We’re nearing the twentieth day of the first month of 2020, and for some, this is the time of year when the newness begins to slough away as we start catching up on the everyday tasks we’ve been neglecting during our winter breaks.
It can get easy to become discouraged and unmotivated with life, even when the year is still so young. That is why we have to never give up striving to be the best people we can—for ourselves and for those around us. This was as true a century ago as it is today.
To help keep our motivation and creative inspiration at its best, here are some quotes on the value of creativity, laughter, life, and never, ever giving up from many of the people made the 1920s such an intriguing decade.
Literary Leaders
“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all, I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” — Agatha Christie
“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” — Langston Hughes
“Be happy. It’s one way of being wise.” — Sidonie Gabrielle Colette
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” — Robert Frost
“It’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over.” — Scott Fitzgerald
Music Greats
“I never want to be anything more than I am; what I don’t have, I don’t need.” — Louis Armstrong
“There are two rules in life:
Number one. Never quit.
Number two. Never forget rule Number One.”
— Duke Ellington
“Life is a lot like jazz… it’s best when you improvise.” — George Gershwin
“I don’t want no drummer. I set the tempo.” — Bessie Smith
“You may have holes in your shoes, but don’t let the people out front know it. Shine the tops.” — Earl Hines
Matinee Idols and Movie Stars
“You are on the eve of a complete victory. You can’t go wrong. The world is behind you.” — Josephine Baker
“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” — Charlie Chaplin
“Never say never. Never is a long, undependable time, and life if too full of rich possibilities to have restrictions placed upon it.” — Gloria Swanson
“Take care of your inner, spiritual beauty. That will reflect in your face.” — Dolores del Rio
“There is one thing in this good old world that is positively sure—happiness is for all who strive to be happy—and those who laugh are happy. Everybody is eligible… Happiness is fundamentally a state of mind, not a state of body.” — Douglas Fairbanks
Other Famous Faces
“Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.” — Coco Chanel
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” — Albert Einstein
“Never stop fighting till the fight is done.” — Eliot Ness
“Whether outwardly or inwardly, whether in space or time, the farther we penetrate the unknown, the vaster and more marvelous it becomes.” — Charles Lindbergh
“Even though the ship may go down, the journey goes on.” — Margaret Mead
If you need motivation, there are ten more years of the new “Roaring ’20s” left to plan a party for the next year. Here are some Roaring ’20s party tips. If you still aren’t inspired, all quotes were gathered from favorite quote sources GoodReads, BrainyQuote, AZQuotes, and History Channel biographies. There is plenty more to find and motivate you on all these sites. Seek as much as you need.
