Your perspective is how you see yourself, others, and the world.
And your experiences and exposure to other views has a way of influencing yours — not always for the better.
From our own experience, we know how it can help to read through life perspective quotes written by those who’ve learned to hit “refresh” on their outlook.
With that in mind, we’ve curated this collection of quotes about perspective to help you heal and refine yours.
Because cynicism shouldn’t be anyone’s go-to mentality, but neither should blind optimism.
31 Powerful Perspective Quotes to Shift Your Mindset
1. “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” ― C.G. Jung
2. “There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” ― Aldous Huxley
3. “No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.” ― Ansel Adams
4. “What people in the world think of you is really none of your business.” ― Martha Graham
5. “Life is 10 percent what you make it and 90 percent how you take it.” ― Irving Berlin
6. “Dream delivers us to dream, and there is no end to illusion. Life is like a train of moods like a string of beads, and, as we pass through them, they prove to be many-colored lenses which paint the world their own hue. . . . ” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
7. “Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.” ― Marcus Aurelius
8. “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” – William Blake
9. “If you believe it will work out, you’ll see opportunities. If you believe it won’t, you will see obstacles.” – Wayne Dyer
10. “What is behind your eyes holds more power than what is in front of them.” – Gary Zukav
11. “It is entirely possible that behind the perception of our senses, worlds are hidden of which we are unaware.” – Albert Einstein
12. “We must look at the lens through which we see the world, as well as the world we see, and that the lens itself shapes how we interpret the world.” – Stephen R. Covey
13. “Men are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.” – Epictetus
14. “Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.” – Hans Margolius
15. “The optimist sees the donut, the pessimist sees the hole.” ― Oscar Wilde
16. “I am still determined to be cheerful and to be happy in whatever situation. I may be, for I have also learnt from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions and not upon our circumstances.” – Martha Washington
17. “And those who were seen dancing, were thought to be crazy, by those who could not hear the music.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
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18. “Look at everything as though you are seeing it either for the first or last time, then your time on earth will be filled with glory.” ― Betty Smith
19. “When it seems like the sky is about to collapse, relax, that’s just the roof caving in.” ― Jarod Kintz
20. “The moment you change your perception, is the moment you rewrite the chemistry of your body.” – Dr. Bruce H. Lipton
21. “One person”s craziness is another person’s reality.” ― Tim Burton
22. “Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty. I see a glass that’s twice as big as it needs to be.” ― George Carlin
23. “Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.” ― J.M. Barrie
24. “What we see depends mainly on what we look for.” ― John Lubbock
25. “The trick to forgetting the big picture is to look at everything close up.” ― Chuck Palahniuk
26. “If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and adore.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
27. “Child, you have to learn to see things in the right proportions. Learn to see great things great and small things small.” ― Corrie Ten Boom
28. “Often it isn’t the mountains ahead that wear you out, it’s the little pebble in your shoe.” ― Muhammad Ali
29. “Once you put everything in the right perspective, even bad times can be an opportunity to refresh your appetite, your desire.” — Alex Zanardi
30. “It’s not only moving that creates new starting points. Sometimes all it takes is a subtle shift in perspective, an opening of the mind, an intentional pause and reset, or a new route to start to see new options and new possibilities.” — Kristin Armstrong
31. “A little perspective, like a little humor, goes a long way.” — Allen Klein
How Will You Use These Perspective Quotes?
Now that you’ve looked through these quotes about seeing things differently, which ones will you keep handy to refresh your mind when you’re feeling down?
Which ones do you find most motivating, reassuring, or insightful?
Thanks to sites like Cafe Press, you can turn a favorite perspective quote into a mug, a t-shirt, or something else you’ll use regularly.
You can also use a whiteboard or sticky notes. And don’t overlook their value as potential journal prompts.
Find those that speak to you, and make them your own.