.”
- Bob Marley

23. “A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work.” - John Lubbock

24. “Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.”
- Aldous Huxley

25. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” - Nelson Mandela

26. “Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.” - Vince Lombardi

27. “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” - Will Rogers

28. “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

29. “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” - Thomas Paine

30. “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: ‘we did it ourselves’.” - Lao Tzu

Which one of these quotes is your favourite? Or have you got a different mantra you like to live your life by? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.