Inspirational And Motivational Quotes About The New Year & New Year's Eve

Medically reviewed by April Justice, LICSW
Updated November 11, 2024by BetterHelp Editorial Team

“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.” –Melody Beattie

New Year’s Day is a popular holiday worldwide due to its representation of hope, transformation, and a fresh start. Many people set resolutions for the year ahead designed to help them reach their goals or make healthier choices. According to a 2023 analysis of social media posts about New Year’s resolutions, the most common types of goals set in January include those related to “personal cultivation,” financial health, good housekeeping, improved relationships, and improved physical health. Whatever your goals for 2024, you might consider reading through a few popular inspirational, motivational, and emotional quotes about new years to guide you in setting your resolutions or otherwise making positive changes going into the new year.

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How inspirational quotes may benefit you in the new year
Although New Year’s is often considered a positive and celebratory holiday, it may not be without its challenges. Difficulty coping with last year’s regrets, trouble finding motivation, or challenging present circumstances can make this perceived new beginning feel daunting. 

Inspirational quotes are one way to connect with your inner drive and motivation and experience a sense of inspiration, motivation, and excitement for a new beginning. A study in Frontiers in Psychology even suggests that motivational quotes may help significantly improve self-esteem, especially in people with chronic physical or mental health conditions, which could help you achieve your goals.
For this reason, finding some favorite quotes about the new year that you can refer back to often may be a helpful strategy for starting new year’s on a positive note.

Inspirational quotes for a new year
Below are some of the best new year quotes about making the most of the whole year, as well as about celebrating this fresh opportunity for renewal and growth with loved ones. These quotes can boost your mood, restore motivation, inspire your new year resolutions, or just help you have a happy new year.
  • “I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, and changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.” –Neil Gaiman 
  • “Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.’” –Alfred Lord Tennyson 
  • “New year is the glittering light to brighten the dream-lined pathway of the future.” -Munia Khan
  • “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” –Oprah Winfrey
  • “And now we welcome the new year—Full of things that have never been.” –Rainer Maria Rilke
  • “Let our New Year’s resolution be this: We will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word.” –Goran Persson
  • “In the New Year, never forget to thank your past years, because they enabled you to reach today. Without the stairs of the past, you cannot arrive at the future!” –Mehmet Murat Ildan 
  • “Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on.” –Hal Borland 
  • “When you’re young, you’re encouraged to try new things. At a certain age, nobody says that to you anymore. If you’re lucky enough to be alive, why not say ‘yes’ to all of it at any age?” –Mary Steenburgen 
  • “Each year's regrets are envelopes in which messages of hope are found for the New Year.” -John R. Dallas Jr.
  • “Midnight on New Year’s Eve is a unique kind of magic where, just for a moment, the past and the future exist at once in the present. Whether we’re aware of it or not, as we count down together to it, we’re sharing the burden of our history and committing to the promise of tomorrow.” –Hillary Depiano 

Motivational quotes for the new year
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Reading motivational new year quotes may be helpful for you when making New Year’s resolutions and when putting them into action. Below are a few new year quotes to consider.  
  • “Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.” –Cavett Robert 
  • “New Year’s Day [is a] fresh start [and] a new chapter waiting to be written. It involves new questions to be asked, embraced, and loved and answers to be discovered and then lived in this transformative year of delight and self-discovery. Today, carve out a quiet interlude for yourself in which to dream.” –Sarah Ban Breathnach 
  • "Approach the new year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day." Michael Josephson
  • “New Year—a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately, we write it. The choice is ours.” –Alex Morritt 
  • “The road ahead is not some predetermined path that I am forced to trod, but it is a rich byway that I can help create.” –Craig D. Lounsbrough 
  • “In every changing season, may we find a reason to stand in awe, appreciate, and cherish every view.” –Oscar Auliq-Ice 
  • “New year. Same person. New motivations.” –Torron-Lee Dewar 
  • “Celebrate endings—for they precede new beginnings.” –Jonathan Lockwood Huie 
  • “Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.” - Oscar Wilde
  • “The place in which I’ll fit will not exist until I make it.” –James Baldwin
  • “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” –George Eliot  

Emotional quotes for the new year 

The close of one year and the start of another can bring up a variety of emotions, from sadness and grief to excitement and hope. If you're looking for emotional comfort or inspiration, the following quotes may be helpful to you going into the new year.

  • “Accept what people offer. Drink their milkshakes. Take their love.” –Wally Lamb
  • “We all have two lives. The second one begins when we realize we only have one.” –Unknown 
  • “Have enough courage to trust love one more time, and always one more time.” –Maya Angelou 
  • “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.” –T.S. Eliot 
  • “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” –Brad Paisley 
  • “As long as I am breathing, in my eyes, I am just beginning.” –Criss Jami 
  • “The older I get, the more I realize the importance of connectivity [and] not taking people for granted. Don’t be so busy “doing you” that you lose sight of those who love and support you.” –Liz Faublas 
  • "This year's book, at midnight, turns to footnote in the next." -Terri Guillemets
  • “Write in your heart that every day is the best day of the year.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson 
  • “Past and present I know well; each is a friend and sometimes an enemy to me. But it is the quiet, beckoning future, an absolute stranger, with whom I have fallen madly in love.” –Richelle E. Goodrich 
  • “New Year is another opportunity to see life with a little more caring, compassion, maturity, and beauty.” –Amit Ray 
  • “In our perfect ways. In some ways we are beautiful. In the way we are human. We are here. Happy New Year’s! Let’s make it ours.” –Beyoncé 

Funny new year quotes
According to psychological research, laughter may have the potential to reduce stress. Reading some of the following funny new year quotes may give you a chuckle and add some levity to new year’s day.
  • “Deep breaths are very helpful at shallow parties.” –Barbara Walters
  • “Ring out the false, ring in the true.” –Alfred Lord Tennyson 
  • “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” –Bill Vaughan 
  • “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.” –Unknown 
  • “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” –Michael Altshuler 
  • “If you can’t make up your mind this year, there’s always next year!” –Anthony T. Hincks 
  • “Before I agree to 2024, I need to see some terms and conditions.” –Unknown 
  • “Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.” –Bill Vaughn 
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Seeking professional support in 2024
As you enter a new year, releasing the past and finding inspiration for the future can be challenging. It may be helpful to talk to a therapist during this time to brainstorm ways to move forward and to learn healthy coping mechanisms for the holiday and the next 12 months. 

If you face barriers to finding a therapist in your area, such as distance, finances, or scheduling difficulties, you may be able to find support through an online platform like BetterHelp. It allows you to get matched with and then speak with a therapist from the comfort of home via phone, video, and/or in-app messaging at a time that works for your schedule.

Studies suggest that online therapy can be as effective as in-person therapy, with some researchers indicating that it may be even more effective in some cases. One study, for example, suggests that online therapy may be more efficacious than face-to-face treatment in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. 

Takeaway

Reading quotes can be a beneficial way to connect with your goals this holiday season. Consider the above quotes when looking for inspiration or motivation for a happy new year. You may also contact a licensed therapist online or in your area for further guidance, insight, and support this new years or anytime of year.
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