You don’t have to make a New Year’s resolution to feel the clean slate of a new year. Sometimes you just need a few words of inspiration to push you toward whatever it is you’re hoping to accomplish in the next 365 days.

Whether you’re looking for a quote about fresh starts to write in your gratitude journal, post on social media, or if you just need that little reminder, PureWow has compiled dozens from well-known people throughout history. Here are a few nuggets for the new year:

• “The beginning is the most important part of the work.” -Plato

  Share

  Circa 350 BC, A bust of the Greek philosopher Plato, (c428 - c348 BC), one of the most important philosophers in the history of mankind. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

• “This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change.” -Taylor Swift

  Share

  Taylor Swift attends the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards at Prudential Center on August 26, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for MTV)

• “The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.” –J.P. Morgan

  Share

  A caricature by Joss, circa 1930, of American financier J.P. Morgan, Jr. (1867 - 1943) with a background of a financial page and the caption: 'Mr John Pierpont Morgan, King of Wall Street'. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
• “Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.” -Neil Gaiman

  Share

  Neil Gaiman of 'American Gods' speaks onstage during Starz 2019 Winter TCA Panel & All-Star After Party on February 12, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Starz)

• “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.” -T.S. Eliot

  Share

  American-born British poet, playwright and essayist, T. S. Eliot (1888 - 1965), with his second wife, Valerie Eliot (1926 - 2012), 16th August 1958. (Photo by Daily Express /Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

• “No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.” -Buddha

  Share

  Tourists visit the Leshan Giant Buddha July 13, 2007 in Leshan of Sichuan Province, China. The statue, built in 713 AD, is 71 meters high (about 233 feet). (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)
• “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Share

  circa 1870: American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) who was among the leaders of the transcendental movement in Boston. (Photo by Otto Herschan Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

• “In our perfect ways. In the ways we are beautiful. In the ways we are human. We are here. Happy New Year’s. Let’s make it ours.” -Beyoncé

  Share

  Singer Beyonce Knowles attends the national "Show Your Helping Hand" hunger relief initiative kickoff at Madison Square Garden on June 22, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Exponent PR)

• “A new heart for a New Year, always!” -Charles Dickens

  Share

  English novelist Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870). (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)
• “A very wise man once told me that you can’t look back—you just have to put the past behind you and find something better in your future.” -Jodi Picoult

  Share

  Author Jodi Picoult attends the premiere of "My Sister's Keeper" at the AMC Lincoln Square theater on June 24, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

• “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

  Share

  Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D Roosevelt, arriving at London Airport, April 3rd 1959. (Photo by J. Wilds/Keystone/Getty Images)

• “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” -Brad Paisley

  Share

  Singer and songwriter Brad Paisley attends The New Yorker Festival 2013 - Conversations With Music - Brad Paisley And Kelefa Sanneh at Gramercy Theatre on October 5, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Images for The New Yorker)
• “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” -Albert Einstein

  Share

  German born American physicist Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955), 1946. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

• “Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” –Helen Keller

  Share

  1904: American lecturer and writer Helen Adams Keller (1880 - 1968) on the day of her graduation from Radcliffe College, Massachusetts. Blind, deaf and mute from the age of one, she was taught to read Braille, speak and lipread with her fingers by teacher Anne Sullivan. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

• “If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.” -Paulo Coelho

  Share

  Writer Paolo Coelho poses for photographers after a press conference on March 18, 2016 in Prague, Czech Republic. (Photo by Matej Divizna/Getty Images)
• “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” -George Eliot

  Share

  1849: English novelist George Eliot (1819 - 1880), pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans or Marian Evans. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

• “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” -Oprah Winfrey

  Share

  Oprah Winfrey speaks during Oprah's 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus Tour presented by WW (Weight Watchers Reimagined) at Spectrum Center on January 18, 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jeff Hahne/Getty Images)

• “And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” -Rainer Maria Rilke

  Share

  Poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926) with his wife, sculptress Clara Westhoff, circa 1910. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Get The K Files Newsletter Delivered Directly To Your Inbox

You'll be in the know on music and entertainment news, exclusive giveaways, and what's happening in right here in Charlotte.

Email *

Subscribe

By clicking "Subscribe" I agree to the website's terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.