Letting go is often quite hard, but there comes a time when we must. That is one of the most important life lessons each one of us must learn. It is only by letting go that we are able to move on with our lives. It is only by letting go that we can forgive and, hopefully, forget.
Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone or something anymore. It just means that you realize that the only thing you truly have control over is yourself. It doesn’t mean you wanted to, it just means that you had to. You had to because letting go is a necessary process of adapting to the ever-changing realities of life.
As is often the case with matters of the heart, you will know deep down within yourself when it’s time let go, when it’s time to turn the page. A quick gut check and sobering words of wisdom from trusted friends or great thinkers can provide all the confirmation you need.
Here are 30 powerful quotes about letting go that will move you. Because sometimes letting go is the only way to move forward.
- “Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.” – Ann Landers
- “All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.” – Havelock Ellis
- “Holding on is believing that there’s only a past; letting go is knowing that there’s a future.” – Daphne Rose Kingma
- “Letting go is the willingness to change your beliefs in order to bring more peace and joy into your life instead of holding onto beliefs that bring pain and suffering…” – Hal Tipper
- “Don’t let your mind bully your body into believing it must carry the burden of its worries.” – Astrid Alauda
- “There’s an important difference between giving up and letting go.” – Jessica Hatchigan
- “To let go is to release the images and emotions, the grudges and fears, the clingings and disappointments of the past that bind our spirit.” – Jack Kornfield
- “Letting go does not mean you stop caring. It means you stop trying to force others to.” – Mandy Hale
- “Pain will leave you, when you let go.” – Jeremy Aldana
- “You don’t need strength to let go of something. What you really need is understanding.” – Guy Finley
- “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
- “When we give ourselves the chance to let go of all our tension, the body’s natural capacity to heal itself can begin to work.” – Nhat Hanh
- “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need.” – Lao Tzu
- “When you’re passionate about something, you want it to be all it can be. But in the endgame of life, I fundamentally believe the key to happiness is letting go of that idea of perfection.” – Debra Messing
- “One problem with gazing too frequently into the past is that we may turn around to find the future has run out on us.” – Michael Cibenko
- “I think that you never fall out of love with somebody, you just let go and move on.” – Ashley Rickards
- “In the process of letting go you will lose many things from the past, but you will find yourself.” – Deepak Chopra
- “You cannot let go of anything if you cannot notice that you are holding it. Admit your ‘weaknesses’ and watch them morph into your greatest strengths.” – Neale Donald Walsch
- “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” – Lyndon B. Johnson
- “Every breath is an opportunity to receive and let go. I receive love and I let go of pain.” – Brenda MacIntyre
- “A bridge can still be built, while the bitter waters are flowing beneath.” – Anthony Liccione
- “If you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- “Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.” – Oprah Winfrey
- “Hanging onto resentment is letting someone you despise live rent-free in your head.” – Ann Landers
- “Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.” – William Arthur Ward
- “Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something.” – H. Jackson Brown
- “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
- “Truly loving another means letting go of all expectations. It means full acceptance, even celebration of another’s personhood.” – Karen Casey
- “Loving someone is setting them free, letting them go.” – Kate Winslet
- “Change has to come for life to struggle forward.” – Helen Hollick
