Oct. 3, 2024, 3:45 p.m.
In life's journey, moving on is an essential part of personal growth and healing. Whether you're navigating the end of a relationship, transitioning in your career, or simply turning the page on a different chapter of life, finding the strength to move forward can be both challenging and empowering. To help guide you through these moments, we’ve curated a collection of inspiring moving on quotes that offer wisdom, comfort, and encouragement. These poignant words from various thought leaders and visionaries serve not only as reminders of resilience but also as beacons of hope, aiding you in embracing the new possibilities that await. Dive into this compilation to find the perfect message that resonates with your journey and inspires you to take the next step.
1. “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” - Lyndon B. Johnson
2. “Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today?” - Mary Manin Morrissey
3. “Girls you've gotta know when it's time to turn the page.” - Tori Amos
4. “You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could've, would've happened... or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on.” - Tupac Shakur
5. “Life moves on and so should we” - Spencer Johnson
6. “It was strange, really. A couple months ago, I had thought I couldn’t live without him. Apparently I could.” - Gabrielle Zevin
7. “How many boys like him were out there in the ether, holding on to their big brothers and sisters who were still alive? How many husbands were floating between life and death, clinging to their wives in this world? And how may millions and millions of people were there in the world like Charlie who wouldn't let go of their loved ones when they're gone?” - Ben Sherwood
8. “That was the only time, as I stood there, looking at that strange rubbish, feeling the wind coming across those empty fields, that I started to imagine just a little fantasy thing, because this was Norfolk after all, and it was only a couple of weeks since I’d lost him. I was thinking about the rubbish, the flapping plastic in the branches, the shore-line of odd stuff caught along the fencing, and I half-closed my eyes and imagined this was the spot where everything I'd ever lost since my childhood had washed up, and I was now standing here in front of it, and if I waited long enough, a tiny figure would appear on the horizon across the field, and gradually get larger until I'd see it was Tommy, and he'd wave, maybe even call. The fantasy never got beyond that --I didn't let it-- and though the tears rolled down my face, I wasn't sobbing or out of control. I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, to drive off to wherever it was I was supposed to be.” - Kazuo Ishiguro
9. “There comes a point at which you stop giving things up. That is what i won't give up. None of it will i give up, for my beautiful sister Ivy who lies in bed. Ivy who used to be alive. Ivy who used to be. Ivy who used. Ivy who. Ivy-who-is-not-me.Not me. Not me. Not me.” - Alison McGhee
10. “You must make a decision that you are going to move on. It wont happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, ‘I don’t care how hard this is, I don’t care how disappointed I am, I’m not going to let this get the best of me. I’m moving on with my life.” - Joel Osteen
11. “I'm done with those; regrets are an excuse for people who have failed.” - Ned Vizzini
12. “If I kept saying it; if I kept reaching out. My accident really taught me just one thing: the only way to go on is to go on. To say 'I can do this' even when you know you can't.” - Stephen King
13. “We are set in our ways, bound by our perspectives and stuck in our thinking.” - Joel Osteen
14. “It is important that we forgive ourselves for making mistakes. We need to learn from our errors and move on.” - Steve Maraboli
15. “Loss alone is but the wounding of a heart; it is memory that makes it our ruin.” - Brian Ruckley
16. “You are worth everything that nature can give you.And I pray to whatever I believe in that you find your happiness. You find pride in yourself.And you find true love.And you can look at that person and understand the impact that have had in your life.Because you have surprised me with every step you took.And if letting you go means that I love you.Then I love you.Have fun out there.” - Philippe A. Renaud
17. “You can't look back - you just have to put the past behind you, and find something better in your future.” - Jodi Picoult
18. “I have learned that if you must leave a place that you have lived in and loved and where all your yesteryears are buried deep, leave it any way except a slow way, leave it the fastest way you can. Never turn back and never believe that an hour you remember is a better hour because it is dead. Passed years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lives in a cloud, formidable from a distance.” - Beryl Markham
19. “Letting go doesn't mean that you don't care about someone anymore. It's just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.” - Deborah Reber
20. “Someday being with Dex will be a distant memory. This fact makes me sad too. Its the initial stages of grief that seem to be worst but in some ways, Its sadder as time goes by and you consider how much they're missed in your life.” - Emily Giffin
21. “Moving on is easy. It's staying moved on that's trickier.” - Katerina Stoykova Klemer
22. “He nods, as if to acknowledge that endings are almost always a little sad, even when there is something to look forward to on the other side.” - Emily Giffin
23. “She shook off the self-recrimination. What-ifs and could-have-beens were not the way to move forward. She knew that from experience.” - Judi Fennell
24. “I think it happens to everyone as they grow up. You find out who you are and what you want, and then you realize that people you've known forever don't see things the way you do. And so you keep the wonderful memories, but find yourself moving on.” - Nicholas Sparks
25. “I don't need to be any place else, because the music takes me to the only place I want to be right now. To the place where I am and have always been wholly me, the only church I've ever belonged to, the only place I've ever prayed.” - Daisy Whitney
26. “And we're all good, everything is forgiven between Beethoven and me because this is the part of me that hasn't changed. In this monent I'm not defined by the other things, the things that happened to me, the things I didn't choose. This is the part of me that defines me for all time, for always. The thing I choose completely.” - Daisy Whitney
27. “A very wise man once told me that you can't look back-you just have to put the past behind you, and find something better in your future.” - Jodi Picoult
28. “The great courageous act that we must all do, is to have the courage to step out of our history and past so that we can live our dreams.” - Oprah Winfrey
29. “Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can't build on it; it's only good for wallowing in.” - Katherine Mansfield
30. “Sometimes you can’t let go of the past without facing it again.” - Gail Tsukiyama
31. “Keeping baggage from the past will leave no room for happiness in the future.” - Wayne L Misner
32. “I had to cease to mourn what could never be and make the most of what was possible. And I would begin doing that by trying to mend the hurts of the past.” - Cameron Dokey
33. “For how imperiously, how coolly, in disregard of all one’s feelings, does the hard, cold, uninteresting course of daily realities move on! Still we must eat, and drink, and sleep, and wake again, - still bargain, buy, sell, ask and answer questions, - pursue, in short, a thousand shadows, though all interest in them be over; the cold, mechanical habit of living remaining, after all vital interest in it has fled.” - Harriet Beecher Stowe
34. “Love is forgiving, accepting, moving on, embracing, and all encompassing. And if you’re not doing that for yourself, you cannot do that with anyone else.” - Steve Maraboli
35. “Change has to come for life to struggle forward.” - Helen Hollick
36. “Let Her Go!!!” - Yellowcard
37. “The person who hurt you--who raped you or killed your family--is also here. If you are still angry at that person, if you haven't been able to forgive, you are chained to him. Everyone could feel the emotional truth of that: When someone offends you and you haven't let go, every time you see him, you grow breathless or your heart skips a beat. If the trauma was really severe, you dream of revenge. Above you, is the Mountain of Peace and Prosperity where we all want to go. But when you try to climb that hill, the person you haven't forgiven weighs you down. It's a personal choice whether or not to let go. No one can tell you how long to mourn a death or rage over a rape. But you can't move forward until you break that chain.” - Leymah Gbowee
38. “And I'm ill with the thought of your kiss, coffee-laced intoxicating on her lips... shut it out, I've got no claim on you now, I'm not allowed to wear you freedom down” - Fine Frenzy
39. “Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.” - Steve Maraboli
40. “Now the wren has gone to roost and the sky is turnin' goldAnd like the sky my soul is also turnin'Turnin' from the past, at last and all I've left behind” - Ray Lamontagne
41. “Being different is a revolving door in your life where secure people enter and insecure exit.” - Shannon L. Alder
42. “Inutile piangere sul latte versato. (No use crying over spilled milk.)” - Francesca Marciano
43. “She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she did.” - Markus Zusak
44. “And I told him, I said: "One day you're going to miss the subway because it's not going to come. One of these days, it's going to break down and it's not going to come around and everyone else will just wait for the next one or will take the bus, or walk, or run to the next station: they will go on with their lives. And you're not going to be able to go on with your life! You'll be standing there, in the subway station, staring at the tube. Why? Because you think that everything has to happen perfectly and on time and when you think it's going to happen! Well guess what! That's not how things happen! And you'll be the only one who's not going to be able to go on with life, just because your subway broke down. So you know what, you've got to let go, you've got to know that things don't happen the way you think they're going to happen, but that's okay, because there's always the bus, there's always the next station...you can always take a cab.” - C. JoyBell C.
45. “Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something; forgiveness, however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on.” - Criss Jami
46. “Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.” - Steve Maraboli
47. “She bought seeds and raided nurseries and mulched and composted and spent full days with her hands full of earth, coaxing life our of the dry, dull grass my father had spent years pushing a mower over.” - Sarah Dessen
48. “A broken friendship that is mended through forgiveness can be even stronger than it once was.” - Stephen Richards
49. “Not watching the path where his legs took him, he walked on because he knew he had to walk ahead, leaving his past behind.” - Faraaz Kazi
50. “Forgiveness is the one gift you don't give to others. Rather, it is the gift you give yourself, so you can finally be free.” - Shannon Alder
51. “The secret to life is to have no fear. When you can let go of what others think about you, how something is going to turn out, or how your past will affect your future, then you are finally living life free.” - Shannon L. Alder
52. “I wore your promise on my finger for one yearI'll wear your name on my heart til I dieBecause you were my boy, you were my only boy forever.” - Coco J. Ginger
53. “You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. So let them go, let go of them. I tie no weights to my ankles.” - C. JoyBell C.
54. “I will run every mile, i will saveevery line, i will say i reached thetop and i will fall back down standing.I will write down every thing, the goodand the bad,I will wake up one day andgo back to the start. I will noticethat the good ones were nothing but mybeautiful lines, were everything paintedby my mind. I will notice that the badones were nothing but pieces of mypain that should have been crumbled and thrown away the first time i started torain. I will leave home and i won'tmind, i will miss some beating piecesbut i will survive.the sky will stayin place, mountains won't shake and mymind will go nowhere.the stars will take my side not yours, and the new airin your chest will feel forever cold. Iwill donate a piece of my heart to hurtyou forever and a lifelong lastingquestion about what you have lost.Myhands won't ever fit in yours and myfaith says that crown on your head willhurt you the most.One day i won't overlook anythinganymore. One day i won't rememberanything anymore.I will stoppretending i'm ice cold and i willlearn how to be strong.one day I willgrow out of this, i will grow out ofus.” - Mennah al refaey
55. “Well, I just get as close as I can to a happy ending, then I shut the door behind me and move on.” - James Goss
56. “And my biggest fear would be forevermissing a piece. You see our story wasnever complete, and it's supposed to befinished but you haven't yet heard allof me.So listen because my biggest fear would be missing out on how ittruly feels . I will forever miss atouch though i never tried it on myface; i might miss how cold it is and imight miss how warm it left me, i mightmiss how it perfectly traces every lineand i might miss how it gets losteverytime. I will forever miss a handthat held my heart, one that onlylearnt how to wave goodbye, one thatonly learnt how to part, i will neverknow how your fingers interlaced withmine, though i have been always surethat they fit perfectly inside. And Iknow i will definitely miss waking upto your eyes, i will miss knowing theysee right through me, i will misshaving that subtle silent starereassure my heart. And a very longplaylist will go to waste, no slowdancing not on the kitchen floor andnever once in the rain.Just know Ialready miss having your back, but youare the one who turned yours and idon't know if i should ever forgivethat.” - Mennah al refaey
57. “Someday, beyond the clouds and all the world's wrongs, there will be love, compassion and justice, and we shall all understand.” - Flavia Weedn
58. “...Love is easy, falling in love is even easier, but letting that love go, is the most difficult thing you’ll ever have to do. Some of us never let it go andsometimes it takes a while to realize what you want. But your heart will always have the right answer in the end. You just have to figure out what it’stelling you.” - Marie Coulson
59. “When a child dies, a parent loses a part of themselves,” he said. “Your whole world ceases to exist and you’re nothing but a shell of the person you once were. Your mom has dealt with it in her way, me in mine, and you in yours.” He lifted his hand off John’s gravestone and rose. “Your mom hates the world, I avoid it, and you try to save it.” - Nicole Williams
60. “It was strange walking through the empty apartment. My battered purple room was gone, Brittany’s bruised blue was gone. Two coats covered everything. It was like none of it had ever happened.” - Kimberly Novosel
61. “Never look back; you may only find what you left or let you go.” - Stefanos Livos
62. “Your heart’s strength is measured by how hard it holds on. Your self worth and faith is measured by finally letting go. However, your peace is measured by how long you don’t look back.” - Shannon L. Alder
63. “She has no regrets; she knows now he could never have made her happy, even though he has, apparently, joined AA, is doing better. But sobriety is his journey, not hers; he needs to do it for himself, alone. Still, she misses him hugely, doesn't feel ready for another relationship yet. But as time passes, she hopes that she might be, eventually, with someone new, easier, kinder.” - Sarah Rayner
64. “It is the hardest thing of all, the one thing that will show if you have the one true courage. To know that you have failed, that your best efforts have been defeated, to not be able to stand it, to not be able to go on and yet to go on nonetheless.” - Silvia Hartmann
65. “It makes the other one more precious and also not enough. We have to try to fill not only our own boots but other people's too - yours, Leo's, Dad's. We have to expand at the moment we feel the most shrunk.” - Rosamund Lupton
66. “What's the difference?" You ask meThe difference is, a smile touches my lipsWhen I remember both the memory of you entering my lifeAnd the memory of you leaving my life” - Tammy-Louise Wilkins
67. “I looked into Blake's eyes, remembering my lost marble and thinking that even though it was gone forever, there could be another match out there. There might be another guy who would kiss my forehead, a guy who was just as sweet as strong enough to choose me over everybody else” - Lorraine Zago Rosenthal
68. “Living in the past kills your future.” - Habeeb Akande
69. “Sometimes, in order to find happiness, one must allow some old bridges to collapse, in order to build better ones.” - Lionel Suggs
70. “If I wasn't so phenomenal. I would go back to you.” - Coco J. Ginger
71. “It's not a case of the glass being half full or half empty; more that we tipped a whole half-pint into an empty pint pot. I had to see how much was there, though, and now I know.” - Nick Hornby
72. “There's more to life than love.” - Ramon Bautista
73. “In order to fly you have to create space in the open air so that your wings can really spread out. It’s like a parachute. They only work from a high altitude. To fly you have to begin taking risks. If you don’t want to, maybe the best thing is just to give up, and keep walking forever.” - Jorge Bucay
74. “I’ve been so caught up with mapping out a picture-perfect “forever” that I’m completely neglecting my present, which I have far more control over anyway.” - Daria Snadowsky
75. “I’m positive I wouldn’t consider having sex with Guy if I hadn’t already had sex beforehand. I always knew I wanted my first time to be with someone I loved and who loved me, which it was . . . but shouldn’t I want that for everytime? I disagree with what Amy said about how once you go all the way, you can’t go back to “everything but.” But now that I have done it, it doesn’t seem nearly as big a deal to do it again.” - Daria Snadowsky
76. “We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.” - Pascal Mercier
77. “Every woman that finally figured out her worth, has picked up her suitcases of pride and boarded a flight to freedom, which landed in the valley of change.” - Shannon L. Alder
78. “Not forever does the bulbul singIn balmy shades of bowers,Not forever lasts the springNor ever blossom the flowers.Not forever reigneth joy,Sets the sun on days of bliss,Friendships not forever last,They know not life, who know not this.” - Khushwant Singh
79. “As long as your name is NOT Jesus,I CAN live without you” - Roezeay Dube
80. “We had our thing. It is a really good memory but now we're older. Things change.” - Abbi Glines
81. “I saw my earlier selves as different people, acquaintances I had outgrown. I wondered how I could ever have been some of them.” - Roger Zelazny
82. “This is a story about survival.Letting go and learning to let in. Getting along and moving on. The truth about life.The things left unsaid...” - Nadège Richards
83. “If you spend your time hoping someone will suffer the consequences for what they did to your heart, then you're allowing them to hurt you a second time in your mind.” - Shannon L. Alder
84. “The clock ticks; the taunting rhythm serving as a reminder that forward is the only way we can go. The mechanical heartbeat of the darkness, a cold ellipsis, punctuating years gone by. Arising unchained.No glorious hymn, just the steady beat of the illusion of time. We heal or we carry forward the weight of our wounds... To believe otherwise is the mendacity of desperation. Arising honestly. The miles behind are littered with the weight of nostalgia, but too many miles lay ahead us to carry the weight. In the end, even echoes fade away. Pen in hand...Arising to write the next chapter.(MU Articles 2013, Dedication to Joey)” - Shannon L. Alder