As Peanuts creator Charles Schulz once said, “Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.” Using quotes in a speech is the convenient gear on your bike that you’ve never used!
There are many reasons why you may use a quote in their speech. Maybe you want a powerful beginning or a strong finish to your speech. Maybe you know that quotes are often much more memorable than simply stating something in your own words. Maybe you admire the way that a quote already is and couldn’t really put it better yourself. In any case, quotes are a wonderful way to captivate your audience. A great quote might even inspire a speech in itself.
Through books, newspapers, magazines, TV, movies, and other media, you can find many amazing quotes to use in a speech. But if you’re having trouble finding the perfect inspiration, you might wish that there was a compilation of great quotes. Lucky for you, that’s what this post is for! Today, I’ll be showing you my top 15 quotes of all time (in no specific order :D).
- “Life has no limitations, except the ones you make.” – Les Brown
- “The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self.” – Dalai Lama
- “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or ever touched – they must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller
- “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali
- “Life itself is the most wonderful fairytale.” – Hans Christian Anderson
- “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain” – Dolly Parton
- “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein
- “One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.” – Gerard Way
- “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain
- “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” – C.S. Lewis
- “A smooth sea never made a smooth sailor.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “Whatever you do, always give 100%. Unless you’re donating blood.” – Bill Murray
- “Never let anyone treat you like a yellow Starburst. You are a pink Starburst!” – Paris Hilton
- “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
- “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou
Now that you know some great quotes to use in a speech, you might be wondering how exactly to incorporate them in. Here’s an example using one of my favorite quotes by the author Ernest Hemingway.
Incorporating Quotes in the…
…Beginning: “The American author Ernest Hemingway once said, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” This quote demonstrates just how emotionally attached we as humans are to books, as well as the steadfast loyalty all books seem to have…”
…Body: “…Books may be known for their mental impact, but in fact, they have quite a large emotional impact as well. As the author Ernest Hemingway put it simply, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.”…”
…Conclusion: “As you can see, books have an amazing impact cognitively, emotionally, and developmentally. And lucky for you, nowadays books are very accessible in bookstores, schools, and libraries. In the words of Ernest Hemingway, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.”.”
All in all, quotes are not only readily accessible, but an amazing way to start, add to, or end your speech!
