Encouragement is a real gift which can lift people up, console, comfort and inspire them. But it is also an ability we can learn and develop with practice.  I have selected various quotations under four headings which show how important it is to have a positive, ‘can-do’ attitude and to encourage this in others.

Success & Failure:
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ― Winston Churchill
“We will fail when we fail to try.” ― Rosa Parks
“Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.” — Robert Collier
“You cannot expect victory and plan for defeat.” ― Joel Osteen
“The individual who says it is not possible should move out of the way of those doing it.” — Tricia Cunningham

Optimism
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — Nelson Mandela
“There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” — Amanda Gorman
“Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman
“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” —Winston Churchill

Reassurance
“Through discipline comes freedom.” — Aristotle
“Now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” – John Steinbeck, East of Eden
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” — Maya Angelou
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” — e.e. cummings
“Happiness is the only thing that multiplies when you share it.” Albert Schweitzer

Encouragement
“Seize the day.” – (Carpe Diem) Horace
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” ― Booker T. Washington
“Encouragement is like water to the soul, it makes everything grow.” ― Chris Burkmenn
“Don’t count the days, make the days count.” — Muhammad Ali
“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” — Warren Buffett
“Learn as if you will live forever, live like you will die tomorrow.” —Mahatma Gandhi