Change Sayings and Quotes

Change is often uncomfortable, but always inevitable. Life has a way of dodging our best-laid plans, so it’s important to learn how to adapt and roll with the curves we’re thrown. Let the list of wise and humorous change quotes below help put life’s hiccups in perspective.

A wise man adapts himself to circumstances, as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it. Chinese Proverb
As the sun's shadow shifts, so there is no permanence on earth. Afghan (on permanence and change)
We can't be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don't have something better. C. JoyBell C.
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. Winston Churchill
A little axe can cut down a big tree. Jamaican (on permanence and change)
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. Victor Frankl
A rolling stone gathers no moss. John Heywood
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything George Bernard Shaw
At high tide, fish eat ants; at low tide, ants eat fish. Thai (on permanence and change)
People who wait for changes to occur on the outside before they commit to making changes on the inside will never make any changes at all. Author Unknown
The wheel of change moves on, and those who were down go up and those who were up go down. Jawaharlal Nehru
He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery. Harold Wilson
A year's care; a minute's ruin. Filipino Proverb
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi
An hour may destroy what an age was building. English (on permanence and change)
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. Leo Tolstoy
Things change. And friends leave. Life doesn't stop for anybody. Stephen Chbosky
Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer. Shunryu Suzuki
The only people who like change are wet babies. Author Unknown
A decision made at night may be changed in the morning. Samoan (on permanence and change)
The art of life is a constant readjustment to our surroundings. Kakuzo Okakaura
Life is like the moon: now full, now dark. Polish (on permanence and change)
The winds of heaven change suddenly; so do human fortunes. Chinese (on permanence and change)
When the moon is full, it begins to wane. Japanese (on permanence and change)
You must welcome change as the rule but not as your ruler. Denis Waitley
Change is inevitable. except from a vending machine. Robert C. Gallagher
When you are through changing, you are through. Bruce Barton
You can avoid having ulcers by adapting to the situation: If you fall in the mud puddle, check your pockets for fish. Author Unknown
All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward. Ellen Glasgow
After you've done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully. After five years, look at it with suspicion. And after ten years, throw it away and start all over. Alfred Edward Perlman
Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. John F. Kennedy
Everything comes to pass, nothing comes to stay. Matthew Flickstein
Persist as resolutely as you persist in eating. Maori (on permanence and change)
We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance. Harrison Ford
Things do not change; we change. Henry David Thoreau
Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up. James Belasco and Ralph Stayer
People don't resist change. They resist being changed! Peter Senge
It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change. Charles Darwin
Change your thoughts and you change your world. Norman Vincent Peale
Pleasures are transient – honors immortal Greek Proverb
The leopard does not change his spots. William Shakespeare
Come what may, time and hour runs through the roughest day. William Shakespeare
Any plan is bad that cannot be changed. Italian (on planning)
Change is inevitable. Change is constant. Benjamin Disraeli
All good things must come to an end. H.H. Riley
Off with the old and on with the new. unknown
Nothing remains constant except change itself. unknown
The change is for a cause. Lailah Gifty Akita
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead
The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. Albert Einstein
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. Rumi
It’s only after you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform. Roy T. Bennett
Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. Lao Tzu
The only way that we can change is if we learn. C. JoyBell C.
For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. Eric Roth
Even if you cannot change all the people around you, you can change the people you choose to be around. Roy T. Bennett
Don't just change, transform. Roy T. Bennett
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
When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. Paulo Coelho
They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. Andy Warhol
You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone. Roy T. Bennett
Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don't. Steve Maraboli
Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. George Bernard Shaw
The present changes the past. Looking back you do not find what you left behind. Kiran Desai
We are not trapped or locked up in these bones. No, no. We are free to change. And love changes us. And if we can love one another, we can break open the sky. Walter Mosley
You're always you, and that don't change, and you're always changing, and there's nothing you can do about it. Neil Gaiman
We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers - but never blame yourself. It's never your fault. But it's always your fault, because if you wanted to change you're the one who has got to change. Katharine Hepburn
And that is how change happens. One gesture. One person. One moment at a time. Libba Bray
I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples. Mother Teresa
Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge. Eckhart Tolle
Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change. Wayne W. Dyer
It's never too late to change your life for the better. You don't have to take huge steps to change your life. Making even the smallest changes to your daily routine can make a big difference to your life. Roy T. Bennett
Believe something and the Universe is on its way to being changed. Because you've changed, by believing. Once you've changed, other things start to follow. Isn't that the way it works? Diane Duane
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. Buckminster Fuller
One day spent with someone you love can change everything. Mitch Albom
You cannot change what you are, only what you do. Philip Pullman
I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself. Aldous Huxley
You cannot change anyone, but you can be the reason someone changes. Roy T. Bennett
Things change, people change, but that doesn't mean you should forget the past. GAIL CARSON LEVINE
Work and struggle and never accept an evil that you can change. Andre Gide
Once you've chosen a man, don't try to change him,'I wrote with more confidence. 'It can be done. More important - don't let him try to change you. Diana Gabaldon
The gospel says God will change us because he loves us. EiichiroOda
I can't say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is that they must change if they are to get better. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Things can change in a day. Arundhati Roy
One cannot be too careful with words, they change their minds just as people do. Jose Samarago
The people who are crazy enought to think they can change the world are the ones who do. Walter Isaacson
The people who are crazy enought to think they can change the world are the ones who do. Walter Isaacson
Don't waste your energy trying to change opinions. Leo Buscaglia
We don't ask you to believe in our ability to bring change, rather, we ask you to believe in yours. Barack Obama
Every morning we get a chance to be different. A chance to change. A chance to be better. Nicole Williams
Some people will always fear change. But we can't indulge them. Veronica Roth
You have been blessed with immeasurable power to make positive changes in your life. Steve Maraboli
Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay. Simone De Beauvoir
We can either try to change everything or just make the most of whatever time we have. Ally Condie
In fact, once he is motivated no one can change more completely than the man who has been at the bottom. Malcolm X
She was reaching the limits of how much its possible to change a man. David Nicholls
I change too quickly: my today refutes my yesterday. Friedrich Nietzsche
Our heads are round so thought can change direction. Allen Ginsberg
Change isn't always for the best. Nicholas Sparks
There is no intelligence where there is no need of change. H.G Wells
Everything is relative in this world, where change alone endures. Leon Trotsky
When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there. ZigZiglar
A person can't change all at once. Stephen King
Living things tend to change unrecognizably as they grow. Diane Ackerman
People can't live with change if there's not a changeless core inside them. Stephen R. Covey
If you want to change the way people respond to you, change the way you respond to people. Timothy Leary
If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living. Gail Sheehy
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Serenity Prayer
If you don't like something, change it, if you can't change it, chage your attitude. Maya Angelou
Change your thoughts, change your life. James Allen
We change the kind of person we are, and we change the kind of world we live in. Rabbi Harold Kushner
To change our realities, we also have to change our myths. Riane Eisler