People have varying definitions of a ‘good man’, but I think it’s fair to say that there are a certain few virtues that a good man must possess. Bravery, integrity, virtue, the list goes on.
Unfortunately, trying to become the person you want to be can feel near overwhelming. Sometimes, all we need is a little bit of inspiration and encouragement in order to take the next big step towards bettering ourselves.
To that end, we have compiled a list of 151 powerful quotes for men that will leave you touched and influenced. The authors of these poems are renowned, world-famous men who have been our role models for many generations; so you can expect to see some big names:
Best Powerful Quotes For men
1.) “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
2.) “When you find peace within yourself, you also find peace without.” – Naga Devi
3.) “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” – David Brinkley
4.) “A sense of humour is the only divine quality of man.” – Arthur Schopenhauer
5.) “Stick to the basics. Do your job. Avoid stupidity. Speak for yourself. Be attentive to details. Put results ahead of being right. Go to bed smarter than when you woke up.” – Shane Parrish
6.) “Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
7.) “Real men stay faithful. They don’t have time to look for other women because they’re too busy looking for new ways to love their own.” – John F. Kennedy
8.) “But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” – Ernest Hemingway
9.) “The price tag of leadership is self-discipline.” – John C. Maxwell
10.) “The inner fire is the most important thing mankind possesses.” – Edith Sodergran
11.) “Character is built out of circumstances. From exactly the same materials one man builds palaces, while another builds hovels.” – George H. Lewes
12.) “One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
13.) “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears however measured or far away.” – Henry David Thoreau
14.) “The heart of a good man is the sanctuary of God in this world.” – Suzanne Curchod
15.) “Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.” – Henry Ford
16.) “If you want to save the world, save your little corner of the world.” – Naval Ravikant
17.) “Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.” – Abraham Lincoln
18.) “Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky
19.) “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moment of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
20.) “If you want to overcome the whole world, overcome yourself.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky
21.) “Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.” – Bruce Lee
22.) “Fools hate to look like fools. Wise men don’t care.” – Maxime Lagacé
23.) “The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, life controls you.” – Tony Robbins
24.) “To have become a deeper man is the privilege of those who have suffered.” – Oscar Wilde
25.) “I’m a real man. I can suffer.” – Nicky Jam
26.) “If a man can reduce his needs to zero, he is truly free: there is nothing that can be taken from him and nothing anyone can do to hurt him…And he or she can also be still.” – John Boyd
27.) “If a man needs no one to like him, agree with him, praise him, validate him, forgive him, acknowledge him, invite him, or accept him, if he is indifferent to the winds of circumstance and to the hand of fortune… Such a man floats through life, free of all burdens.” – Kapil Gupta
28.) “You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it himself.” – Galileo Galilei
29.) “A good man would prefer to be defeated than to defeat injustice by evil means.” – Sallust
30.) “Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
31.) “All fortune belongs to him who has a contented mind.” – The Panchatantra
32.) “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda
33.) “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
34.) “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee
35.) “The most persevering becomes the most talented.” – Maxime Lagacé
36.) “It’s only pain that can make you change.” – Naval Ravikant
37.) “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, The Godfather
38.) “Stronger by weakness, wiser men become.” – Edmund Waller
39.) “Don’t talk about plans. Only show results.” – Ed Latimore
40.) “Inner emptiness is not a void to be filled with comforts; it is a window to be looked through.” – Alan Watts
41.) “Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own.” – Henry Ward Beecher
42.) “At 30 a man should know himself like the palm of his hand, know the exact number of his defects and qualities, know how far he can go, fortell his failures – be what he is. And, above all, accept these things.” – Albert Camus
43.) “What you aim at determines what you see.” – Jordan Peterson
44.) “A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.” –Saint Basil
45.) “To accomplish great things we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe” – Anatole France
46.) “Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength.” – Theodore Roosevelt
47.) “A man may conquer a million men in battle but one who conquers himself is, indeed, the greatest of conquerors.” – Buddha
48.) “A person can achieve everything by being simple and humble.” – The Vedas
49.) “Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is smile back.” – Marcus Aurelius
50.) “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” – James 1:12
51.) “Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth.” – Chuck Norris
52.) “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
53.) “Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.” – Albert Einstein
54.) “You can do anything, but not everything.” – David Allen
55.) “Neutral men are the devil’s allies.” – Edwin Hubbel Chapin
56.) “The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.” – Thomas Paine
57.) “The real man is one who always finds excuses for others, but never excuses himself.” – Henry Ward Beecher
58.) “We need men who can dream of things that never were.” – John F. Kennedy
59.) “Only a real man is able to stick to just one woman and treat her special, always.” – Terry
60.) “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” – Samuel Jackson.
61.) “A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others.” – Confucius
62.) “The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone.” – Henrik Ibsen
63.) “Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though t’were his own.” – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
64.) “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” – Charles Darwin
65.) “If one advances confidently in the direction of one’s dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” – Henry David Thoreau
66.) “A man without courage is to me the most despicable thing under the sun, a travesty on the whole scheme of creation.” – Jack London
67.) “Don’t work more. Focus more.” – Nathan Gotch
68.) “The wise man will always reflect concerning the quality, not the quantity of life.” – Seneca
69.) “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” – Heraclitus
70.) “Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.” – George Washington
71.) “Honor is simply the morality of superior men.” – Henry Mencken
72.) “Man is what he believes.” – Anton Chekhov
73.) “Wherever there is a crowd there is untruth.” – Søren Kierkegaard
74.) “You want some respect? Go out and get it for yourself.” – Don Draper
75.) “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
76.) “A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it is committing another mistake.” – Confucius Kongzi
77.) “To be a man requires that you accept everything life has to give you, beginning with your name.” – Burl Ives
78.) “During the day you should behave in such a way that you can sleep at night in peace, and in your youth, you should behave in such a way that you can live in your old age in peace.” – Indian proverb
79.) “It is in your hands, to make a better world for all who live in it.” – Nelson Mandela
80.) “Be forgiving with your past self. Be strict with your present self. Be flexible with your future self.” – James Clear
81.) “You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.” – James Froude
82.) “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu
83.) “The wiser you get, the less you care to look like a fool.” – Maxime Lagacé
84.) “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
85.) “Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.” – Franklin Jones
86.) “The more self-knowledge you have, the calmer you can be.” – Maxime Lagacé
87.) “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
88.) “Once you’re calm and fit, you have everything worth having, as the rest just comes and goes.” – Naval Ravikant
89.) “It is hard to fail, but worse never to have tried to succeed.” – Theodore Roosevelt
90.) “The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way.” – Dale Carnegie
91.) “My Father taught me how to be a man – and not by instilling in me a sense of machismo or an agenda of dominance. He taught me that a real man doesn’t take, he gives; he doesn’t use force, he uses logic; doesn’t play the role of trouble-maker, but rather, trouble-shooter.” – Kevin Smith
92.) “One good man, one good man, it ain’t much – it’s only everything.” – Deborah Kerr
93.) “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
94.) “To have doubted one’s own first principles is the mark of a civilized man.” – Oliver W. Holmes Jr
95.) “Champions come and go, but to be legendary you got to have heart, more heart than the next man, more than anyone in the world.” – Muhammad Ali
96.) “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.
97.) “Make peace with the present moment.” – Eckhart Tolle
98.) “The man who has no imagination has no wings.” – Muhammad Ali
99.) “A man needs self-acceptance or he can’t live with himself; he needs self-criticism or others can’t live with him.” – James Pike
100.) “Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” – Bruce Lee
101.) “The crucial thing is to find a truth which is truth for me, to find the idea for which I am willing to live and die.” – Søren Kierkegaard
102.) “Every man is born as many men and dies as a single one.” – Martin Heidegger
103.) “A wise man becomes free when he is ready to die at any moment.” – Diogenes
104.) “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
105.) “You don’t succeed by being perfect. You succeed by doing good work, consistently.” – Thibaut
106.) “Young man, the secret of my success is that at early age I discovered that I was not God.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr
107.) “You will earn the respect of all men if you begin by earning the respect of yourself.” – Musonius Rufus
108.) “Progress is made in solitude; profit is made in public.” – Sven Schnieders
109.) “Seek truth over comfort.” – Anthony Pompliano
110.) “The best teamwork comes from men who are working independently toward one goal in unison.” – J.C. Penney
111.) “Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.” – André Malraux
112.) “Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.” – Carol Burnett
113.) “The good man is the man who, no matter how morally unworthy he has been, is moving to become better.” – John Dewey
114.) “The first question a leader should ask is: “How can I make those around me more successful?” – John C. Maxwell
115.) “You aren’t nervous about the performance, you’re nervous about the results.” – James Pierce
116.) “Just remember, there are no quick fixes. But, by taking action just a little bit every day, you will build up a powerful reservoir of confidence, self-esteem, and discipline.” – Scott Allan
117.) “It is not the situation which makes the man, but the man who makes the situation.” – Frederick William Robertson
118.) “A good man does not spy around for the black spots in others, but presses unswervingly on towards his mark.” – Marcus Aurelius
119.) “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln
120.) “The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the older man who will not laugh is a fool.” – George Santayana
121.) “Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.” – Jimi Hendrix
122.) “You should think in such a way that everybody could look into your soul and see what is transpiring there.” – Seneca
123.) “A real man is one who fears the death of his heart, not of his body.” – Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya
124.) “The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.” – Hasidic Proverb
125.) “The ability to sell yourself and your skills and expertise will empower you and build confidence, not only within yourself but within all aspects of your career in general.” – Jack Warren
126.) “Let the quality man you’ve been created to be out; the world is world incomplete without him.” – Eric M. Watterson
127.) “The greater the success, the more it was due to one thing: focus.” – Shane Parrish
128.) “What a man knows should find its expression in what he does. The value of superior knowledge is chiefly in that it leads to a performing manhood.” – Christian Nestell Bovee
129.) “A man who is a master of patience is a master of everything else.” – George Savile
130.) “To be disciplined or non-disciplined is a choice you make every minute in every hour of your life.” – Russell Gerald Johnston
131.) “A man is made by his beliefs. As he believes. So he becomes.” – Bhagavad Gita
132.) “Always remember: Silence and smile are two very powerful tools. Smile is the way to solve many problems. Silence is the way to avoid many problems.” – Paulo Coelho
133.) “Men die of boredom, psychological conflict, and disease. They do not die of hard work.” – David Ogilvy
134.) “A young man without ambition is an old man waiting to be.” – Steven Brust
135.) “The man who is deserving the name is the one whose thoughts and exertions are for others rather than for himself.” – Walter Scott
136.) “The stronger a man is, the more gentle he can afford to be.” – Elbert Hubbard
137.) “There are two questions a man must ask himself: The first is ‘Where am I going?’ and the second is ‘Who will go with me?’ If you ever get these questions in the wrong order you are in trouble.” – Sam Keen
138.) “There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.” – Søren Kierkegaard
139.) “There is nothing wrong with being afraid – but there is nothing more wrong than allowing that to be your master.” – Bobby Darin
140.) “Conversation enriches the understanding, but solitude is the school of genius.” – Edward Gibbon
141.) “Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living?” – Mahatma Gandhi
142.) “What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.” – Plutarch
143.) “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” – Bruce Lee
144.) “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” – Marcus Aurelius
145.) “The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.” – Thomas Carlyle
146.) “Be like a rose; no matter how many thorns you encounter in life, bloom.” – Matshona Dhliwayo
147.) “The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.” – Leonardo da Vinci
148.) “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
149.) “A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again. But a wise man finds a smart man and learns from him how to avoid the mistake altogether.” – Roy H. Williams
150.) “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” – Marcus Aurelius
151.) “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
Summary
As you can see, becoming a good man can be quite the challenge. After all, our worst demons lie within. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. No matter who you are, as long as you’re willing to reflect, revise, and improve, you can become the man you’ve always wanted to be.
We hope you enjoyed browsing through our selection and were moved by the quotes. Feel free to share them with your friends and family; they also make for great social media posts.
