90 Letting Go Quotes for Moving On with Your Life
This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. That means that if you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read more here.
It can be hard to let go of the past. Whether it be a relationship, job, or even an idea about yourself that you’ve had for years and refuse to let go of – but these letting go quotes can help!
If you have things you need to let go of, these thoughtful and inspirational words can help you with healing and moving on!
The quotes in this blog post will help you learn how to let go of your past, let go of someone you loved, let go and forgive after being hurt, and let go and move on in general. They are written by successful people who know what they’re talking about!
Best quotes about letting go and moving on
Enjoy this collection of the most powerful and inspiring quotes to let go and move on. See which resonates with you the most and write them down or save them somewhere to come back to read again.
If you’re ready to move from inspiration to action, check out this list of the best affirmations for letting go to help you heal, release the past, and move forward to let go.
Let go quotes
1. “The world belongs to those who let go.” – Tao Te Ching
2. “To let go does not mean to get rid of. To let go means to let be. When we let be with compassion, things come and go on their own.” – Jack Kornfield
3. “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.” – Henry David Thoreau
4. “Just because something made you happy in the past doesn’t mean you have to keep it forever.” – Melva Green
5. “Enjoy what you can and ignore the rest. Let’s not waste any energy fighting things that are outside our control.” – Paulo Coelho
6. “Just keep in mind: the more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.” – Epictetus
7. “Give up your attachment to having things your way.” Iyanla Vanzant
8. “Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.” – Eckhart Tolle
9. “Sometimes holding on does more damage than letting go.” – Unknown
10. “Let go of certainty. The opposite isn’t uncertainty. It’s openness, curiosity, and a willingness to embrace paradox, rather than choose up sides. The ultimate challenge is to accept ourselves exactly as we are, but never stop trying to learn and grow.” – Tony Schwartz
11. “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” – Oprah Winfrey
12. “Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” – Raymond Lindquist
13. “I realise there’s something incredibly honest about trees in winter, how they’re experts at letting things go.” – Jeffrey McDaniel
14. “The more you let yourself go, the less others let you go.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
15. “The first half of life is devoted to forming a healthy ego, the second half is going inward and letting go of it.” – Carl Jung
READ MORE: 101 Positive Thinking Quotes to Brighten Your Day
READ MORE: 120 Minimalist Quotes to Simply Life Your Best Life
Quotes on when to let go
16. “Let it all go, see what stays.” – Osho
17. “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”- Alexander Graham Bell
18. “Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life.” – Epictetus
19. “One’s doing well if age improves even slightly one’s capacity to hold on to that vital truism: ‘This too shall pass’.” – Alain de Botton
20. “Holding on is believing that there’s only a past; letting go is knowing that there’s a future.” – Daphne Rose Kingma
21. “Whatever comes, let it come, what stays let stay, what goes let go.” – Papaji
22. “We need to learn to let go as easily as we grasp and we will find our hands full and our minds empty.” – Leo F. Buscaglia
23. “You don’t need strength to let go of something. What you really need is understanding.” – Guy Finley
24. “People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
25. “There comes a time in your life when you have to choose to turn the page, write another book or simply close it.” – Shannon L. Alder
BE INSPIRED: 80 End of the Year Quotes to Inspire You in 2022
Letting go of the past quotes
26. “Once you realize you deserve a bright future, letting go of your dark past is the best choice you will ever make.” – Roy T. Bennett
27. “In the process of letting go you will lose many things from the past, but you will find yourself.” – Deepak Chopra
28. “Why let go of yesterday? Because yesterday has already let go of you.” – Steve Maraboli
29. “Sometimes you can’t let go of the past without facing it again.” – Gail Tsukiyama
30. “One of the happiest moments in life is when you find the courage to let go of what you cannot change.”
READ MORE: 30 Happy Person Traits & Habits to Adopt for More Joy
31. “It’s not a matter of letting go – you would if you could. Instead of “Let it go” we should probably say “Let it be”. – Jon Kabat-Zinn
32. “Letting go isn’t a one-time thing, it’s something you have to do every day, over and over again.” – Dawson’s Creek
33. “Time doesn’t heal emotional pain, you need to learn how to let go.” – Roy T. Bennett
34. “The art is not one of forgetting but letting go. And when everything else is gone, you can be rich in loss.” – Rebecca Solnit
35. “Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.” – Wayne Dyer
36. “Letting go may sound so simple, but rarely is it a one-time thing. Just keep letting go, until one day it’s gone for good.” – Eleanor Brownn
37. “We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell
Letting go quotes about relationships
38. “When someone you love says goodbye you can stare long and hard at the door they closed and forget to see all the doors God has open in front of you.” – Shannon Alder
39. “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
40. “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
41. “Even as I hold you, I am letting you go.” – Alice Walker
42. “Sometimes people come into your life just to teach you how to let go.”
43. “When you loved someone and had to let them go, there will always be that small part of yourself that whispers, “What was it that you wanted and why didn’t you fight for it?” – Shannon L. Alder
44. “No drives, no compulsions, no needs, no attractions; when your affairs are under control you are free.” – Zhuangzi
45. “Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got.” – Robert Brault
46. “Your time is way too valuable to be wasting on people that can’t accept who you are.” – Turcois Ominek
47. “The most difficult aspect of moving on is accepting that the other person already did.” – Faraaz Kazi
48. “You will evolve past certain people. Let yourself.” – Mandy Hale
49. “Some of us think holding on makes us strong but sometimes it is letting go.” – Herman Hesse
50. “It was strange, really. A couple months ago, I had thought I couldn’t live without him. Apparently, I could.” – Gabrielle Zevin
51. “She let him go once. Every day demands that she release him over and over again.” – Julianna Baggott
52. “I think every girl has that a guy she has trouble letting go of.” – Rashida Jones
53. “It’s you who has to hold on to earth. You have to tighten your grip—which means letting go of him.” – Melissa Bank
BE INSPIRED: Top 20 Be Yourself Quotes for Embracing the Skin You’re In!
Quotes on letting go and moving on
54. “Anything you can’t control is teaching you how to let go.” – Jackson Kiddard
55. “Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu
56. “You only struggle because you’re ready to grow but aren’t willing to let go.” – Drew Gerald
57. “All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.” – Henry Havelock Ellis
58. “One of the most courageous decisions you’ll ever make is to finally let go of what is hurting your heart and soul.” – B. Nicole
59. “I demolish my bridges behind me…then there is no choice but to move forward” – Fridtjof Nansen
60. “Let go of becoming but never let go of taking action. Stop expecting and start living.” – Maxime Lagacé
61. “If you want to fly on the sky, you need to leave the earth. If you want to move forward, you need to let go the past that drags you down.” – Amit Ray
62. “It’s hard to be clear about who you are when you are carrying around a bunch of baggage from the past. I’ve learned to let go and move more quickly into the next place.” – Angelina Jolie
63. “This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.” – Rumi
64. “Nothing in the universe can stop you from letting go and starting over.” – Guy Finley
65. “We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – E. M. Forster
READ MORE: 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life and Be Happier
##Moving on quotes
66. “Moving on is easy. It’s staying moved on that’s trickier.” – Katerina Stoykova Kleme
67. “It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.” – Theodore Roosevelt
68. “Life moves on and so should we.” Spencer Johnson
69. “I think that the power is the principle. The principle of moving forward, as though you have the confidence to move forward, eventually gives you confidence when you look back and see what you’ve done.” – Robert Downey Jr.
70. “Just as a mighty boulder stirs not with the wind, so the wise are never moved either by praise or blame.” – The Dhammapada
71. “Accept what is, let go of what was, have faith in what will be.” – Sonia Ricotti
72. “The willing are led by fate, the reluctant are dragged.” – Cleanthes
73. “Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.” – Bob Newhart
74. “Take all the time you need to heal emotionally. Moving on doesn’t take a day, it takes lots of little steps to be able to break free of your broken self.” – Tere Arigo
75. “I’ve been burdened with blame trapped in the past for too long, I’m moving on” – Rascal Flatts
76. “You can’t move forward if you’re still hanging on.” – Sue Fitzmaurice
77. “But since you been gone, I can breathe for the first time. I’m so moving on.” – Kelly Clarkson
READ MORE: 100 Personal Goals Examples to Set for Yourself in 2022
Let go quotes about forgiveness
78. “Forgiveness is the final form of love.” – Reinhold Niebuhr
79. “The way of love is the way of no-expectation. Love exists only when there is a total acceptance and no desire to change anything.” – Osho
80. “Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.” – Steve Maraboli
81. “Forgiveness is a radical act of setting your soul free, and the person you blame, hate, fear or resent cannot help you with that. Only your heart holds the key.” – Anthon St. Maarten
82. “When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.” – – Catherine Ponder
83. “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” – Paul Boose
84. “Forget what hurt you but never forget what it taught you.” – Shannon L. Alder
85. “Anger has no soul. But karma… that’s a whole different story.” – Efrat Cybulkiewicz
86. “Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast.” – Marlene Dietrich
87. “As long as you don’t forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy a rent-free space in your mind.” – Isabelle Holland
Top 3 Letting go memes
Oh yes, the past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it.”
– Rafiki
It’s funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all
It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I’m freeLet it go, let it go
Elsa, Frozen
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You’ll never see me cry
“I’ll never let go, Jack. I’ll never let go.”
Rose, Titanic