35 Daily Positive Affirmations to Help You Become More Confident and Happy (2024)

“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” Those words were said by the now 80-year-old Angela Davis, who fostered change in the 1970s and beyond as a feminist and activist.

In his incredibly popular book, The Art of Happiness, The Dalai Lama wisely wrote, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

There is never a shortage of “Oprah-isms” to live by, but here’s a positive affirmation shared in a 2018 article: “The answers keep unfolding as your life expands, if you’re willing to see things for what they are — and what they can be.”

As a self-made woman of the 1970s and the inventor of the wrap dress, Diane Von Furstenberg (now a Target designer!) once said, “You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness.”

“The braver I am, the luckier I get,” was written by author and activist Glennon Doyle in her inspiring book Untamed.

In the song “Q.U.E.E.N.” by Janelle Monáe, she shares these empowering lyrics: “Even if it makes others uncomfortable, I will love who I am.”

Even though she passed over a decade ago, poet Maya Angelou’s words continue to serve as powerful positive affirmations. In her book Letter to My Daughter, she wrote these beautiful words: “Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.”

The late self-help author Louise Hay, who came up with positive affirmations long before they were cool, once wrote, “I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life.”

Everyone’s favorite self-help author and professor, Brené Brown wrote this quote in her book Daring Greatly: “Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.”

"I don't like to gamble, but if there's one thing I'm willing to bet on, it's myself.” You said it, Beyoncé, the singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur who’s now taking a turn as a country music artist.

In her book I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai, the inspiring education advocate and Nobel Peace Prize winner wrote, “Life isn't just about taking in oxygen and giving out carbon dioxide.”

Arianna Huffington, the CEO of Thrive Global and founder of The Huffington Post, wrote in her book Thrive, “Living in a state of gratitude is the gateway to grace.”

At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, First Lady Michelle Obama first shared a phrase that we still love: “When they go low, we go high.”

The famous psychologist Carl Jung once said these powerful words on self-discovery: “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."

Serena Williams, the queen of tennis turned entrepreneur (with so much chutzpah), is quoted saying, “You have to be fearless to have success."

Award-winning modern poet and author Blake Auden wrote, “Every now and then, you will fall apart, and maybe that’s okay because you can leave behind those pieces you don’t need when you put yourself back together.”

Spiritual teacher and author Ram Dass once shared these words that can pacify those hectic days: “The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”