Life is a journey filled with unexpected twists and turns. It is both long and short, depending on how we perceive it. Despite its brevity, life offers us countless opportunities to grow, learn, and experience the world around us. Inspirational quotes about life being short remind us to cherish every moment and live life to the fullest. Here are over 100 quotes that inspire us to make the most of our time.
165+ Inspirational Quotes About Life Being Short
1. Life is short, and it is here to be lived.
2. Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.
3. Life goes by fast. Enjoy it. Calm down. It’s all funny.
4. Life is too short to be living somebody else’s dream.
5. Life is short, and every moment is precious.
6. You may delay, but time will not.
7. Don’t waste your time in anger, regrets, worries, and grudges. Life is too short to be unhappy.
8. How did it get so late so soon?
9. Time is long but life is short.
10. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.
11. Time takes it all, whether you want it to or not.
12. Life is too short not to have pasta, steak, and butter.
13. Life was for living, so why was I wasting?
14. Never waste a minute thinking about people you don’t like.
15. Life is too short to blend in.
16. Enjoy life. There’s plenty of time to be dead.
17. Life is short and the older you get, the more you feel it. Indeed, the shorter it is.
18. The future starts today, not tomorrow.
19. Life is too short not to do a little practical joking.
20. Life is short, and if we enjoy every moment of every day, then we will be happy no matter what happens or what changes along the way.
21. Time moves slowly, but passes quickly.
22. Realize deeply that the present moment is all you will ever have.
23. Life is too short to have anything but delusional notions about yourself.
24. Time is the most valuable thing that a man can spend.
25. Life is short. Do whatever you can to help people—not for status, but because the 95-year-old you will be proud if you did help people and disappointed if you didn’t.
26. Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.
27. You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.
28. Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.
29. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.
30. The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
31. Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
32. Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.
33. Do not let making a living prevent you from making a life.
34. Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved.
35. Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.
36. Life is a long lesson in humility.
37. In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.
38. Love the life you live. Live the life you love.
39. Life is too short to work so hard.
40. Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.
41. Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand – and melting like a snowflake.
42. Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.
43. The trouble is you think you have time.
44. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
45. I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.
46. We are always getting ready to live but never living.
47. Begin doing what you want to do now.
48. Life is a flash of lightning in the dark of night. It is a brief time of tremendous potential.
49. Life is too short to worry about anything.
50. You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.
51. Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile.
52. Do you think that I count the days? There is only one day left, always starting over: it is given to us at dawn and taken away from us at dusk.
53. Life is too short to harbor any hostilities towards anybody.
54. Be patient and understanding. Life is too short to be vengeful or malicious.
55. If you want something, don’t wish for it. Life is too short to wait.
56. Life is short, and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the truth.
57. Let no one rob me of a single day who is not going to make me an adequate return for such a loss.
58. But life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future.
59. One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.
60. Time flies, whether you’re wasting it or not.
61. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested.
62. Pray for your parents every day and spend as much time with them as you can.
63. Life is short. You have to be able to laugh at our pain or we never move on.
64. Life is short and death is long.
65. Life is short, and your time for learning and creativity is limited.
66. The irony of life is realizing that a lifetime is barely long enough to figure out how it should have been lived.
67. Life is short, and we should respect every moment of it.
68. It seems older people maximize their well-being more – they start to realize that life is short.
69. One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now.
70. If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.
71. Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
72. Be the change that you wish to see in the world.
73. Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.
74. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
75. The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity.
76. Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.
77. Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.
78. Love your family, work super hard, live your passion.
79. It is never too late to be what you might have been.
80. Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality.
81. If you’re not positive energy, you’re negative energy.
82. I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.
83. Do the best you can. No one can do more than that.
84. If you can dream it, you can do it.
85. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
86. The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.
87. One of the differences between some successful and unsuccessful people is that one group is full of doers, while the other is full of wishers.
88. I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.
89. You cannot plow a field by turning it over in your mind. To begin, begin.
90. When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.
91. Mondays offer new beginnings 52 times a year!
92. Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.
93. Your Monday morning thoughts set the tone for your whole week. See yourself getting stronger, and living a fulfilling, happier, and healthier life.
94. Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.
95. It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.
96. For the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together.
97. If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.
98. Resilience is when you address uncertainty with flexibility.
99. Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.
100. It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.
101. As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.
102. Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.
103. True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.
104. Life is so transient and ephemeral; we will not be here after a breath. So think better, think deeply, think with kindness, and write it with love so that it lasts.
105. Simplify my life · Stop caring about everything · Start caring about things that make a good life (my health, my people, my “mission”).
106. Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.
107. In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.
108. Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.
109. Do not let making a living prevent you from making a life.
110. Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved.
111. The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
112. Love the life you live. Live the life you love.
113. Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
114. You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.
115. Life is too short to work so hard.
116. Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.
117. Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand – and melting like a snowflake.
118. Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.
119. The trouble is you think you have time.
120. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
121. I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.
122. We are always getting ready to live but never living.
123. Begin doing what you want to do now.
124. Life is a flash of lightning in the dark of night. It is a brief time of tremendous potential.
125. Life is too short to worry about anything.
126. You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.
127. Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile.
128. Do you think that I count the days? There is only one day left, always starting over: it is given to us at dawn and taken away from us at dusk.
129. Life is too short to harbor any hostilities towards anybody.
130. Be patient and understanding. Life is too short to be vengeful or malicious.
131. If you want something, don’t wish for it. Life is too short to wait.
132. Life is short, and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the truth.
133. Let no one rob me of a single day who is not going to make me an adequate return for such a loss.
134. But life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future.
135. One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.
136. Time flies, whether you’re wasting it or not.
137. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested.
138. Pray for your parents every day and spend as much time with them as you can.
139. Life is short. You have to be able to laugh at our pain or we never move on.
140. Life is short and death is long.
141. Life is short, and your time for learning and creativity is limited.
142. The irony of life is realizing that a lifetime is barely long enough to figure out how it should have been lived.
143. Life is short, and we should respect every moment of it.
144. It seems older people maximize their well-being more – they start to realize that life is short.
145. One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now.
146. If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.
147. Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
148. Be the change that you wish to see in the world.
149. Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.
150. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
151. The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity.
152. Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.
153. Opportunities don’t happen, you create them.
154. Love your family, work super hard, live your passion.
155. It is never too late to be what you might have been.
156. Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you become your reality.
157. If you’re not positive energy, you’re negative energy.
158. I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.
159. Do the best you can. No one can do more than that.
160. If you can dream it, you can do it.
161. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
162. The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.
163. One of the differences between some successful and unsuccessful people is that one group is full of doers, while the other is full of wishers.
164. I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.
165. You cannot plow a field by turning it over in your mind. To begin, begin.
166. When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.
167. Mondays offer new beginnings 52 times a year!
168. Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.
169. Your Monday morning thoughts set the tone for your whole week. See yourself getting stronger, and living a fulfilling, happier, and healthier life.
170. Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your own two ears.
171. It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.
Conclusion
Life is undeniably short, and these inspirational quotes serve as powerful reminders to cherish every moment and live with intention. They encourage us to embrace kindness, pursue our dreams boldly, and focus on what truly matters. By reflecting on these words, we can find motivation to overcome fear, let go of regrets, and make the most of the limited time we have. Ultimately, life’s brevity invites us to live fully, love deeply, and create a meaningful legacy that lasts beyond our years.
