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How many times have you been with a friend going through a difficult time and couldn’t find the right words to make them feel better? Next time you’ll know exactly what to say as here are 90 positive quotes to cheer up a friend who is sad, depressed, grieving, or heartbroken.
Of course, there are always classic empowering phrases available to you, such as “Everything will be alright”, “It’s gonna be fine”, “You’re gonna be okay”, or “You’ll get through this”. Sadly, because they are so common, they don’t always sound convincing anymore. That’s why it’s good to have a bunch of positive quotes in your arsenal that can cheer up your friend and let them see the situation with a fresh set of eyes.
Know when not to cheer up
One of the benefits of having close friends is that you can always expect to hear words of encouragement from each other in times of despair. You are there for each other, no matter what happens, and there is always a warm steady shoulder to lean on when the ground is falling out from underneath your feet.
Sometimes, however, your friend might need some alone time: to accept what happened and process their emotions. If you keep trying to cheer them up, they’ll get annoyed and maybe even angry at you.
Listen to your friend when they open up to you, let them know you are always available when they need you, but give them some space too if that’s what they ask for.
Even though it hurts you to see your loved one sad like this, sometimes it’s better to leave them alone and let them feel all the feelings without witnesses.
And when your friend is ready to heal and move on, these cheer-up quotes will help you uplift them!
10 best quotes to cheer up a friend
When you are in your head too much, the darkness of the situation often is magnified, while in reality, it’s far from the end of the world. Sometimes you need to pull your friend out of a swamp of negativity and show them the light.
Here are 10 quotes that will quickly cheer up your friend:
1. Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction. – Germany Kent
2. Today is the day you choose to find joy, fulfillment and the path that will make your heart sing. It’s your choice, never lose sight of that. – C. Toni Graham
3. Every day is a new day, and you’ll never be able to find happiness if you don’t move on. – Carrie Underwood
4. Don’t give up when dark times come. The more storms you face in life, the stronger you’ll be. Hold on. Your greater is coming. – Germany Kent
5. You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, love like you’ll never be hurt, sing like there’s nobody listening, and live like it’s heaven on earth. – William W. Purkey
6. If I could give you one thing, it would be the ability to see yourself through my eyes. Only then you will truly understand how special you are. – Frida Kahlo
7. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
8. When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. – Helen Keller
9. Give it time, relax, and don’t let anxiety hold you down with its claws. It can only get better. – Unknown
10. Give yourself the sacred medicine of your own love and presence. – Hayley Zammit
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Short quotes to cheer up a friend
Here is a bunch of short cheer-up messages to share with a friend in a moment of despair.
11. There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t. – John Green
12. Smile to lighten up. – Debasish Mridha
13. You are stronger than you know. – Lori Newman
14. If you’ve got nothing to dance about, find a reason to sing. – Melody Carstairs
15. Everything is within your power, and your power is within you. – Janice Trachtman
16. Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle. – Benjamin Franklin
17. It’s amazing how a little tomorrow can make up for a whole lot of yesterday. – John Guare
18. Cheer up, tomorrow is another chance. – Unknown
19. Lighten up. Brighten up. Smile. – A.D. Posey
20. Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions. – Dalai Lama XIV
Quotes to cheer up a friend who is sad
Various life events can pull you into sadness. From difficulties at work to family issues to romantic mishaps, there is no shortage of negative events that can lower your vibration and make you feel sad. Sometimes you just have a bad day and feel sad for no reason, and that’s okay too.
Whenever you need to cheer up a sad friend, here are some inspiring quotes:
21. The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keep out the joy. – Jim Rohn
22. You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming. – Pablo Neruda
23. Get immersed in the beauty that surrounds you. No filters, edits, or adjustments. Experience the colors, sounds, textures and smells within your reach. Live. – C. Toni Graham
24. Say It Out Loud: I AM beautiful. I AM worthy. I AM somebody. I DO deserve to be genuinely loved. I DO deserve to be respected. I DO deserve happiness. – Stephanie Lahart
25. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down. – Mary Pickford
26. Don’t believe negative voices. Listen to the divine instinct of awaken soul. – Lailah Gifty Akita
27. Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water. – Christopher Morley
28. If it’s not exactly like you thought it would be, you think it’s a failure. What about the spectrum of colors in between? – Sara Evans
29. If you’re reading this… Congratulations, you’re alive. If that’s not something to smile about, then I don’t know what is. – Chad Sugg
30. No one knows what you have been through or what your pretty little eyes have seen, but I can reassure you ~ whatever you have conquered, it shines through your mind. – Nikki Rowe
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Funny quotes to cheer up a friend
A burst of laughter is a fast and proven way to relieve stress, and smiling has many benefits for your wellbeing. Even the darkest situation can sometimes be lightened with a bit of humor. Here are a few funny quotes to cheer up a friend who is sad:
31. We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. – Oscar Wilde
32. Whatever you are, be a good one. – Abraham Lincoln
33. She wore her scars as her best attire. A stunning dress made of hellfire. – Daniel Saint
34. Wise is the fool who becomes a master at laughter. – Curtis Tyrone Jones
35. Gather your strength, woman. And move on. – Mitta Xinindlu
36. Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’! – Audrey Hepburn
37. When God is ready for you to move, He will make your situation uncomfortable. – Germany Kent
38. Sometimes life knocks you on your ass… get up, get up, get up! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them. – Steve Maraboli
39. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go. – Dr. Seuss
40. Your heart is the size of an ocean. Go find yourself in its hidden depths. – Rumi
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Quotes to cheer up a friend who’s depressed
Depression is a much more severe mood issue than just sadness, and can’t always be “fixed” with inspirational quotes. If your friend seems depressed for a long time without any sign of improvement, consider offering them online therapy.
Nevertheless, here are a few positive reminders you can share with a depressed friend:
41. I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains. – Anne Frank
42. Close your eyes and turn your face into the wind. Feel it sweep along your skin in an invisible ocean of exultation. Suddenly, you know you are alive. – Vera Nazarian
43. It is only in our darkest hours that we may discover the true strength of the brilliant light within ourselves that can never, ever, be dimmed. – Doe Zantamata
44. He looked him right in the eyes and saw a man who was great and good and human, who had done extraordinary things and terrible things and been broken and reassembled as a shell, only then to do the bravest thing of all: He had kept on living, though there are easier paths to take. – Laini Taylor
45. If you’re struggling today, remember that life is worth living and believe that the best is yet to come. Remember that you are loved, you matter, and never forget that there is always hope. – Germany Kent
46. It’s not your time to play around, it’s a time to get up and do something precious to create your own delightful life. – Shaa Zainol
47. My scars remind me that I did indeed survive my deepest wounds. That in itself is an accomplishment. And they bring to mind something else, too. They remind me that the damage life has inflicted on me has, in many places, left me stronger and more resilient. What hurt me in the past has actually made me better equipped to face the present. – Steve Goodier
48. 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
49. You say you’re ‘depressed’ – all I see is resilience. You are allowed to feel messed up and inside out. It doesn’t mean you’re defective – it just means you’re human. – David Mitchell
50. Sometimes the only way to ever find yourself is to get completely lost. – Kellie Elmore
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Inspirational quotes to cheer up a friend
51. There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. – Albert Einstein
52. The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope. – Barack Obama
53. Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself. – Walter Anderson
54. Easy, now, and listen to me. It hurts, yes. Seems like more than you can take, but it isn’t. You think you’re going to die, but you won’t. Listen to me, because I’ve been there, and I know. Each minute. Each hour. Each day, it gets better. – Joe Abercrombie
55. Some of our struggles involve making decisions, while others are a result of the decisions we have made. Some of our struggles result from choices others make that affect our lives. We cannot always control everything that happens to us in this life, but we can control how we respond. Many struggles come as problems and pressures that sometimes cause pain. Others come as temptations, trials, and tribulations. – L. Lionel Kendrick
56. If your storm has not passed chances are there are some lessons that you have not learned. – Germany Kent
57. You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness. – Diane von Furstenberg
58. To everyone battling a difficulty or under attack right now, smile, keep your head up, keep moving and stay positive, you’ll get through it. – Germany Kent
59. Even the worst moment, day or year will become a distant, blurry memory. Keep perspective by pretending to be a future version of yourself encouraging your current self to be confident, joyful, and carefree. – Lauren Martin
60. Someday, everything will make perfect sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, be strong and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason. – John Mayer
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Quotes to cheer up a friend after death
The death of a loved one is hard on everyone, and no words can make the feeling of loss go away until it heals naturally. These cheer-up quotes might provide some support for your grieving friend:
61. Grief is the price we pay for love. – Queen Elizabeth II
62. Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form. – Rumi
63. There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love. – Washington Irving
64. Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them. – George Eliot
65. To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. – J.K. Rowling
66. Everybody in this life has their challenges and difficulties. That is part of our mortal test. The reason for some of these trials cannot be readily understood except on the basis of faith and hope because there is often a larger purpose which we do not always understand. Peace comes through hope. – James E. Faust
67. Tears shed for another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart. – José N. Harris
68. Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom. – Rumi
69. The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. – Marcus Tullius Cicero
70. You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly – that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp. – Anne Lamott
Positive quotes to cheer up a friend
71. There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights. – Bram Stoker
72. You are amazing simply for hanging in there and holding on, no matter how hard things get! And for moving forward no matter how scared you are or how anxious you feel. Yep, you are awesome. – Karen Salmansohn
73. One by one she slew her fears, and then planted a flower garden over their graves. – John Mark Green
74. But all of the survivors had one thing in common, and that was love. They survived through love. Whether love of friend, love of country, love of God, or even love of enemy – love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit. – Ruta Sepetys
75. There are many things evil people can take from you. However, they can never steal your ability to laugh and laugh loud. – Shannon L. Alder
76. Never give up hope. All things are working for your good. One day, you’ll look back on everything you’ve been through and thank God for it. – Germany Kent
77. A star falls from the sky and into your hands. Then it seeps through your veins and swims inside your blood and becomes every part of you. And then you have to put it back into the sky. And it’s the most painful thing you’ll ever have to do and that you’ve ever done. But what’s yours is yours. Whether it’s up in the sky or here in your hands. And one day, it’ll fall from the sky and hit you in the head real hard and that time, you won’t have to put it back in the sky again. – C. JoyBell C.
78. Every pain, rejection and humiliation you encounter is seasonal and it will pass. Try not to be discouraged by it because the new day is about to dawn in your life. – Euginia Herlihy
79. Don’t dwell too much on the past. The lessons are useful for the present and a preparation for the future. Move on! – Lailah Gifty Akita
80. Let go. Why do you cling to pain? There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is not yours to judge. Why hold on to the very thing which keeps you from hope and love? – Leo Buscaglia
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Quotes to cheer up a friend with a broken heart
Nothing can break your heart into small pieces worse than a person you open it for. Here are inspirational cheer up quotes for a heartbroken friend:
81. Whatever you need right now – a listening ear, a pint of ice cream, a bottle of wine – I’m here. – Unknown
82. I loved him, every inch of his being, but I realized one day: if loving him meant losing me, than loving him was not enough anymore. – Nikki Rowe
83. If you can love someone with your whole heart, even one person, then there’s salvation in life. Even if you can’t get together with that person. – Haruki Murakami
84. Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. – Alfred Lord Tennyson
85. No one can tell you what to expect or can offer a guide to grief. Because every relationship is so unique, no two people grieve the same way. And you have no idea how you are going to grieve till you are grieving. – Alysia Reiner
86. If pain must come, may it come quickly. Because I have a life to live, and I need to live it in the best way possible. If he has to make a choice, may he make it now. Then I will either wait for him or forget him. – Paulo Coelho
87. Some people are going to leave, but that’s not the end of your story. That’s the end of their part in your story. – Faraaz Kazi
88. Not all breakups are loud and dramatic. Sometimes a breakup is simply a decision made in a quiet space in your soul, to not allow the other person to hurt you anymore. No more explanations. – Sama Akbar
89. Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together. – Marilyn Monroe
90. Being your own light ensures that you will never need another to pull you out of darkness again. – Gary Hopkins
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Final thoughts on cheer up quotes for a friend
These were all my 90 inspirational quotes to cheer up a sad friend! Hopefully, you found one or two that are perfect for your friend’s situation.
While positive encouragement is important, it’s more important that you are there for your friend, wanting to make them feel better. This is a sign of a great friend. I wish more people were like you!
More positive quotes for you:
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