It may require those qualities at times, but most often, being a badass means living true to yourself, finding your inner strength, and holding your head up high. Does that sound like you? If not, maybe your inner badass is begging to be released. Through the ups and downs of life, we sometimes need a little push to remind ourselves of our own badassery — and nothing does the job as well as some words of wisdom from experts and thought leaders. Bad days are unavoidable, but if you see yourself as a fighter, you will find the inner strength to rise above life’s difficulties. On those days, hold on tight to your principles and goals, and reassure yourself that you are capable of more than you imagine.
How to Use These Quotes for Your Own Badassery
How can you leverage quotes to amp up your badassery? Rev your engine? Pump up the volume? We’ve got a few ideas.
Get a Tattoo: Get the full quote — or just a portion — inked somewhere special. Another option is getting a symbol or graphic that represents the quote. Get a Custom Bumper Sticker: Yes, you can get custom bumper stickers made! Let the world know where you stand by getting one with your favorite empowering saying. Add a Flag to Your Motorcycle: Do you ride? Are motorcycle flags your style? Treat yourself to a tailor-made “sigil” that includes your favorite quote, and let your “badassery flag” fly! Get a Quote Shirt: These days, t-shirts are a “hot” fashion item — especially the unique ones. So why not order one with an empowering quote? Not only will it give you a boost — but don’t be surprised when strangers stop you to say, “I love your shirt!”
117 Badass Quotes for Your Inner Rebel
Whether today is one of those days, or you’re just looking for some motivation and inspiration to face a tough challenge, here are some of the best badass quotes to keep you pushing forward through any storm.
Best Badass Quotes
- “I got my own back.” ― Maya Angelou
- “And the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ― Anais Nin
- “Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves to the ordinary.” ― Cecil Beaton
- “When something bad happens, you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let it destroy you or let it strengthen you.” ― Kay-Marie Fletcher
- “A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.” ― Coco Chanel
- “A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
- “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” ― Confucius
- “I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible; to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance, to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom, and that which came to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.” ― Dawna Markova
- “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” ― Oscar Wilde
- “It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.” ― Mae Jemison
- “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.” ― Eric Thomas
- “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
- “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” ― Michael Jordan
- “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ― Sarah Frances Brown
- “Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen… yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.” ― Bradley Whitford
You Are a Badass Quotes
Do you need a reminder of your strength and resilience? These quotes can be the badass captions for your life to kickstart your badassery. 21. “Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” ― Joshua J. Marine 22. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” ― Henry Ford 23. “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” ― Bruce Lee 24. “You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.” ― Beverly Sills 25. “Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt 26. “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” ― Og Mandino 27. “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt 28. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.” ― Marcel Proust 29. “A bird on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on her own wings. Always believe in yourself.” ― Unknown 30. “You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ― André Gide 31. “Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen… yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.” ― Bradley Whitford 32. “You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.”—Sophia Bush 33. “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain 34. “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” – Benjamin Franklin 35. “There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” – Aristotle
Badass Quotes about Love
Who said love was easy? Romantic relationships can reveal your badass status when the going gets bumpy. These badass relationship quotes will help you stand strong in yourself even when you’re coupled. 36. “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” ― Dr. Seuss 37. “I have learned not to worry about love, but to honour it’s coming with all my heart.” ― Alice Walker 38. “What you call love was invented by guys like me–to sell nylons.” ― Don Draper 39. “I think, therefore I’m single.” ― Liz Winston 40. “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.” ― Maya Angelou 41. “Of course I am not worried about intimidating men. The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in.” ― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 42. “I have to go. I have a finite amount of life and I don’t want to spend it arguing with you.” ― Jenny Trout 43. “Never let a fool kiss you, or a kiss fool you.” ― Joey Adams 44. “You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see smart women with a dumb guy.” ―Erica Jong 45. “Once we recognize what it is we are feeling, once we recognize we can feel deeply, love deeply, can feel joy, then we will demand that all parts of our lives produce that kind of joy.” -Audre Lorde 46. “Never love anyone who treats you like you’re ordinary.” ― Oscar Wilde 47. “You are terrifying and strange and beautiful, something not everyone knows how to love.” ― Warsan Shire
Badass Quotes for Women
Hey ladies, let your badass-ness shine and show the world how tough you are with these badass girl quotes. 48. “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, ‘I’m possible!’” ― Audrey Hepburn 49. “Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others.” ― H. Jackson Brown, Jr. 50. “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” ― Bruce Lee 51. “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” ― Ayn Rand 52. “Tell the negative committee that meets inside your head to sit down and shut up.” ― Ann Bradford 53. “I don’t believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be.” ― Ken Venturi 54. “Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn’t be done.” — Amelia Earhart 55. “I use the negativity to fuel the transformation into a better me.”— Beyoncé 56. “Well-behaved women seldom make history.”— Laurel Thatcher Ulrich 57. “Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” -Farrah Gray 58. “Do not compare. You paint differently because you are different.” -Frank Lynn 59. “Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” – Jamie Paolinetti 60. “A man does what he can; a woman does what a man cannot.” – Isabel Allende 61. “It’s not my responsibility to be beautiful. I’m not alive for that purpose.” – Warsan Shire 62. “If you touch me, I’ll provide you with the opportunity to see if you can heal yourself.” – Richelle Mead
Badass Quotes for Guys
Ok men, we’re not leaving you out here. These be badass quotes were written with you in mind. 63. “Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart.” ― Ancient Indian Proverb 64. “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” ― Albert Einstein 65. “Just keep moving forward and don’t give a shit about what anybody thinks. Do what you have to do, for you.” — Johnny Depp The Definitive List Of 85 Personality Strengths And Weaknesses
13 Endearing Traits Of Someone With A Warm Personality 66. “Man is nothing else, but what he makes of himself.” —Jean-Paul Sartre 67. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” — Martin Luther King Jr. 68. “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” — Lance Armstrong 69. “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” — Van Gogh
Badass Quotes for Tattoos
Plan on getting a new tat? Let it express your inner rebel or noble self with these badass tattoo quotes. 70. “It takes skill to be real.” ― Tupac Shakur 71. “The best is the enemy of the good.” — Voltaire 72. “The best revenge is massive success.” — Frank Sinatra 73. “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” — Muhammad Ali 74. “I will go anywhere as long as it is forward.” — David Livingston 75. “Bitches get stuff done.” —Tina Fey 76. “Fall seven times. Stand up eight.” ― Ancient Japanese Proverb 77. “I don’t have dreams, I have goals.” ― Harvey Specter 78. “Too weird to live, and too rare to die.” ― Hunter S. Thompson
Funny Badass Quotes
Badassery doesn’t always have to be serious. Maybe you want some funny badass quotes for selfies or badass captions for Instagram. Let your humor be your strength. 79. “I don’t know the question, but sex is definitely the answer.” — Woody Allen 80. “Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of how awesome I am” — Harvey Specter. 81. “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” — Mike Tyson 82. “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” — Winston S. Churchill 83. “Do today what others won’t and achieve tomorrow what others can’t.” — Jerry Rice 84. “I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.” — Richard Feynman 85. “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” — John A. Shedd 86. “Push that snooze button and you’ll end up working for someone who didn’t.” – Eric Thomas 87. “The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Short Badass Quotes
Some believe if you can’t say it in a few words, it shouldn’t be said. Most badass quotes can get the point across without being wordy. Take a look at these. 88. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” ― George Bernard Shaw 89. “The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself.” ― Eddie Vedder 90. “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” ― Oscar Wilde 91. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” ― George Addair 92. “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” ― Oscar Wilde 93. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” ― Helen Keller 94. “Either I will find a way, or I will make one.” ― Philip Sidney 95. “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” — Friedrich Nietzsche 96. “Passion first, and everything else will fall into place.” — Holly Holm 97. “I think my goal is a goal, and not all my goals are pretty.” — Alex Morgan 98. “Choose people who lift you up.” — Michelle Obama 99. “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”— Dolly Parton 100. “We become what we think about.” — Earl Nightingale 101. “Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” — Gloria Steinem 102. “Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.” — Yoda 103. “Someday is not a day of the week.” —Denise Brennan-Nelson 104. “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” ― Walt Disney 105. “Ask yourself this question, will this matter a year from now?” — Richard Carlson 106. “Never let success get to your head, never let failure get to your heart.” ― Maurice Lavelle 107. “Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.” ― Frank Zappa
Savage Short Badass Quotes
- “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” ― Billie Jean King
- “Women are the real architects of society.” ― Cher
- “They told me I couldn’t. That’s why I did.” ― Unknown
- “What good is money if you can’t use it to strike fear into the hearts of your fellow men?” ― Montgomery Burns
- “Take me as I am or watch me as I leave.” ― Unknown
- “Never retract, never explain, never apologize. Just get things done and let them howl.” — Nellie McClung
- “I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.” ― Madonna
- “You can’t move mountains by whispering at them.” — Pink
- “If you don’t like how the table is set, turn over the table.” — Frank Underwood, House of Cards
- “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill
What is your favorite badass quote?
These quotes about being a badass show us that true strength has nothing to do with being rough. It’s all about confidence and determination. Remember that we all face obstacles and failures. There is no such thing as continual success. However, it’s how you react to defeat and what you learn from the experience that defines who you are. If you dare to try and don’t give up on yourself or your goals, you are a badass ― and, if you keep on moving forward, you will definitely reach your objectives. Why not remind your friends and family that they can do it by sharing some of these most badass quotes on your preferred social media platform? May courage and perseverance influence everything you do today!
