Common sense is not so common.— Voltaire
Short Quotes
The best short quotes say the most with the least. These are made for captions, bios, tattoos, and the note you leave on the fridge. Small words, big meaning — save your favorites.
80 quotes
More topics ›Doubt is the origin of wisdom.— Rene Descartes
Fear is a feeling, not a fact.— Terri Cole
Life is tough, but so are you.— Kid President
The beginning is always today.— Mary Shelley
Becoming is better than being.— Carol S. Dweck
You are loved just as you are.— Hermann Hesse
There's always another secret.— Brandon Sanderson
Maybe I like the way I shrink.— Diana Wynne Jones
We are what we believe we are.— C.S. Lewis
You're stronger than you know.— Kristin Cashore
All knowledge is worth having.— Jacqueline Carey
Slow and steady wins the race.— Aesop
It's always too early to quit.— Norman Vincent Peale
We become what we think about.— Earl Nightingale
Leap, and the net will appear.— John Burroughs
Be the love you never received.— Rune Cazuli
Comparison is the thief of joy.— Theodore Roosevelt
First, master the fundamentals.— Larry Bird
Know what it is you want to do.— Sally Coulter
The wisest of the wise may err.— Aeschylus
Where focus goes, energy flows.— Tony Robbins
Wherever you are, be all there.— Jim Elliot
Wherever you go, there you are.— Jon Kabat-Zinn
You are enough just as you are.— Meghan Markle
You can be happy where you are.— Joel Osteen
Your network is your net worth.— Porter Gale
We must imagine Sisyphus happy.— Albert Camus
We're all stardust and stories.— Erin Morgenstern
You're a story, not a footnote.— Laini Taylor
To shut your eyes is to travel.— Kristin Cashore
Wisdom comes through suffering.— Christopher Paolini
Fall seven times, get up eight.— Japanese Proverb
No man was ever wise by chance.— Seneca
I will persist until I succeed.— Og Mandino
Make each day your masterpiece.— John Wooden
Lost time is never found again.— Benjamin Franklin
A grateful mind is a great mind.— Plato
Chase the vision, not the money.— Tony Hsieh
Goals are dreams with deadlines.— Diana Scharf
Nothing will work unless you do.— Maya Angelou
The storm will pass. Outlast it.— Thema Davis
The phoenix must burn to emerge.— Janet Fitch
The root of joy is gratefulness.— David Steindl-Rast
Whatever you are, be a good one.— Abraham Lincoln
It's just a drop in the bucket,.— Doe Zantamata
Worthiness has no prerequisites.— Brené Brown
I exist as I am, that is enough.— Walt Whitman
Confine yourself to the present.— Marcus Aurelius
Boredom: the desire for desires.— Leo Tolstoy
Things do not change; we change.— Henry David Thoreau
Past tears are present strength.— George MacDonald
You are a person, not a destiny.— Brandon Sanderson
A gentle word opens an iron gate.— Bulgarian proverb
Be so good they can't ignore you.— Steve Martin
Fall seven times, stand up eight.— Japanese Proverb
Happiness depends upon ourselves.— Aristotle
I was quiet, but I was not blind.— Jane Austen
Learning never exhausts the mind.— Leonardo da Vinci
Never run back to what broke you.— Frank Ocean
Worry is a misuse of imagination.— Dan Zadra
Above all, don't lie to yourself.— Fyodor Dostoevsky
The only way to learn is to live.— Matt Haig
Angry people are not always wise.— Jane Austen
Conceit spoils the finest genius.— Louisa May Alcott
To live at all is miracle enough.— Mervyn Peake
Life is the future, not the past.— Terry Goodkind
Mercy and cowardice are the same.— Joe Abercrombie
Cherish youth, but trust old age.— Native American Proverb
Through discipline comes freedom.— Aristotle
Memory is the scribe of the soul.— Aristotle
Always deliver more than expected.— Larry Page
Be so good they cannot ignore you.— Steve Martin
Every artist was first an amateur.— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Every moment is a fresh beginning.— T.S. Eliot
Joy is not in things, it is in us.— Richard Wagner
Be the loving witness to yourself.— Yung Pueblo
Growth and comfort do not coexist.— Ginni Rometty
A goal is a dream with a deadline.— Napoleon Hill
Little by little, one travels far.— J.R.R. Tolkien
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Open the Free Quote Maker →Short Quotes — Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good short quote?
"Less is more." — Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Or "This too shall pass." The best short quotes are almost proverbs: small enough to memorize, deep enough to keep unfolding the more you sit with them.
What are good short quotes for a tattoo?
People often choose lines like "Stay gold," "This too shall pass," or "Not all who wander are lost." A short quote works as a tattoo because it fits, reads clean, and carries meaning without needing explanation.
What are good short quotes for Instagram captions or bios?
Punchy ones like "Keep it simple," "Grow through it," or "Choose joy." A short caption quote leaves room for the photo to speak and for readers to project their own meaning.
Why are short quotes so powerful?
Because you remember them. A short quote survives the trip from the screen to your actual life — you can carry it into the moment you need it without having to look it up.