Most people will face stressful situations at least once in their lives, and it can be extremely difficult to pull yourself out of a slump. Motivation is key to lifting your spirits and restoring balance in your life, and each person requires a slightly different form of encouragement. Motivational speeches offer advice and direction to those in need, and sometimes all it takes is a few uplifting words to pull you out of even the darkest place.

Self-help

"Everything you can imagine is real." – Pablo Picasso

“Goodness if the only investment that never fails.” – Henry David Thoroeau

“One who asks questions is a fool for 5 minutes, one who does not ask questions remains a fool forever.” – Chinese proverb

“May you live every day of your life.” – Jonathan Swift

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” E. Hubbard

“Great opportunities to help each other seldom come, but small ones surround us every day.” – Sally Koch

“Life consists in not holding good cards, but in playing those you hold well.” – Josh Billing

“Nothing is worth more than this day.” - Goethe

“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” – Herm Albright

“Life is like a ten speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use.” – Charles Schultz

“Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.” – John Wooden

“Yesterday’s the past and tomorrow’s the future. Today is a gift which is why we call it the present.” – Bill Keane

“For every difficulty that supposedly stops a person from succeeding there are thousands who have had it a lot worse and have succeeded anyway. So can you.” – Brian Tracy

“Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count, really count”. - Albert Einstein

“How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I'm committed to?” – Tony Robbins

“Be your own inspiration - acknowledge the beauty and perfection of who you are.” - Trish Bishop

“Get from the day, not get thru the day.” - Jim Rohn

Professional Development

"You must do the things you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” – Tao Te Ching

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Gandhi

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” – T.S. Eliot

“Give me a lever and a place to stand, and I will move the world.” – Archimedes

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot

“The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.” – Flora Whittemore

“We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves.” – Lynn Hall

“He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator.” – Francis Bacon

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” – Maria Robinson

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think." - Benjamin Disralie

"Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world. What you see reflects your thinking. And your thinking but reflects your choice of what you want to see." - A Course in Miracles

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." - Winston Churchill

"Awake. Be the witness of your thoughts. You are what observes, not what you observe." - Buddha

"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." - Mary Engelbreit

"You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you." - James Allen

Miscellaneous Inspiration

“A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. “ – Colin Powell

“Character is what emerges from all the little things you were too busy to do yesterday, but did anyway.” - Mignon McLaughlin

“Men are made stronger on realization that the helping hand they need is at the end of their own arm.” - Sidney J. Phillips

"I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." – Thomas Jefferson

“Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.” – David Bly

“If you try and lose then it isn't your fault. But if you don't try and we lose, then it's all your fault.” – Orson Scott Card

“Working hard today, makes for an easy tomorrow.” - Amonte' Martin

“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” – George Lorimer

"Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way." - Abraham Lincoln

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence." - Eddie Robinson

"Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it." - George Halas

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do." – Confucius

"Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win." - Bernadette Devlin

"So long as there is breath in me, that long I will persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles on success; if I persist long enough I will win." - Og Mandino

"Life is going to give you just what you put into it. Put your whole heart in everything you do." - Vivian Baxter