Despair happens when you feel like you’ve lost all hope. It’s an unfortunate, negative emotion that may hinder your ability to feel positivity. While feeling this way is okay, it is important to fight against it and work on living a positive life again.
It’s not always easy to simply pull yourself out of a negative mindset, no matter how easy it is to suggest that idea. You may need a little help in that area. That’s where these quotes to lift you out of despair and into positivity come in handy.
When you feel like you’ve lost all hope and you have no one to talk to, these quotes can help. They’ll make you realize that you are not alone in those feelings. You’ll also get some ideas for how to lift yourself out of those emotions and move on with your life.
Quotes to Lift You Out of Despair and Into Positivity
1. “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” – Willie Nelson
When you feel like there is no hope, try to stop yourself from having negative thoughts. Each time one comes to mind, replace it with something positive. By doing this, you’ll be able to experience positivity.
2. “Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Take the time to just let happiness come to you rather than always pursuing it. This allows you to recognize it when it comes. There are likely many happy moments in your life that you missed because you were too busy looking for it.
3. “Extraordinary things are always hiding in places people never think to look.” – Jodi Picoult
This is yet another reason to stop pursuing positivity. You’re probably in the wrong place, and it will happen when and where you least expect it. As Picoult said, it’s usually where you aren’t looking.
4. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr. in “P.S. I Love You”
Don’t let this be you in 20 years. Move forward now so that you won’t be disappointed later. You can’t let anything stop you or hold you back.
5. “Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.” – William James
Oftentimes, thoughts get the best of us. It’s easy to go on believing that life is over when something we didn’t expect happens. Instead, you need to work on believing the opposite so that you can make it happen.
6. “Make a determination that you will live your purpose today.” – Daniel Budzinski
Think about what it is you want from your life. Your dreams and aspirations can still be achieved even when life isn’t going as planned. Don’t give up and always remember to live your purpose, even when it’s tough to get going.
7. “I’ve missed more than 9000 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
As one of the most famous basketball players in history, even Michael Jordan didn’t have it easy. Things don’t always go the way that you want them to, and that is normal and okay. You have to pick yourself up and try again because you never know what will happen unless you do.
8. “Inspiration comes from within yourself. One has to be positive. When you’re positive, good things happen.” – Deep Roy
Life can be good, even when it seems to be impossible. The change that is needed to work your way out of the feeling is through positivity. You have to be positive if you want life to get better.
9. “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” – E.E. Cummings
If you find at least one thing to laugh about each day, you’ll find that the despair quickly dissipates. Laughter has a way of making even the hardest times manageable.
So, find a funny video or story, ask a friend to tell you a joke, or read funny quotes. The sooner you start laughing, the sooner you’ll be lifted from the hopeless feeling.
10. “Staying positive does not mean that everything will turn out okay. Rather, it means you will be okay no matter how things turn out.” – Unknown
Remember this as you pull yourself out of the negative mindset. You can get through everything, no matter what happens along the way. Remind yourself that you are strong and can handle hardships.
11. “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
You’ll never know just how happy and positive you can be if you’ve never dealt with hardship. Remember that the better days will return and stay positive as you work toward them.
12. “Just for the record darling, not all positive change feels positive in the beginning.” – S. C. Lourie
When things change, it can be hard to realize the good that will come because of the change. Try to remind yourself of that if you are going through a difficult change. At some point, you’ll realize that it was all meant to be and that you’ll be happy again.
13. “For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Anger does not do you any good. To feel angry only makes the problem worse, and it’s probably a situation you can’t control anyway. Instead, put your energy and emotions toward something positive and you’ll find the anger is gone.
14. “The road that is built in hope is more pleasant to the traveler than the road built in despair, even though they both lead to the same destination.” – Marion Zimmer Bradley
No matter which road you choose to take, they all lead to the same place in the end. Don’t let your journey be full of hopelessness. Instead, do everything to make it joyful and worthwhile so that you can look back at it in the end.
15. “When you are imagining, you might as well imagine something worthwhile.” – Lucy Maud Montgomery
Your thoughts are a huge part of how your life is going. If you find your thoughts going to the idea that your life will never be great, you have to change it. Instead of imagining the worst, imagine how great it could be if you just worked toward something positive.
16. “Despair is our chance to wrestle with fire and come through.” – Christina Baldwin
Don’t think that the bad times are for nothing. These times are a chance for you to prove to yourself how strong you are. Pick up the pieces and keep moving forward because, when you do, you’ll realize what you are worth.
17. “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” – Maria Robinson
You can’t change the past, but you can always change the future. Think about how you want your life to be, or how you had envisioned it.
You likely didn’t dream of sadness and depression, so don’t make that your whole life. Lift yourself out of that mindset and focus on making your life as great as it can be. Only you can decide which path your life will take, and you have to make it worth it.
18. “Life is filled with unanswered questions, but it is the courage to seek those answers that continues to give meaning to life. You can spend your life wallowing in despair, wondering why you were the one who was led towards the road strewn with pain, or you can be grateful that you are strong enough to survive it.” – J.D. Stroube
Life is unpredictable, and it’s impossible to know why certain things happen or what will happen next. It’s easy to use that as an excuse to live in this negative mindset. You can’t take the easy way out, however.
Instead, seek the answers you need and keep moving forward knowing how strong you are.
19. “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So, let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” – Jack Layton
As stated before, anger will not do anything beneficial for your life. It is a negative emotion that will only hold you back or cause you to do irrational things. Fear and hopelessness are also two negative emotions that must be fought against.
You have to focus on positive emotions such as love, hope, and optimism. When you do that, you’ll live a much more positive life.
20. “When a man is in despair, it means that he still believes in something.” – Dmitri Shostakovich
If you are feeling this way, it is a good sign because it means that you still do have faith. Without that faith, you would feel nothing. So, when you are feeling like there’s no hope, it means there’s something more out there for you to find.
Quotes to Lift You Out of Despair and Into Positivity
Since despair is an unfortunate part of life for most people, it is important to learn to deal with it. You must be able to pull yourself out and start thinking positively again.
Without positivity, life would feel nearly impossible. These quotes to lift you out of despair and into positivity should give you a little more hope. You’re strong and capable of moving forward.
