When people think of “passion” they imagine a zealous artist rising from bed with sparkling eyes and trembling fingers to create something beautiful. Or they think of two lovers entwined in an arousing embrace.
My opinion of passion slightly differs from some of the great names mentioned in this post. I believe that passion doesn’t always have to be big and overpowering. Your passion doesn’t have to burn a fire within you to be important. Most things that burn in a fire are also easily extinguished. To me, passion is a slow romance. It’s intimate and takes its time to form while able to sustain itself even when you don’t always feel inspired.
If you’re contemplating whether to follow your passions or think “logically,” this post will inspire you to let go of your worries, take the plunge, and listen to your heart.
Despite my reservations about “burning passion,” I’ll admit that some of these quotes really did light a fire in me to follow my truth.
So, here are 66 quotes about following your passion. Let’s get started.
66 Quotes About Following Your Passion
1. “Follow your own passion – not your parents’, not your teachers’– yours.” Robert Ballard
2. “A successful life is one that is lived through understanding and pursuing one’s own path, not chasing after the dreams of others.” Chin-Ning Chu
3. “If it lights you up, just do it & throw away the logics.” Hiral Nagda
4. “Nurture your dream everyday. A strong dream will empower you to take bold decisions and allow you to follow your heart.” Manoj Arora
5. “You can do anything as long as you have the passion, the drive, the focus, and the support.” Sabrina Bryan
6. “Your life is a beautiful blank canvas. You can splash it with the most gorgeous and spectacular colors by doing what you love.” Hiral Nagda
7. “Hard work is painful when life is devoid of purpose. But hard work becomes a labor of love when you live for something greater than yourself and the gratification of your own ego.” Steve Pavlina
8. “When choosing what you want to do with your life, don’t do what you think you will be highly rewarded for. Choose what you will be willing to do even when you are not rewarded for it. That is a secret for living a fulfilling life.” Omony Geoffrey Ocaya
9. “I would rather die of passion than of boredom.” Vincent Van Gogh
10. “If you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it.” Wanda Sykes
11. “The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.” Ferdinand Foch
12. “Chase your dreams, do what you love; even if it doesn’t pay the bills, it pays the happiness.” Nicky Verd
13. “When you feel passionate about your work, there is no great difference between the way you feel on Monday morning and the way you feel on Saturday morning.” Larry Smith
14. “There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” Nelson Mandela
15. “You never achieve success unless you like what you are doing.” Dale Carnegie
16. “Don’t do it for applause. Do it because it ignites a fire inside you.” Hiral Nagda
17. “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” Georg Hegel
18. “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
19. “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” Anthony J. D’Angelo
20. “People with great passion can make the impossible happen.” Jeremiah Say
21. “You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out.” Steve Jobs
22. “The things you are passionate about are the real reason for your existence on this planet.” Hiral Nagda
23. “Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
24. “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” Oprah Winfrey
25. “If you don’t love what you do, you won’t do it with much conviction or passion.” Mia Hamm
26. “If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.” Benjamin Franklin
27. “Be spectacularly great at what you do. Wear your passion on your sleeve and hold your heart in the palm of your hand. And work hard. Really hard.” Robin S. Sharma
28. “Never work just for money or for power. They won’t save your soul or help you sleep at night.” Marian Wright Edelman
29. “It is obvious that we can no more explain a passion to a person who has never experienced it than we can explain light to the blind.” T.S. Eliot
30. “Anything that gets your blood racing is probably worth doing.” Hunter S. Thompson
31. “One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.” E. M. Forster
32. “Just making it another day doesn’t get us where we truly want to be. We must move with vigor, passion, and fixed determination to achieve our goals.” Unknown
33. “Don’t worry about what people say. The difference between them and you is they ‘only’ talk and you “do”. This sets you apart from them.” Hiral Nagda
34. “I’d rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate.” George Burns
35. “Chase your passion, not your pension.” Denis Waitley
36. “It is the soul’s duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itself to its master passion.” Rebecca West
37. “Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress. Working hard for something we love is called passion.” Unknown
38. “Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart, and success will come to you.” Oprah Winfrey
39. “Move fearlessly towards that which produces a fire inside you.” Hiral Nagda
40. “Trust not what inspires other members of society to choose a career. Trust what inspires you.” Ernie Zelinski
41. “My mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general, if you become a monk you’ll end up as the pope.’ Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.” Pablo Picasso
42. “Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion.” Martha Graham
43. “You are what you do. If you do boring, stupid, monotonous work, chances are you’ll end up boring, stupid, and monotonous.” Bob Black
44. “Catapult into your highest version by doing the things that fuels you with a swanky fire. Yes, even when it doesn’t make sense to the world.” Hiral Nagda
45. “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman
46. “Your passion is waiting for your courage to catch up.” Isabelle Lafleche
47. “Dreams and passion are more powerful than facts and reality.” Gail Lynne Goodwin
48. “Day by day elevate yourself to a breathtaking level by working on your passions.” Hiral Nagda
49. “Passion is born when you catch a glimpse of your true potential.” Unknown
50. “When you have a passion for something then you tend not only to be better at it, but you work harder at it too.” Vera Wang
51. “It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.” Mae Jemison
52. “One of the things that may get in the way of people…is that they’re not in touch with their passion. If you’re passionate about what it is you do, then you’re going to be looking for everything you can to get better at it.” Jack Canfield
53. “With a great passion, you can do so much with your little talent.” Utibe Samuel Mbom
54. “Always go with your passions. Never ask yourself if it’s realistic or not.” Deepak Chopra
55. “Love what you do and do what you love. Passion is the key that opens the door to joy and abundance.” David Cuschieri
56. “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do.” Georgia O’Keeffe
57. “Passion is the breath we take, the water we drink to sustain ourselves. Without air and water, we perish; without passion, an artist will wither and blow away.” Jack White
58. “Finding your passion isn’t just about careers and money. It’s about finding your authentic self. The one you’ve buried beneath other people’s needs.” Unknown
59. “Go on your own path even if you live for a day.” BTS
60. “What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.” Bob Dylan
61. “Passion will move men beyond themselves, beyond their shortcomings, beyond their failures.” Joseph Campbell
62. “Embrace who you are and your divine purpose. Identify the barriers in your life, and develop discipline, courage and the strength to permanently move beyond them, and keep moving forward.” Germany Kent
63. “It’s never too late to give up what you are doing and start doing what you realize you love.” Hans Rosling
64. “Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn.” John Wesley
65. “The voice of passion is better than the voice of reason. The passionless cannot change history.” Czeslaw Milosz
66. Passion isn’t always burning or blood pumping. Sometimes it’s quiet, a slow burn, and a gut feeling that says you’re doing the right thing. Pooja, SMC
Final Thoughts
Instead of wasting your life following what other people expect of you, follow your heart and be true to yourself.
We aren’t getting out of here alive either way – so you might as well spend your life doing what makes you feel good.
If you enjoyed these quotes about following your passion, also read the following:
- The Best Is Yet to Come Quotes (42 Wise Quotes)
- 40 Quotes About Proving Yourself to Yourself to Boost Your Confidence