It’s sometimes tempting to settle for less.
Less than you deserve, want or maybe even honestly need in your life.
So if you need a kickstart to keep moving towards what you deep down want and dream about then this post with 71 of the most powerful don’t settle quotes of all time may be just what you want right now at the start of this year.
I hope you’ll find a handful of quotes in this collection of timeless thoughts that truly resonates with you and motivates you to keep going after what matters the most to you.
And if you want even more self-loving inspiration then check out this post with quotes on self-care and also this one filled with self-love and self-esteem quotes.
Inspirational Don’t Settle Quotes
“There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
Nelson Mandela
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
Steve Jobs
“Don’t settle for average. Bring your best to the moment. Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had. We need to live the best that’s in us.”
Angela Bassett
“Ten years from now, make sure you can say that you chose your life, you didn’t settle for it.”
Mandy Hale
“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”
Jim Rohn
“The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.”
Maureen Dowd
“Conformity begins the moment you ignore how you feel for acceptance.”
Shannon L. Alder
“Make the most of the best and best of the worst, and keep your standards high. Never settle for anything less than you deserve or are capable of achieving.”
Roy T. Bennett
“Don’t live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.”
Wendy Wasserstein
“Once you discover your happy place where you can be you, you will never settle for just any old space ever again.”
Christine E. Szymanski
“The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.”
Thomas Merton
“There is a monumental difference between being alive and living. You should never settle for the first.”
Matt Corby
“Don’t settle for less, know your value and always tell yourself you deserve better.”
Pertrice St Pierre
“Take your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don’t settle for them.”
Mia Hamm
“Don’t settle for good when you were destined to be great.”
Charles F Glassman
“If you settle for what you’ve got, you deserve what you get.”
Kathie Lee Gifford
“Never settle for the lesser ambition. The job, the title, the conventional loyalties and rewards. Stay focused on the larger ambition, which is making a difference in the world.”
David Ignatius
“Don’t settle for what life gives you; make life better and build something.”’
Ashton Kutcher
“Don’t pass on your passions, to settle in the stale normality. Endure. Strive. Ensure.”
Anthony Liccione
“Do the math: You never settle for less than the whole if you knew the half.”
Talib Kweli
“Never settle. There is no need to rush.”
Mark Cuban
“Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life.”
John F. Kennedy
“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.”
Sam Levenson
“Don’t settle for style. Succeed in substance.”
Wynton Marsalis
“Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down.”
Charles F. Kettering
“Even if you have to walk fast for 30 mins, five days a week, by all means do so. Never make excuses to why you don’t have the time to work out. Your body deserves to enjoy the taste of a good health. Never settle for less.”
Edmond Mbiaka
“Who you are is what you settle for, you know?”
Janis Joplin
“Never settle for less than your dreams, somewhere, sometime, someday, somehow, you’ll find them.”
Danielle Steel
“Tearing up between what you deserve and what you settle for is a perpetual cause of unsettling pain.”
Nitya Prakash
“A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.”
John Assaraf
“Don’t downgrade your dream just to fit your reality. Upgrade your conviction to match your destiny.”
Stuart Scott
“Be awesome. Live life to the fullest. Shoot for the stars and never settle.”
Jillian Michaels
“Sometimes the hardest part of the journey is believing you’re worthy of the trip.”
Glenn Beck
“For most of us, the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them.”
John Ortberg
Don’t Settle for Less and Never Settle Quotes
“If you’ll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives.”
Vince Lombardi
“And because I believe I deserve that much; I can’t settle for less.”
Nitya Prakash
“Once you realize how good you really are, you never settle for playing less than your best.”
Reggie Jackson
“Never settle for anything less than your best.”
Brian Tracy
“Never settle for less than you desire or deserve because when you except crumbs people will assume that you are happy with scraps.”
Stacye Branche
“Know who you are.Know what you want. Know what you deserve. And don’t settle for less.”
Tony Gaskins
“Never settle for that which is easy and comfortable or the necessity of seeking that which is difficult and uncomfortable.”
Frederick Lenz
“Never settle for second when first is available.”
Lou Holtz
“Find your own happy street, don’t settle for someone else’s address.”
Christine Szymanski
“Never settle for the crumbs of life.”
Og Mandino
“Life is too short to settle for something less than spectacular.”
Paul Hudson
“Never settle for anything less than you want.”
PJ Harvey
“The idea of never settling for less, surely doesn’t suggest not acknowledging and celebrating every accomplished step that leads to where you desire to be in the future.”
Edmond Mbiaka
“There is only one real sin, and that is to persuade oneself that the second-best is anything but the second-best.”
Doris Lessing
“Study your lessons, don’t settle for less.”
Tupac Shakur
“One key to success is demanding more than adequacy, never settling for good enough and always doing a little bit more.”
Michael Josephson
“Every dream is worth following in life. Never settle for the minimum when you can have so much more.”
Taneisha LaGrant
“Never stop. Never settle.” I believe in this message.”
Nas
“Never settle for the path of least resistance.”
Lee Ann Womack
“When you accept the fact that your true identity includes being an overcomer, you will never settle for less than a miracle.”
Craig Groeschel
“Don’t settle for less just because it’s available.”
Dionne Neo Nkosazana Sithole
“I am not naive enough to settle for anything less than a reasonable valuation of my worth.”
Roy Keane
“Never settle for being a character in someone else’s story when you are meant to be the author of your own.”
Unknown
“Please don’t settle, it will only corrode your soul and you will never be the best version of yourself.”
Lebo Grand
“The choice, as he saw it, was this: You give up or you work for change. “What’s better for us?” Barack called to the people gathered in the room. “Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we work for the world as it should be?”
Michelle Obama
Don’t Settle for Bad Love Quotes
“Don’t settle for relationships that won’t let you be yourself.”
Oprah Winfrey
“When you refuse to settle for less than the best…the best tends to track you down.”
Mandy Hale
“To my fellow women: “Please don’t settle. Not in a job you hate, not in a town where you don’t feel at home, not with friendships that aren’t real and especially, especially not with love.”
Marisa Donnelly
“Never settle for anything less than what you deserve.It’s not pride, it’s self respect.”
Chanakya
“The day you settle for less is the day you will get less.”
Iman
“Make sure you don’t start seeing yourself through the eyes of those who don’t value you. Know your worth even if they don’t.”
Thema Davis
“Don’t settle for being an option; become a priority.”
Matt Mitchell
“Relationships: If you put up with it, you’re going to end up with it. Set the standard you want and don’t settle for less.”’
Steve Maraboli
“There’s a huge difference between being in love and being in love with the thought of love. Recognize the difference. Never settle.”
Behdad Sami
“When you learn how much you’re worth, you’ll stop giving people discounts.”
Helen Keller
“There is always someone out there who will put you first. Don’t settle for someone who will put you next.”
Tony Payne
Want even more motivation? Check out this post with inspirational quotes about knowing your worth.