Authors - Inspiring Quotes

Maya Angelou

Poet, author, and civil rights activist (1928-2014)

Oscar Wilde

Irish poet and playwright (1854-1900)

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway

Nobel Prize-winning writer (1899-1961)

Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt

Humanitarian and former U.S. first lady (1884-1962)

Mahatma Gandhi

Indian independence leader (1869-1948)

Mark Twain

Writer, humorist, and essayist (1835-1910)

A

Former U.S. first lady (1744-1818)

Abraham Verghese

Poet and feminist (1929-2012)

Abstract painter (1912-2004)

Chinese artist and activist (1957-present)

Oscar- and Tony-winning actor (1940-present)

British philosopher, writer, and speaker (1915-1973)

French philosopher and author (1913-1960)

Albert Einstein

Nobel Prize-winning physicist (1879-1955)

Author (1921-1992)

Alexander Graham Bell

Inventor and scientist (1847-1922)

Alexander Woollcott

Beat poet and writer (1926-1997)

Poet, activist, and model (1998-present)

Aviation pioneer (1897-disappeared 1937)

Indian spiritual teacher (1960-present)

Indian spiritual teacher (1960-present)

Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Children's author and memoirist (1965-2017)

French American diarist and author (1903-1977)

Author (1963-present)

Fashion editor (1949-present)

Jewish diarist and Holocaust victim (1929-1945)

Sculptor (1921-2004)

Nobel Prize-winning French writer (1940-present)

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

French writer and aviator (1900-1944)

Ancient Greek philosopher (384-322 BCE)

Writer, poet, and civil rights activist (1934-1992)

B

Barbara Kingsolver

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer (1955-present)

Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Benjamin Disraeli

Former U.K. prime minister (1804-1881)

Benjamin Franklin

U.S. founding father (1706-1790)

Bertrand Russell

Bessie Anderson Stanley

Actress and comedian (1922-2021)

Beyoncé Knowles

Bianca Sparacino

Cartoonist and “Calvin and Hobbes” creator (1958-present)

Billie Jean King

Icelandic musician (1965-present)

Musician (1965-present)

Singer-songwriter (1941-present)

Jamaican reggae singer (1945-1981)

Booker T. Washington

Researcher and storyteller (1965-present)

Martial artist and film actor (1940-1973)

Buckminster Fuller

Buddhist proverb

Buddy Wakefield

C

British writer (1898-1963)

Swiss psychologist (1875-1961)

Psychologist (1902-1987)

Astronomer and science communicator (1934-1996)

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and biographer (1878-1967)

Carlos Castaneda

Anthropologist and writer (1925-1998)

Carrie Mae Weems

Photographer (1953-present)

Labor leader and civil rights activist (1927-1993)

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Dickens

English novelist (1812-1870)

Charles Kettering

French pastor (1852-1918)

Charlie Chaplin

Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker (1889-1977)

Charlie Kaufman

Screenwriter and film director (1958-present)

Charlotte Brontë

Author and poet (1816-1855)

Charmaine Wilkerson

Jamaican American journalist and author (Unknown-present)

Author (1968-present)

Leader of the Nez Perce (1840-1904)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Nigerian author (1977-present)

Christopher Germer

Clinical psychologist (Unknown-present)

Christopher Moore

Author (1957-present)

Christopher Morley

Clarice Lispector

Brazilian writer (1920-1977)

Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Colson Whitehead

Chinese philosopher and teacher (c. 551-479 BCE)

Cormac McCarthy

Philosopher, activist, and social critic (1953-present)

D

Japanese Buddhist philosopher (1928-2023)

Spiritual leader of the Tibet (1935-present)

English novelist and journalist (1660-1731)

Political commentator (1961-present)

David Foster Wallace

Author (1962-2008)

Filmmaker (1946-2025)

David Steindl-Rast

Fashion editor (1903-1989)

Diane von Fürstenberg

Dolores del Río

Mexican actress (1904-1983)

Poet and writer (1893-1967)

Dorothy Thompson

Actress and TV host (1975-present)

E

Writer and children's book author (1899-1985)

Earl Nightingale

Motivational speaker and author (1921-1989)

Spiritual teacher and self-help author (1948-present)

Eden Phillpotts

Edgar Allan Poe

Writer, poet, and critic (1809-1849)

Pulitzer Prize-winning author (1862-1937)

Writer and publisher (1856-1915)

Eleanor Farjeon

Eleanor Roosevelt

Humanitarian and former U.S. first lady (1884-1962)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Blackwell

Ella Fitzgerald

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Former president of Liberia (1938-present)

Singer and actor (1935-1977)

Emily Dickinson

Poet (1830-1886)

Greek philosopher (341-270 BCE)

Ernest Hemingway

Nobel Prize-winning writer (1899-1961)

Psychotherapist and author (1958-present)

Eugène Ionesco

F

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Author (1896-1940)

English author, essayist, and playwright (1931-2023)

Federico Fellini

Italian director and screenwriter (1920-1993)

Fernando Pessoa

Flannery O'Connor

Florence Nightingale

English philosopher and statesman (1561-1626)

Francis Picabia

Frank Lloyd Wright

Franklin D. Roosevelt

32nd U.S. president (1882-1945)

Writer (1883-1924)

Television host (1928-2003)

Frederick Douglass

Abolitionist and orator (1818-1895)

Mexican painter and self-portraitist (1907-1954)

Fridtjof Nansen

Friedrich Nietzsche

German philosopher and cultural critic (1844–1900)

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Russian novelist (1821-1881)

G

G.K. Chesterton

Gabriel García Márquez

Gabrielle Zevin

George Bernard Shaw

Irish playwright (1856-1950)

English writer (1819-1880)

George Harrison

George Santayana

Spanish American philosopher and writer (1863-1952)

George Saunders

Writer (1958-present)

George Seaton Bowes

Author and reverend

Georgia O’Keeffe

Modernist painter (1887-1986)

Gloria Anzaldúa

Journalist, feminist, and activist (1934-present)

Guy Gavriel Kay

Canadian fantasy author (1954-present)

Gwendolyn Brooks

H

H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Persian lyric poet (c. 1325-c. 1390)

Hamilton Wright Mabie

Australian comedian and writer (1978-present)

Haruki Murakami

Japanese writer (1949-present)

Author, educator, and activist (1880-1968)

Henry David Thoreau

Writer, philosopher, and naturalist (1817-1862)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Ward Beecher

Hunter S. Thompson

I

Iain McGilchrist

Author (1980-present)

Iris van Herpen

Chilean American writer (1942-present)

Danish author (1885-1962)

J

J.J. van der Leeuw

Dutch author (1893-1934)

Scottish novelist and playwright (1860-1937)

English writer and scholar (1892-1973)

40th prime minister of New Zealand (1980-present)

Novelist and poet (1922-1969)

Buddhist teacher (1945-present)

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Writer and civil rights activist (1924-1987)

Writer and cartoonist (1894-1961)

Jamie Lee Curtis

English author (1775-1817)

Animal scientist and conservationist (1934-present)

Painter, sculptor, and printmaker (1930-present)

Jawaharlal Nehru

Former prime minister of India (1889-1964)

Jean Antoine Petit-Senn

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jesse Eisenberg

Actor (1962-present)

Writer and journalist (1934-2021)

Actress, comedian, and writer (1933-2014)

Author (1966-present)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

John Baldessari

Conceptual artist (1931-2020)

John F. Kennedy

35th U.S. president (1917-1963)

English poet (1795-1821)

Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer (1902-1968)

English Orthodox rabbi (1948-2020)

Irish writer and satirist (1667-1745)

Joseph Campbell

Author and professor (1904-1987)

Josiah Gilbert Holland

Oscar-winning English actress (1934-present)

Actress, singer, and dancer (1922-1969)

Novelist and poet (1950-present)

English actress, singer, and author (1935-present)

Jóhann Jóhannsson

K

Lebanese American writer (1883-1931)

Karen E. Quinones Miller

Author and journalist (1958-present)

Katharine Hepburn

Oscar-winning actress (1907-2003)

Katherine Center

Author (1972-present)

Editor and publisher (1952-present)

Kristen Roupenian

Kurt Schwitters

Author (1922-2007)

L

Singer-songwriter and actress (1986-present)

Langston Hughes

Jazz poet and social activist (1901-1967)

Russian author (1828-1910)

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonora Carrington

Politician and motivational speaker (1945-present)

Lou Andreas-Salomé

Russian German psychoanalyst and writer (1861-1937)

Louisa May Alcott

Author and poet (1832-1888)

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Canadian author (1874-1942)

Ludwig van Beethoven

German composer (1770-1827)

Ludwig Wittgenstein

M

Madame de Staël

Madame de Sévigné

Madeleine L'Engle

Author (1918-2007)

Indian independence leader (1869-1948)

Malala Yousafzai

Pakistani activist and Nobel Prize winner (1997-present)

Malvina Reynolds

French novelist (1871-1922)

Marcus Aurelius

Roman emperor (121-180 CE)

Political activist and Black nationalist leader (1887-1940)

Margaret Wander Bonanno

Essayist and poet (1984-present)

Marianne Williamson

Nobel Prize-winning Polish scientist (1867-1934)

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Marilynne Robinson

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer (1943-present)

Marina Abramović

Writer, humorist, and essayist (1835-1910)

Marlene Dietrich

Marsha P. Johnson

LGBTQ+ activist (1945-1992)

Sociologist and author (1962-present)

Dancer and choreographer (1894-1991)

Marthe Troly-Curtin

Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil rights leader (1929-1968)

Poet, essayist, and memoirist (1955-present)

Mary Katrantzou

Mary Lou Retton

Olympic gymnast (1968-present)

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (1935-2019)

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist

English novelist (1797-1851)

Mary Tyler Moore

Actress and producer (1936-2017)

Massimo Bottura

Actor (1970-present)

Maxine Hong Kingston

Poet, author, and civil rights activist (1928-2014)

Oscar-winning actress (1949-present)

Former U.S. first lady (1964-present)

Mignon McLaughlin

Miguel de Cervantes

Spanish writer (1547-1616)

Jazz musician, bandleader, and composer (1926-1991)

Actress, producer, and screenwriter (1979-present)

Principal ballet dancer (1982-present)

Miyamoto Musashi

Japanese samurai (1584-1645)

Musician and DJ (1965-present)

Morgan Harper Nichols

Musician and artist (1990-present)

Méret Oppenheim

N

Nadine Gordimer

Self-help author (1883-1970)

Native American proverb

Former president of South Africa (1918-2013)

Poet and activist (1943-present)

Nikos Kazantzakis

Singer and civil rights activist (1933-2003)

O

Olafur Eliasson

Icelandic Danish artist (1967-present)

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

Physician and poet (1809-1894)

TV host, producer, and actress (1954-present)

Irish poet and playwright (1854-1900)

Osip Mandelstam

P

Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet (1904-1973)

Singer, songwriter, and poet (1946-present)

Paul Lewis Boese

Composer, singer, and actor (1940-present)

Brazilian author (1947-present)

Buddhist nun and teacher (1936-present)

Peter Diamandis

Phoebe Bridgers

Phoebe Waller-Bridge

English actress, writer, and producer (1985-present)

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope John Paul II

Q

Queen Elizabeth II

Quintus Sertorius

R

Rabindranath Tagore

Indian poet (1861-1941)

Rainer Maria Rilke

Austrian poet and novelist (1875-1926)

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Writer and philosopher (1803-1882)

Rania Al-Abdullah

Author (1920-2012)

Author and pilot (1936-present)

Richard Paul Evans

Rita Levi-Montalcini

Actor (1970-1993)

Robert Browning

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (1874-1963)

Poet and lyricist for the Grateful Dead (1941-2019)

Robert Rabensteiner

Painter and illustrator (1882-1971)

Civil rights activist (1913-2005)

Persian poet and mystic (1207–1273)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Actress, playwright, and screenwriter (1896-1985)

S

English writer and lexicographer (1709-1784)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

English poet and literary critic (1772-1834)

Sarah Bernhardt

French actress (1844-1923)

Canadian American writer (1915-2005)

Guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter (1977-present)

Ancient Roman philosopher (c. 4 BCE-65 CE)

Sharon Salzberg

Author and meditation pioneer (1952-present)

Shel Silverstein

Poet, cartoonist, and musician (1930-1999)

Sherwood Anderson

Sheryl Sandberg

Shirley Chisholm

Politician (1924-2005)

TV producer and screenwriter (1970-present)

Simone de Beauvoir

French philosopher and writer (1908-1986)

French philosopher (1909-1943)

Filmmaker (1969-present)

Squire Bill Widener

Indian spiritual leader (1931-2007)

Stanley Kubrick

Stefan Sagmeister

Stephen Colbert

Motivational author and educator (1932-2012)

Stephen Hawking

English theoretical physicist and cosmologist (1942-2018)

Author of horror novels (1947-present)

Stephen Sondheim

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and lyricist (1930-2021)

Entrepreneur and Apple co-founder (1955-2011)

Sue Stuart-Smith

Susan B. Anthony

Writer and cultural critic (1933-2004)

Poet and novelist (1932-1963)

Søren Kierkegaard

Danish philosopher (1813-1855)

T

Nobel Prize-winning poet and essayist (1888-1965)

Singer-songwriter (1989-present)

Tennessee Williams

Buddhist nun and teacher (1943-present)

Teresa of Ávila

Spanish nun and mystic (1515-1582)

Terry Pratchett

Fantasy author (1948-2015)

Thelonious Monk

Jazz pianist and composer (1917-1982)

Theodore Roethke

Theodore Roosevelt

26th U.S. president (1858-1919)

Inventor (1847-1931)

Thích Nhất Hạnh

Vietnamese Buddhist monk (1926-2022)

Musician and actor (1949-present)

Toni Cade Bambara

Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist (1931-2019)

South African comedian, writer, and TV host (1984-present)

Dancer and choreographer (1941-present)

U

Ursula K. Le Guin

Science fiction author (1929-2018)

V

Austrian writer (1888-1960)

Vincent van Gogh

Dutch postimpressionist painter (1853-1890)

EGOT-winning actress and producer (1965-present)

Ancient Roman poet (c. 70-19 BCE)

English writer (1882-1941)

W

Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet and writer (1865-1939)

Poet (1927-2019)

Animator and entrepreneur (1901-1966)

Poet and essayist (1819-1892)

Wanda Landowska

Polish harpsichordist (1879-1959)

Wangari Maathai

Kenyan activist (1940-2011)

Washington Irving

Writer and historian (1783-1859)

Novelist (1873-1947)

William A. Ward

Motivational writer (1921-1994)

William Arthur Ward

Motivational writer (1921-1994)

English poet and painter (1757-1827)

William Carlos Williams

William Faulkner

Nobel Prize-winning writer (1897-1962)

William Hazlitt

Philosopher and psychologist (1842-1910)

William Makepeace Thackeray

William S. Burroughs

William Saroyan

William Shakespeare

English playwright and poet (c. 1564-1616)

William Somerset Maugham

English novelist and playwright (1874-1965)

Winston Churchill

Y

Yohannes Gebregeorgis

Artist and peace activist (1933-present)

Z

Zelda Fitzgerald

Zora Neale Hurston

Writer and anthropologist (1891-1960)