100 New Year’s Quotes to Inspire a Fresh Start in 2026

New Year’s quotes about new beginnings

• “Celebrate endings—for they precede new beginnings.” —Jonathan Lockwood Huie, author
• “New beginnings are in order, and you are bound to feel some level of excitement as new chances come your way.” —Oscar Auliq-Ice, author
•  “Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on.” —Hal Borland, author, journalist and naturalist
• “You can get excited about the future. The past won’t mind.” —Hillary DePiano, playwright and author
• “And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” —Rainer Maria Rilke, poet
• “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” —William E. Vaughan, journalist and author
• “The way I look at it, every day that I’m moving forward is a day I’m not moving backward.” —Bobby Bones, radio personality
• “I think the more unexpected something is, the more there is to learn from it.” —Michael J. Fox, actor
• “I hope you realize that every day is a fresh start for you. That every sunrise is a new chapter in your life waiting to be written.” —Juansen Dizon, poet
• “There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” —C.S. Lewis, author
• “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” —Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady
•  “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new.” —Dan Millman, gymnast, coach and lecturer
• “Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.” —Neil Gaiman, author
• “Each day is a new beginning, the chance to do with it what should be done and not to be seen as simply another day to put in time.” —Catherine Pulsifer, author
• “If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.” —Paulo Coehlo, author
• “You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending.” —James R. Sherman, author
• “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.” —Joseph Campbell, author
• “Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over, she became a butterfly.” —Unknown

New Year’s quotes for self-reflection

• “You have those moments where you reflect and say, ‘No matter what I’m going through at the moment, you know what? Life ain’t bad.'” —Dwyane Wade, athlete
• “Plant seeds every single day that you know who you are, you know what you’re about and you know what goals you’ve set for yourself.” —Stephen Curry, athlete
• “Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” —Mary Oliver, poet
• “One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, poet, playwright and author
• “Happiness was always important to me, even at a young age. People would ask, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I’d tell them, ‘I just want to be happy.'” —Goldie Hawn, actor
• “Whenever it feels uncomfortable to tell the truth, that’s often the most important time to tell it.” —Jennifer Lopez, musician and actor
• “And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” —John Steinbeck, author
• “You don’t have to be perfect to help people. All you have to be is real.” —Trent Shelton, motivational speaker
• “If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there’d be a shortage of fishing poles.” —Doug Larson, columnist
• “I’m deciding to be my own individual self, and it looks nothing like what anyone else is doing. There’s something so powerful about being unique.” —Alicia Keys, musician
• “Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each year find you a better man.” —Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father
• “There are more people doing good stuff and moving us forward than there are people sowing division. I surround myself with people who have faith.” —Maria Shriver, journalist
• “I strive to be a skeptic, in the best sense of that word: I question everything, and yet I’m open to everything.” —Amy Tan, author
• “Next time you are discussing an important issue with someone, ask yourself, Is this a monologue or dialogue? Personally, I’m only interested in the latter.” —Reese Witherspoon, actor
• “When we get home at night, we plug in our phones. But we don’t think of ourselves as phones that need to be recharged. You need to make sure you’re getting back up to 100%.” —Bobby Berk, interior designer
• “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice.” —T.S. Eliot, poet
• “Make New Year’s goals. Dig within and discover what you would like to have happen in your life this year. This helps you do your part. It is an affirmation that you’re interested in fully living life in the year to come.” —Melody Beattie, author 

New Year’s quotes to help you believe in yourself

• “It is your right to choose what you do and don’t do, to choose what you believe in and don’t believe in. It is your right to curate your life and your own perspective.” —Lady Gaga, musician
• “The book is called Opportunity, and its first chapter is ‘New Year’s Day.'” —Edith Lovejoy Pierce, poet
• “You can find inspiration in everything. If you can’t, then you’re not looking properly.” —Paul Smith, fashion designer
• “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.” —David Bowie, musician and actor
• “It’s a myth that you can’t have it all. You can have it all—just maybe not all at the same time.” —Eva Longoria, actor
• “Don’t wait your turn. Bet on yourself and have the confidence to stand up and say, ‘My time is now.'” —Robert F. Smith, businessman
• “You can always put on a pretty dress, but it doesn’t matter what you wear on the outside if your mind isn’t strong.” —Angelina Jolie, actor and humanitarian
• “Every time you tear a leaf off a calendar, you present a new place for new ideas.” —Charles Kettering, engineer and businessman
•  “I listen to everyone. Then I do what I want.” —Diane von Furstenberg, fashion designer
• “Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” —Helen Keller, author and activist
• “I don’t believe in pessimism. If something doesn’t come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it’s going to rain, it will.” —Clint Eastwood, actor
• “When juggling as much as you are, remember that some balls are glass, and some are rubber. You can’t drop the glass balls.” —Nora Roberts, author
• “Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction.” —Germany Kent, journalist
• “Take a leap of faith and begin this wondrous new year by believing.” —Sarah Ban Breathnach, author
• “It’s never too late to become who you want to be. I hope you live a life that you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald, author

New Year’s quotes about chasing dreams

• “If you don’t find your passion in your paycheck, go find it somewhere else.” —Sara Haines, journalist
• “It is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. Since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition.” —Larry Page, entrepreneur
• “Don’t be scared if you don’t do things in the right order. I didn’t think I’d have dessert before breakfast today, but hey, it turned out that way, and I wouldn’t change a thing.” —Mindy Kaling, actor and comedian
• “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” —Pablo Picasso, artist
•  “If you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, fantastical things can happen.” —Sheryl Crow, musician
• “Don’t give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you.” —John Wooden, basketball coach
•  “The ‘success’ parts of life look good to others, but the best parts are actually the simple, daily experiences. This is true whether you’re an actor or a teacher or a waitress. I know because I’ve been all three.” —Lauren Graham, actor
• “The world is not yours for the taking but for the trying. Try hard.” —Scott Galloway, professor
• “I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all.” —Simone Biles, athlete
• “I could give example after example of how doing the right thing ended up making us more money.” —Yvon Chouinard, businessman
• “Life’s not about expecting, hoping and wishing; it’s about doing, being and becoming.” —Mike Dooley, author and speaker
• “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” —Kurt Vonnegut, author
• “Be the hardest-working person you know. If you’re not, someone else will be.” —Ian Brennan, screenwriter
•  “Some people feel confusion and uncertainty and do nothing. Don’t do nothing.” —Alex Dimitrov, poet
• “We either make ourselves miserable or make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” —Carlos Castañeda, anthropologist and author
• “The first step toward getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.” —J.P. Morgan, financier

New Year’s quotes about time

• “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” —Andy Warhol, artist
• “Age is not the enemy. Stagnation is the enemy. Complacency is the enemy.” —Twyla Tharp, dancer and choreographer
• “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” —Robin Sharma, author
• “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” —Michael Altshuler, job coach 
• “Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is to say ‘I don’t want to.’” —Lao Tzu, philosopher 
• “The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.” —C.S. Lewis, author
• “There’s never enough time to do it right, but there’s always enough time to do it over.” —Jack Bergman, politician
• “You can’t turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again.” —Bonnie Prudden, rock climber
• ‘”Life is short’ really means ‘do something.'” —Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author
• “When you’re young, you’re encouraged to try new things. At a certain age, nobody says that to you anymore. If you’re lucky enough to be alive, why not say yes to all of it at any age?” —Mary Steenburgen, actor
• “Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.” —Bill Vaughan, author

New Year’s quotes about love

• “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” —Dr. Seuss, author and illustrator
• “I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.” —Arthur Rubenstein, pianist 
• “Remove ‘shoulds’ from your vocabulary this year. Start your journey of self-love now.” —Kelly Martin, author
• “As we begin a new year, let’s discard what was jaded. Let’s put on in its place the beautiful garments of faith, hope and love.” —Anusha Atukorala, author
• “Past and present I know well; each is a friend and sometimes an enemy to me. But it is the quiet, beckoning future, an absolute stranger, with whom I have fallen madly in love.” —Richelle E. Goodrich, author
• “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved—loved for ourselves or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” —Victor Hugo, author
• “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.” —Maya Angelou, poet
• “Be so busy loving your life that you have no time for hate, regret or fear.” —Unknown

Short New Year’s quotes

• “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.” —Henry David Thoreau, author
• “A surplus of effort could overcome a deficit of confidence.” —Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court justice
• “You are never too old to reinvent yourself.” —Steve Harvey, actor 
• “Don’t make plans. Make options.” —Jennifer Aniston, actor
• “The place in which I’ll fit will not exist until I make it.” —James Baldwin, author, playwright and activist
• “When you see a new year, see realities and limit fantasies!” —Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, author
• “The sky isn’t the limit—the sky has no limit.” —Sarah Barker, astrophysicist
• “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet and philosopher
•  “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” —George Eliot, author
• “You’re never too broken to be fixed.” —Jonathan Van Ness, television personality
• “Don’t let a win get to your head, and loss to your heart.” —Chuck D, rapper
• “Learn from yesterday, live for today and hope for tomorrow.” —Albert Einstein, scientist 
• “Don’t let today’s disappointments cast a shadow on tomorrow’s dreams.” —Unknown
• “Last year told you what you needed to know. Now it’s go time.” —Richie Norton, author
• “You never go wrong when you take the high road—it’s less crowded up there.” —Gayle King, journalist

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’ve been sharing our favorite quotes for over 100 years. The sayings and quips that appear in the magazine’s “Quotable Quotes” (formerly “Remarkable Remarks”) are curated from interviews and essays originally published in the magazine, reprints from trusted titles and other verified sources. For this piece on New Year’s quotes, Emily Goodman tapped her experience as a writer and editor to ensure that all information is accurate. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.