117 Badass Motivational Quotes to Unleash Your Inner Badass

There are motivational quotes, and then there are badass motivational quotes. You know the ones. The best badass quotes are the ones that make you go ‘oooh, damn that’s good.’

There have been a few quotable figures throughout history that have just got it. These are the people who have a way with words that just says it all in the best way possible.

Isn’t it amazing how a complete stranger with no knowledge of your life can say a few great things that just knock you off your seat? Almost as if they were speaking directly to you to motivate you toward better things with their badassery?

What is a Badass?

First of all: what makes someone a badass? Well, there are two types of badasses.

First, there’s the Chuck Norris-beats-everyone-up-just-by-blinking type badass. These are the ones that we see in movies that make us kick and punch our way out of the movie theatre.

Second, there’s the type of badass that is more subtle. This is the badass that does the kicking and punching with their attitude and their mindset. And instead of kicking and punching people, their attitude and mindset allows them to kick and punch life to reach crazy dreams and goals.

These are the badasses that have faced hard times, but have spent their whole life in the pursuit of growth toward their goals and dreams. And they have unleashed some seriously badass motivational quotes along the way.

For example, Maya Angelou, who’s autobiography and contributions to the Civil Rights Movement have inspired countless, and awarded her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That is badass.

Or, Steve Jobs’ vision of a ba-jillion dollar corporation that changes the way we communicate and interact with the world? That is badass.

117 Badass Motivational Quotes

This list contains the best quotes that are worth reading if you need some fire in your life. We chose these quotes because they each have an ‘oooh, damn that’s good’ moment.

Use these 117 badass motivational quotes on a daily basis to awaken your inner badass in your own life.

Motivational Quotes

#1. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou

#2. “To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing.” – Elbert Hubbard

#3. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

#4. “You are responsible for what you say and do. You are not responsible for whether or not people freak out about it.” – Jen Sincero

#5. “Face your fears; live your passions, be dedicated to your truth.” – Billie Jean King

#6. “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston S. Churchill

#7. “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” – Mark Twain

#8. “The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others. Try this for a week and you will be surprised.” – Norman Vincent Peale

#9. “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” – Henry Ford

#10. “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

#11. “It’s hard for us to understand that we can be compassionate and accepting while we hold people accountable for their behaviors. We can, and, in fact, it’s the best way to do it.” – Brené Brown

#12. “Energy and persistence conquer all things.” – Benjamin Franklin

#13. “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

#14. “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” – George Bernard Shaw

#15. “If you limit yourself only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise.” – Anais Nin

#16. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

#17. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein

#18. “Everybody has a calling. And your real job in life is to figure out as soon as possible what that is, who you were meant to be, and to begin to honor that in the best way possible for yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey

#19. “To learn to succeed, you must first learn to fail.” – Michael Jordan

#20. “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” – Muhammad Ali

Inspirational Quotes

Some of the best badass quotes are the ones that inspire us to to take action or make a change in our lives! If you are looking for inspiration, use these badass motivational quotes to give you the push you need today!

#21. “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” – Maya Angelou

#22. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs

#23. “If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” – Maya Angelou

#24. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” – Maya Angelou

#25. “If you’re serious about changing your life, you’ll find a way. If you’re not, you’ll find an excuse.” – Jen Sincero

#26. “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” – Maya Angelou

#27. “So many of us run around spackling all of the cracks, trying to make everything look just right…remember the beauty of the cracks…our imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together. Imperfectly, but together.” – Brené Brown

#28. “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou

#29. “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

#30. “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou

#31. “What other people think about you has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.” – Jen Sincero

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

#33. “Never apologize for who you are. It lets the whole world down.” –  Jen Sincero

#34. “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” – Steve Jobs

#35. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” – Billie Jean King

#36. “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” – George Bernard Shaw

#37. “Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill

#38. “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” – George Bernard Shaw

#39. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

#40. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw

#41. “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” – Winston S. Churchill

#42. “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw

#43. “Don’t let anyone define you. You define yourself.” – Billie Jean King

#44. “Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.” – Mark Twain

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

#46. “Only you can control your future.” – Dr. Seuss

#47. “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss

#48. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

#49. “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.” – Jerry Rice

#50. “You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It’s their mistake, not my failing.” – Richard Feynman

#51. “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin

#52. “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” – Benjamin Franklin

#53. “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.” – Albert Einstein

#54. “Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher.” – Oprah Winfrey

#55. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 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

#56. “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” – Mary Kay Ash

#57. “If people are doubting how far you can go, go so far that you can’t hear them anymore.” – Michele Ruiz

#58. “Vulnerability is the core of all emotions and feelings. To believe vulnerability is weakness it to believe that feeling is weakness.” – Brené Brown

#59. “Somehow we’ve come to equate success with not needing anyone. Many of us are willing to extend a helping hand, but we’re very reluctant to reach out for help when we need it ourselves.” – Brené Brown

#60. “I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life’.” – Maya Angelou

#61. “Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, ‘no matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough.’ It’s going to bed at night thinking, ‘yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of love and belonging’.” – Brené Brown

#62. “Our culture made a virtue of living only as extroverts. We discouraged the inner journey, the quest for a center. So we lost our center and have to find it again.” – Anais Nin

#63. “You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan

#64. “If my mind can conceive it, if my heart can believe it–then I can achieve it.” – Muhammad Ali

#65. “Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

#66. “Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.” – Michael Jordan

#67. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali

#68. “Freedom lies in being bold.” – Robert Frost

#69. “Attitude is a little thing that makes a BIG difference.” – Winston Churchill

#70. “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” – Norman Vincent Peale

#71. “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” – Lao Tzu

#72. “My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.” – Henry Rollins

#73. “I never worry about action, but only inaction.” – Winston Churchill

#74. “Change your thoughts and you change your world. – Norman Vincent Peale

#75. “One day the people that didn’t believe in you will tell everyone how they met you.” – Johnny Depp

#76. “At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” – Lao Tzu

#77. “Do it or don’t. It’s amazing how many things in life are that easy.” – Henry Rollins

#78. “What the mind can conceive and believe, and the heart desire, you can achieve.” – Norman Vincent Peale

#79. “I live to succeed, not to please you or anyone else.” – Marilyn Monroe

#80. “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Van Gogh

#81. “Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” – Marilyn Monroe

#82. “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” – Helen Keller

#83. “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” – Oscar Wilde

#84. “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” – Oscar Wilde

#85. “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.” – Eric Thomas

#86. “I don’t stop when I’m tired. I only stop when I’m done.” – Marilyn Monroe

#87. “Success is only meaningful and enjoyable if it feels like your own.” – Michelle Obama

#88. “Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” – Gloria Steinem

#89. “Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing.” – Oscar Wilde

#90. “Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, dreams are forever.” – Walt Disney

#91. “A bend in the road is not the end of the road…Unless you fail to make the turn.” – Helen Keller

Funny Badass Quotes

When motivational quotes don’t cut it, sometimes you just need a little bit of humor! Funny badass quotes tend to be the most memorable. This means that they stick with you and continue to inspire you throughout your whole life.

If you ever need a good laugh to motivate you, these funny badass quotes will do just that!

#92. “Work until your bank account looks like a phone number.” – Unknown

#93. “Think like a proton. Always positive.” – Unknown

#94. “Be happy – it drives people crazy.” – Unknown

#95. “Makeup can only make you look pretty on the outside but it doesn’t help if you’re ugly on the inside. Unless you eat the makeup.” – Audrey Hepburn

#96. “Optimist: someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it’s more like a cha-cha.” – Robert Brault

#97. “When life gives you lemons, squirt someone in the eye.” – Cathy Guisewite

#98. “Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!” – Dr. Seuss

Short Badass Quotes

In some cases, it takes just a few words to say a beautiful thing that is incredibly badass and motivating. Often, short badass quotes end up being all you need to kick it into high gear and make the hard work happen.

These short badass motivational quotes do just that! So if you are short on time, or you want something that gets right to the point, use these zingers to motivate you!

#99. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” – Oprah Winfrey

#100. “Nothing will work unless you do.” – Maya Angelou

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

#102. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth

#103. “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

#104. “Don’t find fault, find a remedy.” – Henry Ford

#105. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain

#106. “Fear is stupid. So are regrets.” – Marilyn Monroe

#107. “Choose people who lift you up.” – Michelle Obama

#108. “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong

#109. “The only way round is through.” – Robert Frost

#110. “One must work and dare if one really wants to live.” – Van Gogh

#111. “The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself.” – Eddie Vedder

#112. “You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try.” – Dolly Parton

#113. “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” – Dolly Parton

#114. “Either I will find a way, or I will make one.” – Philip Sidney

#115. “Life is a party. Dress for it.” – Audrey Hepburn

#116. Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. – Dr. Seuss

#117. “Do or do not. There is no try.” – Master Yoda (Star Wars)

Which Badass Motivational Quotes Are Your Favorites?

You may not identify as the type of badass that rides a motorcycle and has a default frowny face. But that doesn’t mean you won’t make it in life as a complete and total badass.

Remember that there is more than one way to show life that you mean business. The badass motivational quotes from this list show that the right mindset is all it takes to turn your life into a force to be reckoned with.

So, choose your favorite badass motivational quotes from this list and read them often.

Choose the quotes that are so on fire that you can see the steam rising from them. Hold them close during the tough times and revisit them when you are having a bad day. Plaster them all over your mirror, your desk, or your co-workers’ foreheads.

Use the feeling you get when you read these quotes to take on whatever your life thinks it can get away with throwing at you.

You are a badass. And you got this!

Don’t forget to share this post with your friends and family on social media! If you know someone who could use some motivation to up their badassery levels, this could be one of those blog posts that changes everything!

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