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Short quotes to spark instant inspiration.

In a few words, short quotes send big meaning—from life, to family, to love, and more.

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Best overall short quotes for every kind of project.

You wear a lot of hats. You’re somebody’s child, and you might be someone’s sibling. Maybe you’re a parent, too. Then, there’s work. You’re a support to some and a subordinate to others. Among friends, you play another part.

Every hat you wear is part of this colorful thing called life, like so many hats hanging on hooks in the mudroom. To play all those parts well, you need the right script.

When you need your line for a friend’s birthday card, or a coworker’s retirement banner, or a letter about life to your folks, you can turn to the world’s best short quotes.

Short quotes pare big ideas into bite-size pieces. History’s best thinkers, leaders, and personalities left us with a legacy of quotes that are short enough to fit anywhere.

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Short quotes about life.

Short quotes aren’t less profound, they’re just quick to the point. Some of the most famous deep short quotes send powerful life messages in 89 characters or less.

Some days, maybe you need an instant dose of meaning faster than you need your morning coffee. These short life quotes do the trick. For the times you want to share reflections with others, these quotes make great openers for letters, too.

Choose from these short quotes about life and bask in the big meaning they offer in few words.

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“Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.”

Seneca

“Life itself is the most wonderful fairytale.”

Hans Christian Andersen

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Brown Line Drawing Quote Instagram Square Post

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Red and Cyan Artistic Style Inspirational Quote Square Instagram Square

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Pink & Black Quote Instagram Square Post

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Positive short quotes.

If quotes about life are like your mental cup of morning Joe, positive short quotes are the sugar cubes you drop into it. Positivity makes life sweeter. They conjure a brighter outlook and a healthy mindset that sticks.

Choose the quotes that instantly warm you from the inside out and share them with the people you know ought to feel the same. All it takes is a well-chosen quote in a card, social media graphic, collage, or message.

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“Life is the flower for which love is the honey.”

Victor Hugo

“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“What we think, we become.”

Buddha

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”

Aristotle

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Inspiring short quotes.

What can inspiring short quotes stir you to do? Everything. Most of these are motivational quotes we need when it’s hard to start something, or hard to keep going. Those moments when we struggle to get in gear are when short inspiring quotes do their magic.

Choose your favorite quotes and memorize a few. These short quotes to inspire you can become mantras if you let them. As it turns out, short quotes are no less mighty.

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“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”

Buddha

“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.”

H.G. Wells

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Funny short quotes.

The purpose of some short quotes is to make us laugh. These funny short quotes are memorable ones. Somehow, miraculously, in 16 words or less, they transmit meaning and leave us smiling.

On days when we struggle, humor is the aloe vera to a sunburned back. On days we love life, it’s the cherry on top of the sundae. Choose your favorite funny short quotes and know that others will love them, too. Then, let Adobe Express help you share them in cards, collages, posters, and more—no experience required.

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“Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it.”

Oscar Wilde

“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.”

Oscar Wilde

“Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.”

Oscar Wilde

“I have nothing to declare except my genius.”

Oscar Wilde

“I can resist everything except temptation.”

Oscar Wilde

How to turn short quotes into eye-catching designs.

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Select your favorite short quote.

Pick a quote that matches the mood or message you want to share.

Choose a design style.

Open Adobe Express and browse templates. You can select classic, modern or artistic styles that suit your short quote.

Emphasise the words.

Place the quote in a prominent position. Try different fonts and layouts to make it attractive.

Enhance the visual appeal.

Add supporting visuals, frames, colors or filters to enhance the quote without distracting from it.

Share your creation.

Download or post directly from Adobe Express, ensuring the quote is clear, inspiring and visually appealing.

Short love quotes.

Whether it’s romantic love, an adoring friend, a parent, or a pet, the feeling we call “love” that wells up in your chest is hard to describe. Love leaves us lost for words, so it’s handy to have these short love quotes at the ready.

It’s taken the world’s cleverest writers, poets, and personalities to come up with quotes that describe this wonderful feeling so instantaneously. Their brevity makes these short quotes perfect for banners, posters, cards, and letters to send to shower someone in love.

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“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

William Shakespeare

“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”

Oscar Wilde

“At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.”

Plato

“We loved with a love that was more than love.”

Edgar Allan Poe

“Love conquers all.”

Virgil

“Love is the beauty of the soul.”

Saint Augustine

“Love is the poetry of the senses.”

Honore de Balzac

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

Short family quotes.

For some family members, we’re their children. For others, we’re parents. We’re siblings, cousins, grandkids, nieces, and nephews. Each relationship comes with annual visits, birthdays, reunions, and no shortage of family anecdotes.

We play so many roles for different family members that summing it up in a quote is a tall order. Nonetheless, there are short family quotes that instantly take you home. Choose your favorites and you’ll have the perfect short quotes to include in cards, banners, and collages for the next family event.

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“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Leo Tolstoy

“The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.”

Confucius

Short friendship quotes.

Do your friends know how often you think about them? As we mull through the day, random thoughts click through our minds like so many falling dominoes. A split-second memory might fade into “what’s for lunch,” followed by the lyrics of a favorite song. In all the noise, we frequently think of our friends. The memories resurface. The things we want to do bubble up.

Friendship is something we choose. It’s something we make. As part of that effort, it means a lot to show our friends we’re thinking of them. Peruse these short friendship quotes and see which ones make you think of your best buds. Send a quote in a message or even a social media graphic—with Adobe Express, you can make something they’ll remember, no experience required.

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“A friend to all is a friend to none.”

Aristotle

“Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.”

Cicero

“Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.”

Aristotle

“No road is long with good company.”

Proverb

Historic short quotes.

The best overall short quotes are the ones that have lasted through the ages. Some are centuries old, and some are 20^th-century additions that have been engraved forever on our hearts.

What makes a history quote lasting? Maybe it’s how well they make their points. In so few words and with such simple phrases, our perspectives are challenged and the world turned on its head. These historic short quotes inspire us, amaze us, and never lose their magic as time goes on.

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“I think, therefore I am.”

René Descartes

“All men are created equal.”

Declaration of Independence

“To be, or not to be, that is the question.”

William Shakespeare

Tips to use short quotes.

The best part about short quotes is their length. Character limits are unlikely to stop you from using any one of these memorable aphorisms wherever you want.

There are other things to keep in mind to use these short quotes well, though. For example:

Despite the inflated life shown on social media, not everything we share has to be profound. Ask yourself what the purpose of your short quote is. Do you want to make someone smile? Do you want to say, “I’m thinking of you?” That can be enough.

Consider the context of the short quotes you use. One example not on this list are the song lyrics. The full song is scathing and sarcastic, but people who don’t know that use the quote as a pleasantry.

Think of the quote’s author as part of the message you send.

Exercise: A quote a day.

Short quotes are ideal for projects with limited space like posters, banners, and cards.

Or, for a fresh idea, try to use one of these short quotes every day until you exhaust the list.

You can:

Send one in a text to a friend

Use one in a social media banner

Drop one in casual conversation

Use one to start a vision board

Ask people what they think about a quote

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Adobe Express can help.

Adobe Express has templates and customization tools to put your favorite short quotes to work. If you want to use short quotes in cards, letters, posters, banners, collages, flyers, or other creative projects, Adobe Express makes it as simple as picking a template and personalizing it, or making your own idea with easy-to-use tools. Whatever message you want to transmit, Adobe Express brings it to life, no experience required.

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