Men may not always show it when they hurt.
And while they might sometimes not be as good at expressing their pain or talking about it as women they still need support.
Because we all experience hurt, loss, rejection and failure. No matter who we are.
So in today’s post I’d like to share the best words of encouragement for men that I’ve found over the years.
Many of these timeless thoughts have helped me when I have gone through tough times and I hope they can help you out too.
Or that you can use a few of them to help out a man in your life right now that needs some support and to have his spirits lifted.
And if you want even more uplifting and encouraging words of wisdom then check out this post with you are amazing quotes and this one that’s all about being proud of yourself.
Uplifting Words of Encouragement for Men
“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”
Bob Marley
“The inner fire is the most important thing mankind possesses.”
Edith Sodergran
“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.
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.”
Robert H. Schuller
“The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way.”
Dale Carnegie
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”
David Brinkley
“To have become a deeper man is the privilege of those who have suffered.”
Oscar Wilde
“Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.”
Carol Burnett.
“High self-esteem comes from feeling like you have control over events, not that events have control over you.”
Tony Robbins
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”
Albert Einstein
“A good man’s prayers will from the deepest dungeon climb heaven’s height, and bring a blessing down.”
Joanna Baillie
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”
Helen Keller
“Follow your dream… If you stumble, don’t stop and lose sight of your goal, press on to the top. For only on top can we see the whole view.”
Amanda Bradley
“A man must at times be hard as nails: willing to face up to the truth about himself…But he must also be tender. No weapon will breach the armor of a woman’s resentment like tenderness.”
Elisabeth Elliot
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing.”
George Bernard Shaw
“I have complete faith in your capabilities. I am so proud of you and you make me a better person each year we spend together.”
Unknown
“You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
A.A. Milne
“My idea of the modern stoic sage is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into information, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking.”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“When you feel insecure or like you don’t measure up, remind yourself of how far you’ve come. And in that moment, you’ll realize you’ve climbed mountains and can overcome anything.”
Brittany Burgunder
“The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones.”
Brandon Sanderson
Wise Words of Encouragement for Men
“A man may conquer a million men in battle but one who conquers himself is, indeed, the greatest of conquerors.”
Buddha
“Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife.”
Franz Schubert
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience but in where he stands in times of challenges and controversy.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.”
T. Harv Eker
“You should think in such a way that everybody could look into your soul and see what is transpiring there.”
Seneca
“Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism.”
David M. Burns
“One should never criticize his own work except in a fresh and hopeful mood. The self-criticism of a tired mind is suicide.”
Charles Horton Cooley
“Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
John Wooden
“The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.”
Swati Sharma
“If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.”
Mary Pickford
“Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.”
Bruce Lee
“Whenever you deeply accept this moment as it is — no matter what form it takes — you are still, you are at peace.”
Eckhart Tolle
“You spend time with your family? Good. Because a man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.”
Don Vito Corleone (from the Godfather movies)
“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.”
Albert Ellis
Insightful Words of Encouragement for Men
“The first step to being a good man is this: You must deeply feel the burden of the stones some else is carrying.”
Mehmet Murat Ildan
“All fortune belongs to him who has a contented mind.”
The Panchatantra
“Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervor.”
Benjamin Disraeli
“Try a thing you haven’t done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not.”
Virgil Thomson
“Don’t spend most of your time on the voices that don’t count, voices that are going to add too little worth to your future. Don’t waste time on the shallow and the silly. Tune those voices out and tune in voices that are going to add something to your life”
Jim Rohn
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
Maya Angelou
“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.”
Marie Curie
“True wealth: Worriless sleeping, clear conscience, reciprocal gratitude, absence of envy, muscle strength, frequent laughs, no meals alone, no gym classes, good digestive functions, no meeting rooms, periodic surprises, foamy coffee, crusty bread, ability to nap, access to a hammock.”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“Success isn’t permanent and failure isn’t fatal.”
Mike Ditka
“A strong man doesn’t have to be dominant toward a woman. He doesn’t match his strength against a woman weak with love for him. He matches it against the world.”
Marilyn Monroe
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Samuel Beckett
“If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”
Fred Rogers
“Happiness isn’t about making more money, but rather freedom. The freedom to say no to things you don’t want to do. The freedom to say no to people you don’t like. The freedom to not feel like you are obligated to say “yes”. Freedom is saying yes when you want to.”
Shane Parrish
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
Dale Carnegie
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
Mark Twain
“For what it’s worth, 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.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Motivational Words of Encouragement for Men
“The men who act without thinking, and the men who both think and act, are the ones who mould the world. The man who thinks and does not act never moulds the world. He may think that he does — but that, too, is only a thought, the thought of a deedless, actionless thinker.”
Jack London
“If you perform the sacrifice of doing your duty, you do not have to do anything else. Devoted to duty, man attains perfection.”
Bhagavad Gita
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”
1 Corinthians 16:13-14
“If you want to overcome the whole world, overcome yourself.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.”
Albert Einstein
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
Ernest Hemingway
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger
“There are two ways of meeting difficulties. You either alter the difficulties or alter yourself to meet the difficulties.”
Phyllis Bottome
“Courage isn’t the strength to go on. It is going on when you don’t have strength.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
“The good man is the man who is moving to become better no matter how morally unworthy he has been.”
John Dewey
“You are amazing simply for hanging in there and holding on, no matter how hard things get! And for moving forward no matter how scared you are or how anxious you feel. Yep, you are awesome.”
Karen Salmansohn
“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
Vince Lombardi
“A man may fail many times but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.”
John Burroughs
“When you’re feeling your worst, that’s when you get to know yourself the best.”
Leslie Grossman
“Positive thinking is powerful thinking. If you want happiness, fulfillment, success and inner peace, start thinking you have the power to achieve those things. Focus on the bright side of life and expect positive results.”
Germany Kent
“Strong men can always afford to be gentle. Only the weak are intent on giving as good as they get.”
Elbert Hubbard
“You may be in a dark place right now because of a setback. But that’s temporary. So learn what you can from your mistake or failure and then take one small step forward once more.”
Unknown
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan
“Continuous effort – not strength nor intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.”
Winston Churchill
“Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down.”
Charles F. Kettering
“In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.”
Flavia Weedn
“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.”
Albert Einstein
“People spend the one life they get on too much thinking, arguing and staying inside of their comfort zone. Be the exception to that to be an exceptional man.”
Unknown
“You don’t succeed by being perfect. You succeed by doing good work, consistently.”
Thibaut
“Adversity toughens manhood, and the characteristic of the good or the great man is not that he has been exempt from the evils of life, but that he has surmounted them.”
Patrick Henry
Short Words of Encouragement for Men
“A wise man becomes free when he is ready to die at any moment.”
Diogenes
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
Confucious
“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
Zig Ziglar
“Let God’s promises shine on your problems.”
Corrie ten Boom
“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it himself.”
Galileo Galilei
“You are stronger than you think. You are all the hero I need. And that we are on the same team is what matters most to me.”
Unknown
“We just keep swimming and let the tide take care of itself.”
Warren Buffett
“When you find peace within yourself, you also find peace without.”
Naga Devi
“You’re just what is need. A deeper man, a good man and a funny one instead of one stuffed with macho cliches.”
Unknown
“Remember that failure is an event, not a person.”
Zig Ziglar
“What’s on the other side of fear? Nothing.”
Jamie Foxx
“Seek truth over comfort.”
Anthony Pompliano
“He who indulges in empty fears earns himself real fears.”
Seneca
“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
Anaïs Nin
“Don’t let jerks live rent-free in your head.”
Sam Altman
Quick and Powerful Encouraging Words of Wisdom
“Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.”
Sarah Dessen
“It is not the situation which makes the man, but the man who makes the situation.”
Frederick William Robertson
“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.”
Richard Branson
“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.”
John F. Kennedy
“The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.”
Hasidic Proverb
“Know you not that a good man does nothing for appearance sake, but for the sake of having done right?”
Epictetus
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.”
Jack Canfield
“The handsome man is strong, kind and open to life. It’s not so much about looks.”
Unknown
“Pride is much the same in all men, the only difference is the method and manner of showing it.”
François de La Rochefoucauld
“Outmaneuver your old self.”
Jack Butcher
“If you work hard and you are kind, amazing things will happen.”
Conan O’Brien
“Self acceptance is the key to unlocking the comfortable and relaxed confidence you’re looking for.”
Unknown
“Make peace with the present moment.”
Eckhart Tolle
“What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”
Plutarch
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”
Mary Anne Radmacher
If you liked these words of encouragement for men then share them with a friend or a family member that may need them right now on social media or via email.
Want even more uplifting and motivational quotes? Check out this post with inspiring quotes about support and encouragement and also this post that’s all about thankfulness.