It takes a certain amount of willpower in order to move toward your short-term and long-term goals. With the lack of it, your dreams and wishes will not be a part of your reality any time soon. So don’t stop just yet and continue to press on until you reach success with the following 146 willpower quotes that might inspire you.
Willpower Quotes
1. Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear. – Dan Millman
2. Willpower gets you started. Habits get you results. – Priit Kallas
3. Research shows that willpower is more important than IQ. That’s why the point isn’t to become smarter, but to become more self-disciplined. – Adam Kirk Smith
4. Willpower is essential to the accomplishment of anything worthwhile. – Brian Tracy
5. In the absence of willpower the most complete collection of virtues and talents is wholly worthless. – Aleister Crowley
6. Willpower is not some mythical force that we either have or don’t have. Willpower is our decision to use higher-mind thinking instead of lazing around in the clutches of our primal mind. – A. B. Curtiss
7. Willpower is nothing but willingness to do. – B. K. S. Iyengar
8. To have willpower in life is important because life can be difficult. – Anonymous
9. Willpower is another important ingredient in self-control. Sticking to one’s plan is hard work. Without the willpower to bring about changes, the best laid plans and all the monitoring in the world will not be good enough. – Shahram Heshmat
10. Willpower is consciousness in action. – Nikias Annas
11. Willpower is likely the most important keystone habit there is. Willpower has more of an impact on individual success than intelligence, talent or education level. – P. James Holland
12. Willpower is steam for life’s locomotion. – Praveen Kumar
13. For a great willpower, no road has length! – Mehmet Murat ildan
14. Willpower isn’t just a skill. It’s a muscle, like the muscles in your arms or legs, and it gets tired as it works harder, so there’s less power left over for other things. – Charles Duhigg
15. It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t. It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not. – James Gordon
16. Willpower isn’t something that gets handed out to some and not to others. It is a skill you can develop through understanding and practice. – Gillian Riley
17. We all have the power of thought – so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can change anything. – Dalai Lama
18. Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top; It is willpower that is the most important. This willpower you cannot buy with money or be given by others. It rises from your heart. – Junko Tabei
19. With motivation you get willpower, and with willpower you get the strength to work hard for what you want. – Fred Juliusson
20. Building a strong willpower is crucial for having a fulfilling and hugely successful life. It affects all areas of your life including work, school, family, relationships, and business. – Jessica Minty
21. Willpower is like a battery, at least in the short term. If it is depleted, future challenges will falter. This is a fundamental insight. Self-control is not available around the clock. It needs time to refuel. – Rolf Dobelli
22. Willpower is the strength of mind to carry out one’s goals. – Sandy Anderson
23. To assert your willpower is simply to make up your mind that you want something, and then refuse to be put off. – Phillip Cooper
24. Indeed, the best way to think of willpower is not as some shapeless behavioral trait but as a sort of psychic muscle, one that can atrophy or grow stronger depending on how it’s used. – Jeffrey Kluger
25. With but few exceptions, it is always the underdog who wins through sheer willpower. – Johnny Weissmuller
26. Willpower and self discipline play a major factor in everyone’s life, leading to success, if you possess them, or to failure, if you lack them. – Remez Sasson
27. There is no great talent without great willpower. – Honore de Balzac
28. A big part of willpower is having something to aspire to, something to live for. – Mark Shuttleworth
29. Willpower is trying very hard not to do something you want to do very much. – John Ortberg
30. You are only as lazy or lacking in willpower as you think you are. – Ken Christian
31. If freedom is short of weapons, we must compensate with willpower. – Adolf Hitler
32. A man can do all things if he but wills them. – Leon Battista Alberti
33. Prayer exercises your willpower and gives God authority to work in your life. – Max Lucado
34. What you see to be difficult now, is likely to be the easiest thing ever later when you deliberately get your willpower trained over it by repeated attempts! Don’t give up! – Israelmore Ayivor
35. Stress and willpower have a distinct connection because when your stress goes up, your ability to plan for the long term goes down. – Alex Altman
36. I have willpower and determination. I am very resilient, like rock. – Carnie Wilson
37. Willpower is the art of replacing one habit for another. – Michael Garofalo
38. If you find you require willpower, you aren’t ready to lose weight. – Augusten Burroughs
39. Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes. – Chinese Proverb
40. Willpower is the basis of perseverance. – Napoleon Hill
41. The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur. – Vince Lombardi
42. People with a strong will power will always have the bigger picture in mind. They will be able to forgo small pleasures in order to help attain bigger goals. – Brian Adams
43. Nothing can resist the human will that will stake even its existence on its stated purpose. – Benjamin Disraeli
44. Will power is to the mind like a strong blind man who carries on his shoulders a lame man who can see. – Arthur Schopenhauer
45. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. – Mahatma Gandhi
46. The man who goes farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore. – Dale Carnegie
47. People do not lack strength; they lack will. – Victor Hugo
48. Willingness is essential in any initiation or in making any dream come true. “I can’t” often means “I won’t.” You can change “I won’t” to “I will” with will power. – Marcia Wieder
49. When the will is ready the feet are light. – Proverb
50. Will is character in action. – William McDougall
51. The forthputting of willpower is a means of strengthening willpower. The will becomes strong by exercise. To stick to a thing till you are master is a test of intellectual discipline and power. – Orison Swett Marden
52. My will shall shape my future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man’s doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny. – Elaine Maxwell
53. Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play is your own will. – Jawaharial Nehru
54. To will is to select a goal, determine a course of action that will bring one to that goal, and then hold to that action till the goal is reached. The key is action. – Michael Hanson
55. Determination is the wake-up call to the human will. – Anthony Robbins
56. There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. – Epictetus
57. A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at. – Bruce Lee
58. To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. – Anatole France
59. What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredibly simple. Whether you are willing to do it, that’s another matter. – Peter F. Drucker
60. We can push ourselves further. We always have more to give. – Simone Biles
61. You are successful the moment you start moving toward a worthwhile goal. – Charles Carlson
62. If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results. – Jack Dixon
63. What it boils down to is this – it’s up to you to get hold of you mind, control it, quiet it. God does the rest. And immediately, as Eckhart says, “The being ready and the pouring in are all one act.” – Nancy Pope
64. Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity. – Louis Pasteur
65. Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist, but in the ability to start over. – F. Scott Fitzgerald
66. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. – Samuel Beckett
67. Never give up, for this is just the place and time that the tide will turn. – Harriet Beecher Stowe
68. The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it. – Moliere
69. Don’t worry about genius. Don’t worry about being clever. Trust to hard work, perseverance and determination. The best motto for a long march is: “Don’t grumble. Plug on!” – Sir Thomas Treves
70. The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
71. The willingness to show up changes us. It makes us a little braver each time. – Brené Brown
72. Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts. – Life’s Little Instruction Calendar
73. Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me. – Carol Burnett
74. What you perceive as a failure today may actually be a crucial step towards the success you seek. Never give up. – Richelle E. Goodrich
75. There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. – Beverly Sills
76. Stop saying ‘I wish,’ and start saying ‘I will.’ – Anonymous
77. The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win. – Bobby Knight
78. People who succeed have the ambition and willpower to develop themselves. – Unknown
79. If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you. – Les Brown
80. Every one of you has the power, the will, and the capacity to make a difference. – Harry Belafonte
81. If you fell down yesterday, stand up today. – H. G. Wells
82. Self-will so ardent and active that it will break a world to pieces to make a stool to sit on. – Richard Cecil
83. The germ of success in whatever you want to accomplish is in your will power. – Paramahansa Yogananda
84. The will is the keystone in the arch of human achievement. It is the culmination of our complex mental faculties. It is the power that rules minds, men and nations. – Thomas Parker Boyd
85. I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work. – Pearl S. Buck
86. Since self-control is vital to reaching long-term goals, befriending people with willpower could be the secret to success. Whether you’re tempted to skip that workout at the gym, or you’re considering blowing this month’s budget, spending time with a disciplined friend could boost your motivation to maintain healthy habits. – Amy Morin
87. Many men and women in the world demonstrate great willpower and self-discipline in overcoming bad habits and the weaknesses of the flesh. – Ezra Taft Benson
88. Having a superpower has nothing to do with the ability to fly or jump, or superhuman strength. The truest superpowers are the ones we all possess: willpower, integrity, and most importantly, courage. – Jason Reynolds
89. Don’t let mental blocks control you. Set yourself free. Confront your fear and turn the mental blocks into building blocks. – Dr Roopleen
90. There is a huge difference between failing and failure. Failing is trying something that you learn doesn’t work. Failure is throwing in the towel and giving up. True success comes from failing repeatedly and as quickly as possible, before your cash or your willpower runs out. – Jay Samit
91. It’s just a matter of willpower. The day you decide it’s over, it’s over. You never get over it. – Junot Diaz
92. In todays world, you need to have courage and strong willpower to make things happen. – Anurag Prakash Ray
93. Even when matches don’t work out the way you planned, you’ve always got to stay strong in defence; it’s a matter of willpower and intelligence. – Becky Sauerbrunn
94. Everything is generated through your own will power. – Ray Bradbury
95. When trying to achieve your goals, there will always be times that you drag your feet to the extent that you just feel like giving up. You may not always have the willpower or confidence to overcome these feelings. Positive people around you can help reinstate that confidence. – Sam Davis
96. The men who succeed are the efficient few. They are the few who have the ambition and willpower to develop themselves. – Herbert N Casson
97. Changing your negative thoughts into positive ones is difficult but not impossible to do. It only requires two things: willpower and determination. – Alexi Weaver
98. I cannot stay home in my comfort zone and home to change myself through will power. It requires dedicated action to my goals and will empower me to push through any obstacles. – B.W. Robertson
99. One is never born great. It is the willpower and the action, that make one great. – M.K. Soni
100. The will is your most important asset. If you lose it, you have lost everything. – Dele Ayo Bankole
101. I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go. – Langston Hughes
102. I truly believe that most anyone can muster up enough inspiration, motivation, or even sheer willpower to do at least one or a minute of something – and if you can do one – You can do one more. – N.C. Garcia
103. Our tendency is to be strong, self-sufficient, and dependent on our own willpower, but rather than try harder, we should reach out to the God who is all powerful. – John Townsend
104. Once you reach the brink of your will power, you have two options either give up, or keep going. That decision decides whether you’ll reach your goal. – Abhijit Naskar
105. Willpower is breath and heartbeat of life; Life blooms in the girdle of taut willpower. – Praveen Kumar
106. Willpower and determination have their limits. A compelling life purpose, one you believe God created you for, will help you push beyond those limits. – Tom Cunningham
107. Failure only happens when you lose your willpower to continue trying… If we let the obstacles get the best of us then it was our choice to fail, not fate. – Lindsey Rietzsch
108. Vision creates faith and faith creates willpower. – Arnold Schwarzenegger
109. Our bodies are our gardens to which our wills are gardeners. – William Shakespeare
110. Nothing is easy to the unwilling. – Thomas Fuller
111. Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great. – Niccolo Machiavelli
112. The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them. – Robert Frost
113. Willpower does not mean that one is so strong that they can will something into existence. It means that one has the wisdom, discipline and strength to align oneself with the Universal Will to bring a particular thing or matter into manifestation. – Douglas Davis
114. Willpower is useful at times. I use willpower to get the garbage out on Friday mornings. But there’s a price to pay for relying on willpower. Using willpower is the opposite of using your imagination and of losing yourself in an activity. Willpower reduces any activity to the very low status of “chore.” – Leslie Godwin
115. To exert itself, the will, like the arm, requires to have an obvious and a definite resistance, to know where it is, why it is, whence it comes, and whither it goes. – Walter Bagehot
116. Willpower, or lack thereof, has been blamed for failed diets, missed fitness goals, credit card debt, and other regrettable behavior since the third century B.C., when the ancient Greeks began to study self-control as a means of overcoming destructive behavior. – Daria Meoli
117. Some studies say your willpower is at its peak when you wake up, so it is an ideal time to get your sneakers on, practice yoga, do creative thinking or enjoy some form of mindfulness practice to get into gear at the start of the day. – Jojo Struys
118. Willpower is finite, so when you try and shake two habits at the same time your odds of success reduce dramatically. Go one at a time. – Mark Serrels
119. Willpower is something you have to develop. – Brielle Gregory
120. Acknowledge that willpower is a fickle thing, instead of punishing yourself for lapses in judgment. – Jamie Ducharme
121. We are told at a young age that we could accomplish anything if we just have enough willpower to push through. How exhausting! The truth is willpower can be very inadequate. If we continue to pull from this power supply–the reserves will become empty. – Corine Gatti
122. For most of us, willpower is very easy to disrupt and not strong enough to work over and over again. If you only needed to use it once or twice a day, willpower would matter. But you need to use it dozens of times a day for it to be effective. – Traci Mann
123. Willpower is something you can work on, like a muscle. Every time you use willpower, you are more capable of doing the same next time. – Amelia Freer
124. Willpower is not about resisting, forcing, or controlling–it’s about choosing. – Penney Peirce
125. Willpower is comparable to a “magic” power because it helps us reach any goal that is important to us. It helps us create a new reality and perform miracles, big and small. It helps us take initiative and then actually put it into practice. It helps us become the person we really want to be. – Bella Tindale
126. Willpower is always having to be on guard. You can never let down. You can never drop your attention. You can never fall asleep at your post. You can never be soft on yourself. You must remain rigid and disciplined. Willpower is knowing that there is a shadowy figure behind you…. Willpower is attempting to place a “No” on top of a well-ingrained “Yes.” – Jon Burras
127. Willpower is a hard thing to explain. It has no defined limits. It is the driving force to all human accomplishments; things exist now that did not exist in the past because somebody focused their will and their concentration on creating something that filled whatever need they saw. Will is what makes the impossible possible. – Michelle Steven
128. Willpower is the driving force in hopeful thinking. – C. R. Snyder
129. Willpower can produce short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because you haven’t dealt with the root cause. – Rick Warren
130. We know what willpower is, but by some misguided conception, many of us believe we have to be a certain type of person, strong, determined, extroverted, to be able to be willful, to exercise willpower. Not so. We all have it and just don’t know how to use it. – Rosemary Altea
131. Unless your willpower is ridiculously strong, chances are you will give into temptation if the people around you have unhealthy habits. – Amanda Tejuca
132. He who is firm in will molds the world to himself. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
133. Willpower is your ability to set a course of action and say, “Engage!” It is the spearhead of self-discipline. It provides an intensely powerful yet temporary boost. Think of it as a one-shot thruster. It burns out quickly, but if directed intelligently, it can provide the burst you need to overcome inertia and create momentum. – John Aurther
134. Deal with the dread by addressing it. As soon as you get up as this is when willpower is at its peak. So send the email you’ve been avoiding, do the task you’ve been procrastinating on, go to the gym, Do whatever it is in the knowledge that you will feel relieved afterwards and therefore lighter for the rest of the day. – Sarah Berry
135. The first step toward building willpower is to celebrate the fact that you’ve got it. You’ve got willpower, just like that muscle in your arm. It might not be a very strong muscle, but you do have that muscle. – Steve Chandler
136. Wishes run over in loquacious impotence, will presses on with laconic energy. – Johann Kaspar Lavater
137. The development of willpower -I will, I won’t and I want- may define what it means to be human. – Kelly McGonigal
138. If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
139. Willpower is so common among highly successful people that many see its characteristics as synonymous with success. – Peter Senge
140. Willpower is a finite resource. Every day we wake up, we have a limited supply of willpower and we spend it throughout the day, and it is how we spend it that makes the difference. – James Cousins
141. We have more ability than will power, and it is often an excuse to ourselves that we imagine that things are impossible. – Francois de La Rochefoucauld
142. Business is always a struggle. There are always obstacles and competitors. There is never an open road, except the wide road that leads to failure. Every great success has always been achieved by fight. Every winner has scars.The men who succeed are the efficient few. They are the few who have the ambition and will-power to develop themselves. So choose to be among the few today. – Chris Kirubi
143. So let me put it thus: Hold on to your principles of morality and ethics, use your willpower to the limit, pay great heed to every noble, uplifting desire that is in you; but realize that these things alone are not enough, that they will never bring you to the desired place. We have to realize that all our best is totally inadequate, that a spiritual battle must be fought in a spiritual manner. – Martyn Lloyd-Jones
144. Is it raining? That doesn’t matter. Am I tired? That doesn’t matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem. – Emil Zatopek
145. Most of life’s actions are within our reach, but decisions take willpower. – Robert McKee
146. Use all the willpower at your disposal to make yourself happy. Construct the right stories about yourself – and believe them! – Richard Koch
