Men or women, both need some words of comfort every now and then, especially when the occasion calls for it. Take for instance when in a difficult or challenging position, feeling down, or simply when someone needs a boost of morale. A few encouraging quotes our way can make a great difference to our day.

The problem though is that society has always been led to believe that men are tough. At a young age, they have been told to act tough and brave. That they should not wear their heart on their sleeve. That they can withstand any challenges that come their way with chest puffed out and head held high. 

Moreover, men, most often than not, find it difficult to unburden their emotions to someone. They tend to bottle them up inside. But just because they can show strength on the outside doesn’t mean that they don’t also feel weak inside. They are human too and as such have emotions. This is why it helps to have a few encouraging words ready to help them open up and lighten the load.

There are several reasons why sharing a few uplifting words can help. It shows that you care and sympathize or empathize and that you understand. It can brighten their day and keep them going. Especially in the workplace, colleagues congratulate each other on a job well done. During emotional turmoil, some encouraging quotes can uplift them and make them feel loved. Even reading encouraging quotes alone and not actually hearing people say it to you can help inspire you to have a positive outlook in life.

Below you will find 40 of the best encouraging quotes for men written by men from all walks of life and time. You can use them to uplift a friend, a colleague, or a husband’s spirits. These wise words come from some of the great historical philosophers and influential people of all time the likes of Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., Bruce Lee, George Washington, and Ernest Hemingway, to name a few.

They are a great source of inspiration because, like everybody else, they have gone through trials and tribulations and came out a victor. These men have experienced torment, sadness, failures, and disappointments, yet chose to carve their own path to find their own successes and happiness. We can all take something of value and meaning from their wise words. After all, we all need some encouraging quotes and words of comfort from time to time.

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Encouraging Quotes For Men on Success and Happiness

  • Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill, United Kingdom’s Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945. Born: Nov. 30, 1874, Died: Jan. 24, 1965
  • 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, a former cybersecurity expert at Canada’s top intelligence agency and now founder of Farnam Street Media. On his website, he encourages people to “upgrade yourself.”
  • 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, an American philosopher, poet, and Transcendentalist who is best known for his book “Walden,” about simple living in natural surroundings. Born: July 12, 1817, Died: May 6, 1862
  • 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, a Danish theologian and philosopher who is known as the “father of existentialism.” Born: May 5, 1813, Died: Nov. 11, 1855
  • Work hard, be honest, help people, never give up, love your fellow man and woman, give back to society, and don’t ever discriminate. – Jesse White, educator, politician, and the Secretary of State of Illinois since 1999. Born: June 23, 1934
  • To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe – Anatole France, poet, journalist, and best-selling novelist. Born: April 16, 1844, Died: Oct. 12, 1924
  • The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way. – Dale Carnegie, writer, and developer of courses in self-improvement. Born: Nov. 24, 1988, Died: Nov. 1, 1955
  • A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him. – David Brinkley, newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career that lasted from 1943 to 1997. Born: July 10, 1920, Died: June 11, 2003
  • Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion. – Georg W. F. Hegel, German philosopher and one of the important figures in German idealism. Born: Aug. 27, 1770, Died: Nov. 14, 1831
  • Be nice to people on your way up, because you’ll meet them on your way down. – Jimmy Durante, actor, singer, comedian. Born: Feb. 10, 1893, Died: Jan. 29, 1980
  • 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, author, coach, speaker, and philanthropist whose works include “Awaken the Giant Within” and “Unlimited Power.”
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Quotes To Ponder on About Life

  • 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 Robert Wooden, former American basketball coach, and player. He was known as the “Wizard of Westwood” who achieved ten National Collegiate Athletic Association national championships as head coach of the UCLA Bruins. Birth: Oct. 14, 1910, Died: June 4, 2010
  • Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value. –Albert Einstein, one of the greatest physicists and philosophers of all time who developed the theory of relativity. Born: March 14, 1879, Died: April 18, 1955
  • The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. – Martin Luther King Jr., an American Baptist minister and leader in the American civil rights movements. He fought for people to be judged by their character and not by the color of their skin. Born: Jan. 15, 1929, Died: April 4, 1968
  • Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. – Abraham Lincoln, American lawyer, and 16thS. President. Born: March 4, 1861, Died: April 15, 1865
  • Knowledge will give you power, but character respect. – Bruce Lee, actor, director, and famous martial artist who founded the hybrid martial arts philosophy Jeet Kune Do. Born: Nov. 27, 1940, Died: July 20, 1973
  • I believe the first test of a truly great man is in his humility. – John Ruskin, an English writer, and philosopher who wrote on various subjects including geography, literature, architecture, and myth. Born: Feb. 8, 1819, Died: Jan. 20, 1900
  • 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, American soldier, and the 1stS. President. Born: Feb 22, 1732, Died: Dec. 14, 1799
  • You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one. – James Froude, English historian, novelist, and editor of Fraser’s Magazine. Born: April 23, 1818, Died: Oct. 20, 1894
  • The most important thing for a young man is to establish a creditable reputation, character. – John Rockefeller, founder of the Standard Oil Company who later in his life dedicated his time to charity and founded the University of Chicago. Born: July 8, 1839, Died: May 23, 1937
  • 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, minister, a social reformer who helped abolish slavery. Born: June 24, 1813, Died: March 8, 1887
  • You will earn the respect of all men if you begin by earning the respect of yourself. – Musonius Rufus, a Roman Stoic philosopher who was sent into exile in 65AD for teaching philosophy during the reign of Nero. Born: 25AD, Died: 95 AD
  • 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, writer, humorist, and lecturer who is best remembered as one of the greatest American writers of all time whose books include “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” and “Life on the Mississippi.” Born: Nov. 30, 1835, Died: April 21, 1910
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Encouraging Quotes For Men About Moving Forward

  • Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. –Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American lecturer, poet, essayist, and Transcendentalist who championed individualism in the mid-19th century. Born: May 25, 1803, Died: April 27, 1882
  • 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
  • There is nothing wrong with being afraid – but there is nothing more wrong than allowing that to be your master. – Bobby Darin, singer in the jazz, pop, rock, and roll, and folk genres. Born: May 14, 1936, Died: Dec. 20, 1973
  • He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. – Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher born into slavery famous for his works “The Enchiridion (the handbook)” and his “Discourses.” Died: 135 AD
  • But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed, but not defeated. – Ernest Hemingway, a novelist and journalist who served in World War I whose works include “A Farewell to Arms” and “The Sun Also Rises.” Born: July 21, 1899, Died: July 2, 1961
  • Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again. – Franklin Jones, American spiritual leader, writer, artist, teacher. Born: Nov. 3, 1939, Died: Nov. 27, 2008
  • Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them. – Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company. Born: July 30, 1863, Died: April 7, 1947
  • 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, Episcopal bishop, charismatic religious figure, and iconoclast. Born: Feb. 14, 1913, Died: Sept. 1969
  • The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection. – Thomas Paine, a political activist, and theorist who advocated for American independence. Born: Feb. 9, 1737, Died: June 8, 1809
  • Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength. – Theodore Roosevelt, 26thS. President and leader of the progressive movement. Born: Oct. 27, 1858, Died: Jan. 6, 1919
  • 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, writer of inspiring and motivational books to help you succeed in life with a focus on confidence development and mindset mastery training.
  • 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, motivational writer.
  • 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, essayist, aphorist whose work delves into problems concerning randomness, probability, and uncertainty. Some of his notable books include “Skin in the Game” and “The Black Swan.”
  • It is not the brains that matter most, but that which guides them — the character, the heart, generous qualities, progressive ideas. – Fyodor Dostoevsky, a Russian novelist whose ideas influenced literary modernism, existentialism, and various schools of psychology, theology, and literary criticism. Born: Nov. 11, 1821, Died: Feb. 9, 1881
  • Be forgiving with your past self. Be strict with your present self. Be flexible with your future self. – James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits” and motivational speaker who focuses on habits and decision making.
  • 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, S. Air Force fighter pilot and Pentagon consultant. Born: Jan. 23, 1927, Died: March 9, 1997
  • Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one. – Bruce Lee