70 Famous Motivational Quotes about Changing the World

No matter who you are, what you have been through, where you come from and where you are going, there are certain things that we all share as human beings.

We all want to reach our goals and be successful in life. We seek care and love from others. But most of all, we all want to live in a better world.

Quotes about Changing the World

Here are some of the most famous quotes about changing the world that can start a spark in your heart and inspire you to take a step forward.

1. “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” – Norman Vincent Peale

2. “The world can only change from within.” – Eckhart Tolle

3. “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

4. “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs are people who are alive.” – Howard Thurman

5. “Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai

6. “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” – Robin Williams

7. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama

8. “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” – Albert Einstein

9. “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa

10. “If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make that change.” – Michael Jackson

11. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman

12. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

13. “Help young people. Help small guys. Because small guys will be big. Young people will have the seeds you bury in their minds, and when they grow up, they will change the world.” – Jack Ma

14. “It’s a philosophy of life. A practice. If you do this, something will change, what will change is that you will change, your life will change, and if you can change you, you can perhaps change the world.” – Vivienne Westwood

15. “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” – Leo Tolstoy

16. “One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

17. “You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.” – Tom Brokaw

18. “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – Richard Buckminster Fuller

19. “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James

20. “I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” – Aldous Huxley

21. “Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.” – John Lennon

22. “There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.” – Terry Pratchett

23. “I’m not saying I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.” – Tupac Shakur

24. “In order to change the world, you have to get your head together first.” – Jimi Hendrix

25. “If you think we can’t change the world, it just means you’re not one of those that will.” – Jacque Fresco

26. “History shows us that the people who end up changing the world – the great political, social, scientific, technological, artistic, even sports revolutionaries – are always nuts until they are right, and then they are geniuses.” – John Eliot

27. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

28. “Never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too sick to start from scratch once again.” – Bikram Choudhry

29. “How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world.” – Anne Frank

30. “We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference.” – Nelson Mandela

31. “The only way we can change our world is to take responsibility for our part in it.” – Rachael Bermingham

32. “A tiny change today brings a dramatically different tomorrow.” – Richard Bach

33. “The good inside of all of us is wrapped in a layer of apathy, and we forget how much potential we have within us, in each and every one of us, to change the world for the better for ourselves and our children, and thus to bring about oneness.” – Shari Arison

34. “If you’re changing the world, you’re working on important things. You’re excited to get up in the morning.” – Larry Page

35. “When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” – Jimi Hendrix

36. “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways: the point, however, is to change it.” – Karl Marx

37. “You change the world by being yourself.” – Yoko Ono

38. “Be what you are. Do what you love. Speak what you feel. Don’t hide your humanity. Celebrate it. Embrace it. That is how you change the world.” – Vironika Tugaleva

39. “The only people who can change the world are people who want to. And not everybody does.” – Hugh Macleod

40. “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin

41. “Don’t underestimate the power of your vision to change the world. Whether that world is your office, your community, an industry or a global movement, you need to have a core belief that what you contribute can fundamentally change the paradigm or way of thinking about problems.” – Leroy Hood

42. “We must become the change we wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

43. “The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet… unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s places… we do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” – J.K. Rowling

44. “When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.” – Pauline R. Kezer

45. “To say that on a daily basis you can make a difference, well, you can. One act of kindness a day can do it.” – Betty Williams

46. “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” – Rumi

47. “Choose your corner, pick away at it carefully, intensely and to the best of your ability and that way you might change the world.” – Charles Eames

48. “The destiny of world civilization depends upon providing a decent standard of living for all mankind.” – Norman Borlaug

49. “Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love, even for enemies.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

50. “If there is no transformation inside of us, all the structural change in the world will have no impact on our institutions.” – Peter Block

51. “The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs

52. “I believe it’s time that women truly owned their superpowers and used their beauty and strength to change the world around them.” – Janelle Monae

53. “The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds.” – Abraham Lincoln

54. “You really can change the world if you care enough.” – Marian Wright Edelman

55. “When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring communities.” – The Dalai Lama

56. “Keep constantly in mind in how many things you yourself have witnessed changes already. The universe is change, life is understanding.” – Marcus Aurelius

57. “The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.” – Charles Kettering

58. “The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.” – Bill Clinton

59. “Seek the rapids, not the calm of the lake. Take the calm to reflect and prepare for the rapids. If we face permanent whitewater, we will see the need for and experience change.” – Peter Vaille

60. “Change almost never fails because it’s too early. It almost always fails because it’s too late.” – Seth Godin

61. “We have it in our power to change the world over.” – Thomas Paine

62. “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough, we must do.” – Leonardo Da Vinci

63. “All great changes are preceded by chaos.” – Deepak Chopra

64. “It takes a different value system if you wish to change the world.” – Jacques Fresco

65. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

66. “Things remain the same because it is impossible to change very much without changing most of everything.” – Ted Sizer

67. “Never forget that you are one of a kind. Never forget that if there weren’t any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life’s challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world. In fact, it is always because of one person that all the changes that matter in the world come about. So be that one person.” – Buckminster Fuller

68. “Art is not supposed to change the world, to change practical things, but to change perceptions. Art can change the way we see the world. Art can create an analogy.” – JR

69. “Whatever change you desire for the world, create that change in your own life. You are here for a purpose. Seek it out. Hunt it down. The greatest misery is to be purposeless. The great depression of our age is not economic, but spiritual. Our spiritual poverty is rooted in our purposelessness.” – Matthew Kelly

70. “When you believe in what you’re doing and use your imagination and initiative, you can make a difference.” – Samuel Dash

Final Thoughts

The world cannot change on its own. It takes time and needs a support system. What better support system does the world need than human beings living in it who are ready to make a change? So, do not wait for others to take action, be that person to lead the change for a better world.

As people always say, change starts within you, have the winning habit to be successful and be a great example to the society. Being a positive inspiration can go a long way, as it can be passed to other individuals that could carry the inspiration on to an endless chain of good change.