Health
51 inspirational quotes to help you stay strong, healthy and motivated in tough times
There’s a reason quotes and inspirational sayings from people of all walks of life (and many periods of history) have staying power.
Words of wisdom and reflection can offer solace, comfort and inspiration when times are hard.
They can do this at any time, really.
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Here, in no particular order, are 51 memorable quotes that offer strong reminders of the importance of self-care and of the power of positive thinking — and more.
51 memorable quotes for staying strong, healthy and motivated
1. “Love yourself first and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” — Lucille Ball
“Love yourself first and everything else falls in line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” — Lucille Ball (CBS via Getty Images)
2. “When you let fear make your decisions, you relinquish your belief in yourself or in another person.” — Admiral Bob Harward
3. “Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the face.” — Helen Keller
4. “We must be our own before we can be another’s.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
5. “Keep good company, read good books, love good things, and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as you can.” — Louisa May Alcott
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6. “I remain an incorrigible optimist. America has overcome daunting odds time and again … I would never bet against the American people.” — Neil Gorsuch
7. “The most important investment you can make is in yourself. Very few people get anything like their potential horsepower translated into the actual horsepower of their output in life. Potential exceeds realization for many people … The best asset is your own self. You can become to an enormous degree the person you want to be.” — Warren Buffett
8. “We have to be intentional with the life that we have.” — Amy Grant
“We have to be intentional with the life that we have.” — Amy Grant (Allison Dinner/Getty Images)
9. “Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners.” — William Shakepeare
10. “Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.” — Alice Walker
11. “I might tell a story, but usually I try to remind people that they should be happy.” — Don McLean
12. “If you’re facing a problem, don’t tell yourself that you can’t do it. Convince yourself that you have the strength to deal with almost anything … And you do! Recognizing your core strengths is an important step toward having joie de vivre. You can count on better days to come because of the good days that came before. And you can find joy in the moment because you have the resiliency to overcome the problems that may be hanging over you.” — Ruth K. Westheimer
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13. “The most important thing in life is to stop saying ‘I wish’ and start saying ‘I will.’ Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities.” — Charles Dickens
14. “Faith is the very first thing you should pack in a hope chest.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach
15. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.” — Bob Marley
16. “Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.” — Carol Burnett
“Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.” — Carol Burnett (Getty Images)
17. “The secret to a happy life is to accept change gracefully.” — Jimmy Stewart
18. “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.” — Melody Beattie
19. “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” — C.S. Lewis
20. “A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.” — Phyllis Diller
21. “Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.” — Stephen Covey
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22. “I really built myself up, darn it, to be very strong.” — Barbara Bush
23. “My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose — somehow we win out.” — Ronald Reagan
24. “Reinforce yourself by remembering that you have been resilient and have persevered to overcome challenging and troublesome situations in the past.” — Jennifer Guttman
25. “I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece. I challenge you to join the ranks of those people who live what they teach, who walk their talk.” — Tony Robbins
“I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece. I challenge you to join the ranks of those people who live what they teach, who walk their talk.” — Tony Robbins (FOX)
26. “When I am constantly running there is no time for being. When there is no time for being there is no time for listening.” — Madeleine L’Engle
27. “If you’re peaceful at home, then you extend that to your family, extend that to your community. And I hope that if we extend that to a critical mass, we can have a more peaceful, just, sustainable, healthier and joyful world. That’s the ultimate dream.” — Deepak Chopra
28. “If you want to live an authentic, meaningful life, you need to master the art of disappointing and upsetting others, hurting feelings, and living with the reality that some people just won’t like you. It may not be easy, but it’s essential if you want your life to reflect your deepest desires, values, and needs.” — Cheryl Richardson
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29. “Make the mental commitment that, God willing, nothing will stop you from ‘going the distance.’” — Alex McFarland
30. “If you aren’t good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone, since you’ll resent the time and energy you give another person that you aren’t even giving to yourself.” — Barbara De Angelis
31. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger
32. “A balanced life doesn’t come from being a know-it-all about every nuance of Ashtanga yoga. It comes instead from knowing what you need so that you can keep learning and evolving for months and years to come.” — Mariel Hemingway
“A balanced life doesn’t come from being a know-it-all about every nuance of Ashtanga yoga. It comes instead from knowing what you need so that you can keep learning and evolving for months and years to come.” — Mariel Hemingway (Getty Images)
33. “I’m just thankful for everything, all the blessings in my life, trying to stay that way. I think that’s the best way to start your day and finish your day. It keeps everything in perspective.” — Tim Tebow
34. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
35. “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — A. A. Milne
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36. “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.” — Marie Curie
37. “Life shrinks or expands according to one’s courage.” — Anaïs Nin
38. “Self-care should include the cold shower as well as the scented tub.” — Mary Catherine Bateson
39. “Relax. Look around. Make a call.” — Jocko Willink
“Relax. Look around. Make a call.” — Jocko Willink (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
40. “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” — Virginia Woolf
41. “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” — Mahatma Gandhi
42. “Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” — Nora Ephron
43. “Just as self-respect and pride bring out the best in an individual, pride in family, pride in teammates, pride in hometown bring out the best in groups of people.” — Andy Rooney
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44. “The only bad workout is the one that didn’t happen.” — Unknown
45. “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come without leaving happier.” — Mother Teresa
46. “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” — Albert Einstein
“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” — Albert Einstein (iStock)
47. “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” — Babe Ruth
48. “We turn not older with years but newer every day.” — Emily Dickinson
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49. “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
50. “It takes courage to live in this world. It takes courage to speak truth, and it takes even more courage to live according to the highest ideals of your heart.” — Joan Gattuso
51. “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” — Irish proverb
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After a season of bingeing and drinking, your body may feel like it needs a break from the party.
Dry January — a modern trend that challenges people to abstain from drinking for the first month of the year — has become a popular way to “detox” from the holidays and start the new year on a healthy note.
Research has linked alcohol to a variety of health conditions, ranging from hangovers to higher cancer risk.
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In a recent podcast episode of “The Dr. Mark Hyman Show,” Dr. Mark Hyman, chief medical officer of Function Health, shared how 30 days of not drinking alcohol can transform health.
Hyman, who is based in Massachusetts, called Dry January a “powerful way to see in real time how alcohol affects nearly every system of your body and how quickly those systems can recover.”
Dry January has become a popular way to “detox” from the holidays and start the new year on a healthy note. (iStock)
Alcohol’s toll on the brain and body
Hyman acknowledged that most people drink to feel happier and more comfortable in social situations. This effect is caused by the main ingredient in alcohol, called ethanol, which can also have toxic effects.
Instead of stimulating the brain, alcohol slows it down and loosens inhibitions. “You feel more relaxed, more social, more confident, maybe you feel a little euphoric,” Hyman said.
Alcohol’s effect on the brain can also lead to poorer decisions and slower reflexes, the doctor cautioned.
Drinking alcohol can cause cognitive decline and brain fog, experts warn. (iStock)
Drinking also impacts the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which Hyman described as “the adult in the room,” responsible for judgment, planning and restraint. “It goes offline early in drinking, which explains why people feel freer or act impulsively when they drink,” he said.
Even moderate drinking can cause metabolic stress, inflammation, impaired detoxification and hormonal shifts, Hyman said, which can impact nearly every organ system in the body.
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Alcohol consumption has also been linked to an increased risk of cancer, metabolic dysfunction, gut microbiome disturbances and mitochondrial toxins.
It can also prevent the body from falling into REM sleep, which is the deep rest recovery period when the immune system cleans out the day’s toxins, according to Hyman.
Alcohol can impact deep rest and mental health, according to experts. (iStock)
Memory loss, cognitive decline, anxiety, sleep disruption, dementia and cardiovascular disease are all known risks of long-term alcohol use, as well as liver complications like fatty liver disease.
“Bottom line, alcohol taxes every major system in your body, especially your liver, your brain, your gut, your hormones,” Hyman said.
The effects of 30 days with no alcohol
The first week after your last drink, the body begins to detoxify and reset, according to Hyman. Blood sugar and cortisol stress hormones level out, and the liver begins to process a “backlog of toxins.” The body also re-hydrates and re-energizes.
The first 30 days with no alcohol allows the body to balance itself out. (iStock)
The second week, the gut and brain will begin to re-balance, as hormones like serotonin and dopamine stabilize, gut inflammation drops and the microbiome begins to heal. Cravings for sugar and alcohol will wane and mental clarity returns, the doctor said.
Week three is marked by further decreases in inflammation, fatty liver and blood pressure. This can be noticeable in the skin, as puffiness and redness are reduced. Mood also begins to stabilize, with lower anxiety levels.
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In week four, the body experiences additional metabolic and immune benefits, Hyman shared, including more insulin sensitivity, which makes it easier to lose weight.
“You have a stronger immune response. You’re not getting sick as much. You have better deep sleep, balanced hormones, especially cortisol and testosterone,” he said. “And you see a big change in energy, confidence and focus.”
Abstaining from alcohol can help restore energy, according to experts. (iStock)
Dr. Pinchieh Chiang, a clinician at Circle Medical in San Francisco, said that Dry January isn’t a “detox,” but rather provides “feedback” from the body.
“It gives the body time to show people how it feels without alcohol. For many, that insight alone changes their relationship with drinking,” she said. “The biggest surprise isn’t what people give up, it’s how much better they feel.”
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The doctor confirmed that the first few days of not drinking may feel harder than expected, sometimes causing restlessness, cravings or disrupted sleep, but Dry January can ultimately change drinking habits for the remainder of the year.
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After a full year without alcohol, Chiang noted that health improvements are more profound. “We see sustained improvements in blood pressure, liver function and inflammation,” she said. “Those changes directly affect long-term heart disease and stroke risk.”
The risks of ‘all or nothing’
Some experts warn that adopting the Dry January trend could strengthen the urge to drink more in the other months, noting that some drinkers may find more success by slowly consuming fewer drinks per week.
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Thomas Stopka, Ph.D., an epidemiologist and professor in the public health and community medicine department at Tufts University School of Medicine in Massachusetts, shared in a Futurity report that for some people, “damp January” may be more suitable.
One expert warned that not all drinkers should quit “cold turkey,” as it could lead to severe withdrawals. (iStock)
“Dry January is well-intentioned, and it may work really well for the people who can stick to it, maybe even beyond January,” he said. “Other people may be more inclined to cut down on alcohol consumption rather than quit drinking completely for the month.”
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Stopka noted that successful harm-reduction approaches “aim to be judgment free.”
“Substance use disorder is a disease,” he said. “It takes time to treat the disease and to stay connected to the continuum of care — from prevention to treatment initiation to sustained therapy, whether through medication, self-help, or individual therapy or group support.”
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Those struggling with signs of alcohol use disorder should consult a medical professional for personalized guidance.
Fox News Digital reached out to several alcohol industry associations requesting comment.
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