Vision Board Quotes
Quotes for your vision board where the words and the name are both right: each one read at its source, with where it was said or written. Keep the ones you like, then copy them, print them as cards or save one as a pin.
Checked quotes for
Career, Health and Travel
11 quotes, each read at its source
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854), "Conclusion"
The popular "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined." is a rewording of this sentence.
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
— Steve Jobs, commencement address at Stanford University (12 June 2005)
“I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle, something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after I'm dead.”
— Jo March, in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (1868), Chapter 13, "Castles in the Air"
“Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are.”
— Squire Bill Widener, as quoted by Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography (1913), Chapter IX
Usually credited to Roosevelt himself. He credits it to Widener.
Source: Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography, on Project Gutenberg
“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”
— Helen Keller, The Open Door (1957)
Often printed as "…or nothing at all."
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
— Mary Oliver, "The Summer Day", in New and Selected Poems (1992)
“There is safety in the midst of danger. What would life be if we didn't dare to take things in hand?”
— Vincent van Gogh, a letter to his brother Theo, The Hague (29 December 1881), letter 194, in the Van Gogh Museum's translation
Also printed as "…if we had no courage to attempt anything?", another translation of the same letter.
Source: Vincent van Gogh: The Letters (Van Gogh Museum and Huygens ING), letter 194
“The first wealth is health.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life (1860), "Power"
“Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
— Benjamin Franklin, as "Poor Richard", The Way to Wealth (1758)
“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.”
— Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (1879)
Source: Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes, on Project Gutenberg
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.”
— Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad (1869), the Conclusion
Source: The Innocents Abroad, the full text on Project Gutenberg
Often credited to the wrong person
Favorites you will see on other lists, and what the evidence says. None of them is printed above as that person's words.
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined.”
Often credited to Henry David Thoreau. A rewording. What Thoreau wrote in Walden (1854) is on this page: "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams…"
Source: Wikiquote, Henry David Thoreau: Walden, "commonly misquoted"
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.”
Often credited to Mark Twain. The attribution to Twain cannot be verified; the words are in H. Jackson Brown's 1990 book P.S. I Love You.
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.”
Often credited to Saint Augustine. It has not been found in Augustine's writings; it was first credited to him in an 1824 book of proverbs.
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
Often credited to Eleanor Roosevelt. Mary Schmich wrote it, in her 1997 newspaper column.
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
Often credited to Goethe. John Anster wrote it in 1835, inspired by a passage in Goethe's Faust.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Often credited to Eleanor Roosevelt. No evidence she said it; the earliest known uses had no name on them.
Quick answer: pick the parts of life your vision board is for and you get quotes whose words and speaker have both been checked: each one read at its source, with the book, speech or letter it comes from and its year. Keep the ones you like, then copy them, print them as 3.5 × 2 inch cards to cut out, or save one as a 1000×1500 quote pin.
How to use it
- Choose what your board is for: career, money, health, home, travel, love, family and friends, learning, creativity or calm. These are the same ten parts of life as our vision board ideas generator.
- Read the quotes. Under each one is who said it, where and when, and a link to the source we read it in.
- Keep the ones that feel like yours. The copy and print buttons then use only the ones you kept.
- Print them as cut-out cards, two across on a page, or press Save as a pin for a 1000×1500 picture of one quote, the 2:3 shape Pinterest shows best. Pick its color first.
What "checked" means here
A quote is on this page only when we could read it, word for word, at a source we can link: the book itself (on Project Gutenberg, for the older ones), the speaker's own transcript or letter, or the sourced section of Wikiquote, which gives the book or speech it comes from. Where the words belong to a character, like Jo March in Little Women, the card names the character and the author. Where the popular version differs from what was written, the card says so. There are 32 quotes, and every one names its source under it.
Checking changes some famous lines. Thoreau never wrote "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!" as a command: his sentence in Walden is longer and gentler, and it is the one on this page. Van Gogh's line about courage reads "What would life be if we didn't dare to take things in hand?" in the Van Gogh Museum's own translation of his letter.
The most misquoted vision board quotes
These appear on almost every list of vision board quotes, under a famous name the evidence does not support. We show them apart, never as that person's words:
- "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined." is often credited to Henry David Thoreau. A rewording. What Thoreau wrote in Walden (1854) is on this page: "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams…" (Wikiquote, Henry David Thoreau: Walden, "commonly misquoted")
- "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do." is often credited to Mark Twain. The attribution to Twain cannot be verified; the words are in H. Jackson Brown's 1990 book P.S. I Love You. (Wikiquote, Mark Twain: Misattributed)
- "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." is often credited to Saint Augustine. It has not been found in Augustine's writings; it was first credited to him in an 1824 book of proverbs. (Wikiquote, Augustine of Hippo: Misattributed)
- "Be the change you wish to see in the world." is often credited to Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi wrote a longer passage with a similar idea in 1913; this wording is Arleen Lorrance's, from 1974. (Quote Investigator, 23 October 2017)
- "Do one thing every day that scares you." is often credited to Eleanor Roosevelt. Mary Schmich wrote it, in her 1997 newspaper column. (Quote Investigator, 9 August 2013)
- "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." is often credited to W. B. Yeats. The link to Yeats was a mistake; the idea is Plutarch's, from nearly 2,000 years ago. (Quote Investigator, 28 March 2013)
- "Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken." is often credited to Oscar Wilde. None of Wilde's lines is a match; the earliest exact one found is from 1999, with no name on it. (Quote Investigator, 20 January 2014)
- "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." is often credited to Goethe. John Anster wrote it in 1835, inspired by a passage in Goethe's Faust. (Quote Investigator, 9 February 2016)
- "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." is often credited to Eleanor Roosevelt. No evidence she said it; the earliest known uses had no name on them. (Quote Investigator, 10 February 2018)
From a quote to your board, and to Pinterest
- On paper: print the cards, cut on the dashed lines and glue them beside your pictures. Our printable vision board kit adds cut-out words and affirmation cards in the same parts of life.
- On a screen: the vision board maker puts your photos and words on one board for your phone, desktop or a pin.
- As a pin: a quote pin is 1000×1500 pixels, 2:3. Check any picture's shape with our Pinterest image size checker, and write the pin's title with the speaker's name in it: people search for "Emerson quotes", not only "vision board quotes".