My husband turned fifty earlier this month.  I wanted to give him a gift that was purposeful, somehow acknowledging this milestone in meaningful way.  I struggled with how to do that. Then the idea of compiling fabulous quotes for someone turning fifty came to me.  Whenever I have searched for meaning, needed inspiration, or struggled in life, quotes have comforted me. Why not carefully select quotes about life, love, and more to honor my husband’s milestone?  I’ve included the quotes I selected for my husband. Their authors range from an ancient Greek playwright to contemporary musicians and athletes. Some of the quotes have been with me for thirty years.  They almost feel like old friends. I like that they are the thoughts of men and women of diverse ethnicities and races. I feel that their combined voices echo truth. I’ve included my all-time favorite quote at the very end.  This quote, in particular, has gotten me through the darkest of times. My husband enjoyed this quote compilation and I hope you will too.  Rather than listing the quotes randomly, I’ve organized them into ten different themes.

New Perspectives and Experiences

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

“Sometimes a change of perspective is all it takes to see the light.” ~Dan Brown

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you looks at change.” ~Wayne Dyer

“New experiences give you new perspectives on life.” ~Sam Hunt

 

Love

“There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.” ~George Sand

“Love like you have never been hurt.” ~Satchel Paige

“There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.” ~Bryant H. McGill

“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” ~Mignon McLaughlin

“To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow-this is a human offering that can border on miraculous.” ~Elizabeth Gilbert

 

Family

“The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, lies in its loyalty to each other.” ~Mario Puzo

“To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.” ~Barbara Bush

“Family is the most important thing in the world.” ~Princess Diana

“The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.” ~Lee Iacocca

“My family is my life, and everything else comes second as far as what’s important to me.” ~Michael Imperioli

 

Friendship

“Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.” ~Euripides

“True friends are always together in spirit.” ~L.M. Montgomery

“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.” ~Helen Keller

“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” ~Oprah Winfrey

“The best part of life is when your family become your friends and your friends become your family.” ~Robin Roberts

 

Raising Children

“Having a baby is a life-changer.  It gives you a whole other perspective on why you wake up every day.” ~Taylor Hanson

“The most important thing a father can do for his children is love their mother.” ~Theodore Hesburgh

“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.” ~Peggy O’Mara

“Making the decision to have a child-it’s momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body.” ~Elizabeth Stone

“Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded.” ~Jess Lair

 

Work

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.” ~Colin Powell

“I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.” ~Esteé Lauder

“Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds.” ~Gordon B. Hinckley

“I don’t have time for hobbies.  At the end of the day, I treat my job as a hobby.  It’s something I love doing.” ~David Beckham

“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” ~Rumi

 

Challenges and Obstacles

“…but if the path set before her feet was to be narrow she knew that flowers of quiet happiness would bloom along it.” ~L.M. Montgomery

“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” ~Oprah Winfrey

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” ~Moliére

“It’s the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth.” ~Sarah Dessen

“The tests we face in life’s journey are not to reveal our weaknesses but to help us discover our inner strengths.  We can only know how strong we are when we strive and thrive beyond the challenges we face.” ~Kemi Songule

 

Life Lessons

“Do the best you can until you know better.  Then when you know better, do better.” ~Maya Angelou

“The hardest thing in life to learn is which bridge to cross and which bridge to burn.” ~David Russell

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

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” ~Jane Goodall

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” ~Ruth Bader Ginsburg

 

Aging

“Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” ~David Bowie

“Aging is not ‘lost youth’ but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” ~Betty Friedan

“Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” ~Samuel Ullman

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old.  We grow old because we stop playing.” ~George Bernard Shaw

“I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life.” ~Louise Hay

 

Life

“Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.” ~John W. Gardner

“There are two great days in a person’s life-the day we are born and the day we discover why.” ~William Barclay

“My mission in life in not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some some compassion, some humor, and some style.” ~Maya Angelou

“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” ~Charles R. Swindoll

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” ~Paulo Coelho