116 Poems Of Encouragement
Let these short poems of encouragement inspire, motivate, and encourage you. In life, we all need encouraging people who will support us, and give us strength. Let the poetry of these Poets give you words that will uplift you and help you look at your situation with hope and positivity.The poetry here is also great to share with others who need words that are uplifting. Reading a poem can be the inspiration and encouragement that someone needs. All of these writings can help a friend or family member look at a situation with hope and excitement, rather than with fear and depression - the verses may be the encouragement that they need.
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Collections of Poems of Encouragement
Popular Encouragement Poems:
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Don't give up on your dreams, you have the potential to live them out!
- Hold Fast Your Dreams
- If Any
- As We Meet
- The Two Brothers
- Shine Just Where You Are
- Will
- Keep Going
- Trouble But Not Defeat
- Move Past This
- You Are The One
- Authenticity Declare
- Issues We All Face
- No Riches Within
- The Bright Side
- Take A Walk Around Yourself
- Being Strong
- Face The Sun
- One Task At A Time
- If For One Day
- Never Too Late To Mend
- Poor Richard's Sayings
- We Shall Be Satisfied
- The Gifts
- We Do Not Care
- If We
- Road Of Life
- The Aim Of Life
- A Pat on the Back
- I Will
- Good Times
- There Are Others
Poet: Louise Driscoll
Hold fast your dreams!
Within your heart
Keep one still, secret spot
Where dreams may go,
And, sheltered so,
May thrive and grow
Where doubt and fear are not.
O keep a place apart,
Within your heart,
For little dreams to go!
Poet: Unknown
If any little words of ours
Can make one life the brighter;
If any little song of ours
Can make one heart the lighter;
God help us speak the little word,
And take our bit of singing,
And drop it in some lonely vale,
And set the echoes raging
An uplifting poem full of encouraging verses for us to cheer each other on and to help each other
Poet: Susan Coolidge
As we meet and touch, each day,
The many travellers on our way,
Let every such brief contact be
A glorious, helpful ministry;
The contact of the soil and seed,
Each giving to the other's need,
Each helping on the other's best,
And blessing, each, as well as blest.
By Lucien M. Lewis
There were twin brothers, we are told,
Whose mother at their hour of birth
To satisfy some curious whim,
Gave them the oddest names on earth.
She named one Can, the other, Can't,
And, lest confusion might be made,
She stamped their names upon their breasts.
In letters that would never fade.
Time passed; Can was a wondrous man,
God-like in every thought and deed.
And somehow everything he touched
Straightway would prosper and succeed.
Can't was the victim of bad luck.
And failed at everything he tried;
'Till finally, the story goes,
Bad luck assailed him and he died.
O mothers of the sons of men,
O mothers of the race to be.
Stamp only Can upon their breasts;
Stamp deep that all the world may see!
You want to get ahead, you want to enjoy life, you have ambitions, then read this poem by John Hay which encourages us to shine where we are. If we do that everything else will fall in line!
By John Hay
Don't waste your time in longing
For bright, impossible things;
Don't sit supinely yearning
For the swiftness of wings;
Don't spurn to be a rushlight
Because you are not a star.
But brighten some bit of darkness
By shining just where you are.
There is need of the tiniest candle
As well as the garish sun;
The humblest deed is ennobled
When it is worthily done;
You may never be called to brighten
The darkest regions afar;
So, fill for the day your mission
By shining just where you are.
An inspirational and encouraging poem about willpower
Poet: Ella Wheeler Wilcox
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate,
Can circumvent or hinder or control
The firm resolve of a determined soul.
Gifts count for nothing; will alone is great;
All things give way before it, soon or late.
What obstacle can stay the mighty force
Of the sea-seeking river in its course,
Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait?
Each well-born soul must win what it deserves.
Let the fool prate of luck. The fortunate
Is he whose earnest purpose never swerves,
Whose slightest action or inaction serves
The one great aim. Why, even Death stands still,
And waits an hour sometimes for such a will.
A poem that reminds us perseverance is a key to success. No matter what happens - whether a failure or a mistake - don't stop, keep going!
Poet: Kate Summers, ©2020
When failures come - keep going
When you feel like giving up - keep going
When people mock your idea - keep going
When challenges you face - keep going
When mistakes are made, learn - but keep going
Because perseverance just keeps going!
Uplifting verses that are encouraging and help us see even in challenging times in our life, we need to be optimistic and positive in our thinking.
Poet: Byron Pulsifer, ©2020
Underneath our feet we find
Those branches and thorns a grind.
Why is so life so mean
It is as if no other scene.
Through life, you know, you will find
We sometimes just close our minds.
Those solutions we so desperately want
All appear like yesterdays many tyrants.
But, do not trouble or be dismayed
There are good times on the way.
When you look beyond the norm
You'll find you need not conform.
Be bold, be happy, be confident
You are not meant to lament.
These things so sure today
Can vanish without delay.
So when trouble comes your way
Do not accept defeat and ruin your day
Move forward with a focused view
Stay positive in all you do.
What do you do when life feels like it is overwhelming you, when you are feeling down, when you have lost hope? The answer is in the poem, Move Past This.
Poem by Catherine Pulsifer, ©2019
When you are feeling down
And all you can muster up is a frown
That is the time to stop
And count your blessings until you drop.
Focus on all of life's good
And you will find things work out as they should
Feeling sorry and just sitting around
It is a sure thing to bring you down.
Take some action, make a move
It doesn't matter if others approve
Nothing lasts forever
You will move past this if you endeavor!
It doesn't matter what others do, you can be the best at what you do. Encouraging verses of support and confidence that offers encouragement for you to do and be the best you can be!
Poet: Byron Pulsifer, ©2020
There are so many who love to scorn
They are the ones who blow one's horn.
To cast aspersions upon the others
They never see that they are hunters.
They love to hunt out what looks so less
So they can be better to confess.
That they deserve the praises massed
To call all others to celebrate how they've surpassed.
But, do not despair because these so glorious called
Are nothing more than themselves enthralled.
You, instead, are at the top
Not ever needing to namedrop.
You need not dare compare
To those who really have no flare.
Just do your best, give it all you've got
You will make more headway and be on top.
It doesn't matter what others say
You just do your best and don't be swayed
You are the one you answer to
And to yourself always be true.
Find encouragement in this call to action to voice your opinion, always speak the truth, and most importantly be yourself, and live to your potential!
Poet: Robert Rivers, ©2020
Have you ever seen a clown
Who is sad and has a frown?
That makeup done shows no cracks
But within so suffers from attacks.
We are so often showing false
Guarded by the hardest walls.
Our thoughts we keep to ourself
We put them up on a shelf.
How we feel we don't show
We pretend to go with the flow.
So often, it is true that we hide
How we really feel inside.
For it is true I do assure
That what we really are unsure.
Be instead that which is true
Be who you are has its' virtue.
There is no reason to abide
No reason for feelings to hide
For we would rather know
The real person for you to show.
We all face challenges in life, times where we need to talk it out. This poem of encouragement reminds us to reach out and talk it out with a friend. Friends cheer each other on, offer support, and give us strength.
Poet: Robert Rivers, ©2020
I know what you may face today
All those issues that come your way.
Within the dark of the night
Gives no one any delight.
If you think you are alone
Simply call a friend on the phone.
It is never beyond a true friend's scope
To be there to help you cope.
No matter who you are
Those troubles are not too far.
But, never be one to give up so quick
We can always intervene that is the trick.
Life issues will come and go
Sometimes fast and sometimes slow
Sometimes good and sometimes bad
Giving us happy and giving us sad.
Don't hold it in, don't be uptight
Stand your ground, give it a fight
Issues can cause so much stress
But always remember that life can also bless.
So talk it out with a friend
You will feel better in the end.
Issues we always face
But talking it out makes this world a better place.
Words of encouragement to influence how you can positively impact your life and the life of others.
Poet: Byron Pulsifer, ©2020
There are so, so many who have money
But, they aren't even happy or funny.
They scowl and often complain
That they don't have enough to maintain.
What is so sad to say
These people always cry and bay.
No matter how much
They're always in a financial crush.
So what is the truth?
To know may seem uncouth.
But this is not the problem
So let's get to the bottom.
Without a heart, I'd say
Is one of the issues in array.
To give, for them, to others now
Is more for them then they allow.
Without a heart, a heart of love
They would never hereof
The Golden Rule that is so true.
To give to others is a blessed avenue.
It is not possessing the money that is at fault
It is the worshiping of money that causes the assault.
We only need that is enough for this day
There is no need to be any other way.
Motivational and optimistic verses full of advice for
living a life that will bring happiness and contentment.
Poet: Lillian E Curtis
There's many a sunbeam behind a cloud,
And smooth waves after rough tide,
When the weather is bleak and the winds are loud,
We'll look on the brightest side.
The ups and downs of this life are many,
But the joys obscured from sight,
By trials and troubles unknown to any,
Are continually brought to light.
When others disappoint you, let the following poem remind you not to judge others, and may it be a reminder that we all have strengths and weaknesses. It is easy to judgment on in others, but take a look at yourself before you do and you may find you are just as bad if not worse!
Poet: Unknown
When you're criticising others,
And are finding, here and there,
A fault or two to speak of
Or a weakness you can tear:
When you're blaming some one's weakness,
Or accusing some of pelf -
It's time that you went out
To take a walk around yourself.
There's lots of human failures
In the average of us all,
And lots of grave short comings
In the short ones and the tail;
But when we think of evils
Men should lay upon the shelves,
It's time we all went out
To take a walk around ourselves.
We need so often in this life
This balancing of scales,
This seeing how much in us wins
And how much in us fails;
But before you judge another -
Just to lay him on the shelf -
It would be a splendid plan
To take a walk around yourself.
Encouragement which uses a tree to remind us we grow stronger by our challenges!
Poet: Douglas Malloch
The tree that never had to fight
for sun and sky and air and light
but stood out in the open plain
and always got it share of rain,
never became a forest king
but lived and died a scrubby thing.
Good timber does not grow with ease.
The stronger wind, the stronger trees.
Poet Unknown
Don't hunt for trouble, but look for success;
You'll find what you look for--don't look for distress.
If you see but your shadow, remember, I pray,
That the sun is still shining, but you're in the way.
Don't grumble, don't bluster, don't sigh and don't shirk;
Don't think of your worries, but think of your work.
The worries will vanish, the work will be done,
No man sees his shadow - who faces the sun.
Wise words in this poem of encouragement
by Everett Wentworth Hill
One task at a time without worry or fear;
One day at a time though the morrow draws near;
One deed well accomplished suffices the day -
Start not many missions, take time out to play.
You can't borrow sunlight from night open door;
One task and one day is enough to explore.
Make every hour count in the moments you spend;
Tomorrow's a stranger, today is a friend.
An inspirational poem with daily reminders
by Jane Merchant
If for one day
I can forget
The nagging care,
The needless fret;
For one day, keep
My spirit clear
From anxious doubt
And useless fear;
If for one day
I can believe
In life, and joyously
Receive
The blessings that
Are always mind
Of earth and air
And love divine -
Oh, then at last,
At last, I may
Learn how to do it
Every day.
A powerful poem about how it is never to late
Poet: Nixon Waterman
Of course, if you mean to catch a train,
The better way is to start in time.
Still, if you're late.
Don't rail at fate.
And sob and sigh and wail and wait
For another day,
But sprint away
The very best you can until
You find your vow
To "do it now"
Has somehow made you catch it still;
For the sages say
The world makes way
For the earnest soul that says, "I will!"
If you mean to win in life's swift race,
The better way is to start in youth;
Still, if you find
You've been left behind
By the wiser starters, keep in mind
"Your needs and say,
"I'll improve each day,
And every hour and each spare minute;
I've been careless, yet
I shall try to get
A prize!" And you stand a chance to win it;
But the weak-willed goose
With his "What's the use?"
Alas! we know he won't be in it.
by Benjamin Franklin
Little strokes fell great oaks.
One to-day is worth two to-morrows.
There are no gains without pains.
Whate'er's begun in anger ends in shame.
Diligence is the mother of good luck.
He that riseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night.
What we call time enough always proves little enough.
Laziness travels so slowly that Poverty soon overtakes him.
He that is good at making excuses is seldom good for anything else.
Constant dropping will wear out a stone.
Early to bed and early to rise,
make a man healthy, and wealthy, and wise.
Poet: S. K. Phillips
The course of the weariest river
Ends in the great, gray sea;
The acorn forever and ever
Strives upward to the tree;
The rainbow, the sky adorning,
Shines promise through the storm;
The glimmer of coming morning
Through midnight gloom will form.
By time all knots are riven,
Complex although they be,
And peace will at last be given,
Dear, both to you and me.
Then, though the path be dreary,
Look forward to the goal;
Though the heart and the head be weary,
Let faith inspire the soul;
Seek the right, though the wrong be tempting;
Speak the truth at any cost;
Vain is all weak exempting
When once that gem is lost;
Let strong hand and keen eye be ready
For plain or ambushed foes;
Thought earnest and fancy steady
Bear best unto the close.
The heavy clouds may be raining,
But with evening comes the light;
Through the dark, low winds complaining,
Yet the sunrise gilds the height;
And Love has his hidden treasure
For the patient and the pure;
And Time gives his fullest measure
To the workers who endure;
And the word that no lore has shaken
Has the future pledge supplied;
For we know that when we "awaken "
We shall be "satisfied."
Poet: Berton Braley
May these be yours
The Gifts that make the Dreamers into Doers,
The Gift to work
Through Joy and Sorrow, Light or Murk,
To play, with all your soul and heart,
A manly part!
The Gift of Discontent, to keep you driving
Forward and up, forever striving
For something better in the days hereafter;
The Gift of Kindness and the Gift of Laughter,
And all the gifts of Love and Faith and Friends,
Of Justice and of Truth,
And in your heart, until life's journey ends,
The Priceless Gift of Youth,
Hope that inspires and Courage that endures,
May all these Gifts be Yours!
Poet: Will D. Muse
We do not care what the world may say
If those whom we love are true;
We do not mind the toil of the day
If we know in the dusk and the dew
There waits some one who will welcome us
As we come home to rest
Some friends who will say, "Dear heart, I know
That to-day you have done your best."
We do not mind if the thorns are sharp,
Or the pathway is rough and steep;
We do not mind if we plow and sow
For others to come and reap.
If we can but hear, when the twilight comes
And the red in the West grows gray,
Some dear voice whisper these words of cheer:
"You have fought a good fight to-day."
For the heart don't care what the world may say
If those whom it loves are true,
For 'twas ever and always the heart's own way
To long for the love and rue.
You forget the gain, the loss, and the pain
That tortures your pulsing breast,
If there's one who always in sweet, blind faith
Can say: "You have done your best."
Poet: Adele E. Ingersoll
If we noticed little pleasures
As we notice little pains;
If we quite forget our losses
And remember all our gains;
If we looked for people's virtues,
And their faults refused to see;
What a comfortable, happy,
Cheerful place this world would be!
Poet: Unknown
There is many a rose in the road of life
If we would only stop to take it;
And many a tone from the better land
If the querulous heart would make it;
To the sunny soul that is full of hope
And whose beautiful trust ne'er faileth,
The grass is green and the flowers are bright
Though the winter storm prevaileth.
Better to hope, though the clouds hand low,
And to keep the eyes still lifted;
For the sweet blue sky will still peep through
When the ominous clouds are rifted!
There was never a night without a day,
Or an evening without a morning;
And the darkest hour, as the proverb goes,
Is the hour before the dawning.
There is many a gem in the path of life,
Which we pass in our idle pleasure,
That is richer far than the jewelled crown,
Or the miser's hoarded treasure;
It may be the love of a little child,
Or a mother's prayers to heaven,
Or only a beggar's grateful thanks
For a cup of water given.
Better to weave in the web of life
A bright and golden filling,
And to do God's will with a ready heart,
And hands that are swift and willing.
Than to snap the slender, delicate threads
Of our curious life asunder,
And then blame Heaven for the tangled ends,
And sit and grieve and wonder.
Poet: Philip James Bailey
We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart-throbs when they beat;
For God, for man, for duty. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best;
And he whose heart beats quickest, lives the longest -
Lives in an hour more than in years do some
Whose fat blood sleeps as it slips along their veins.
Life is but a means to an end; that end,
Beginning, mean, and end to all things - God.
A great poem to remind us to give others encouragement and support!
Poet: Edgar A. Guest
A pat on the back is a wonderful thing.
It gives a man courage to whistle and sing;
When hope is departing, the outlook is grim,
A pat on the back then says volumes to him.
It whispers: "Keep at it! You're doing all right,
Just dig in your toes and get busy and fight,
There's one man behind you, go to it, old man.
One pal who is sure that you can, that you can."
A pat on the back from a stranger or friend
When your jaw starts to sag and your knees start to bend
Will bring you right up with new courage and grit
And you'll keep in the fight when you were going to quit,
You'll feel it, you'll hear it - yes, actually hear it -
For hours saying "dig in, old fellow. Don't fear it.
That isn't as hard as it looks. Be a man.
There's a fellow back there who believes that you can."
Just a pat on the back. And for days and for days,
No matter how far you may roam, it still stays
By your side, and no matter how hard be your fight
It's whispering always: ''You'll come out all right.
There's a fellow back there who's believing in you.
Expecting each minute to see you come through
With your colors still flying and leading your clan!"
And the first thing you know you are saying: ''I can."
Oh, a pat on the back is a wonderful thing.
The touch of it's magic; I've known it to bring
Back hopes that were fleeting, and strength that seemed gone
And smiles that had vanished and urge a man on
When it seemed that he couldn't one step advance more
Till he conquered. And that's what I'm singing this for;
If you see a poor brother whose nerve's out of whack.
Just step up and give him a pat on the back.
Poet: David V. Bush
I will, I can, I will!
Says he who means to win.
For there's no power this side of death
Can shut and keep him in.
I will, I can, I will!
Is the slogan that never fails.
And there's no power on land or sea
To keep down that man's sails.
I will, I can, I will!
Has turned the world around
And saved a people many times
When others thought them, down.
I will, I can, I will!
Obstacles I'll defy!
For there's no power can beat a man
Who never will say, "die."
Poet: Unknown
Good times they are comin'.
Don't stand in their way;
Git onto the curbstone.
An' give 'em full sway.
Don't block up the traffic.
Don't hinder their pace;
Good times they are comin',
Make way for the race!
Good times they are comin',
Push, push on behind;
Don't scowl at the pageant,
Be cheerful an' kind.
Encourage the drummin'
With smiles on your face;
Good times they are coming
Make way for the race!
Poet: Unknown
If times are hard, and you feel blue.
Think of others, worrying, too.
Just because your trials are many
Don't think the rest of us haven't any.
Life's made up of smiles and tears,
Joys and sorrows, mixed with fears;
And though to you it may seem one-sided,
Trouble is pretty well divided.
If we could look in every heart,
We'd find that each one has its part.
And those who travel Fortune's road
Sometimes carry the biggest load.
Famous Poems of Encouragement by Famous Poets:
- Be Not Discouraged by Daniel C. Colesworthy
- Cinderella Poem by Patience Strong
- It Cannot Be Done And They Know It by David V. Bush
- You'll Strike Your Stride by David V. Bush
- Retaliation by Arthur Franklin Fuller
- Shadows by Patience Strong
- Face The Sunshine by Strickland Gillilan
- Don't Be Impatient by Daniel C. Colesworthy
- The Secret Of Success by Nixon Waterman
- The Joy Of Life by Berton Braley
- Door Of Daring by Henry VanDyke
- Never Say I Can't by J.J. Thorne
- Oh! Tell Me Not by Mary C. Ryan
- Solitude by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- Give Every Day by Daniel C. Colesworthy
- Think Before We Speak by J.J. Thorne
- Transform The Common Task by William Arthur Ward
- Truth by Daniel C. Colesworthy
- Do It Better by David V. Bush
- Never Despair by Lillian E. Curtis
- Lend A Hand by Lillian E. Curtis
- Never Say Fail by Daniel C. Colesworthy
- Which Side Of The Bed by David V. Bush
- My Regrets To The Man Who Gives Up by David V. Bush
- Do Not Lose Your Pep by David V. Bush
- The Successful Man by David V. Bush
- The Gift by Patience Strong
- What So Wild As Words Are . . . by Wilhelmina Stitch
- Be A Booster by David V. Bush
- Hero Wanted by Berton Braley
- The Hills Ahead by Douglas Malloch
- You Have To Believe by Douglas Malloch
- Encouraging Poetry by Douglas Malloch
- It Couldn't Be Done by Edgar A. Guest
- The Junk Box by Edgar Guest
- The Recipe by Berton Braley
- Opportunity by Berton Braley
- Start Where You Stand by Berton Braley
- The Builders by Berton Braley
- Little Further by Berton Braley
The poems here are also great to include in a card - graduation, get well, congratulations - no matter what the occasion you will find poems to provide encouragement and inspiration.
To quote the words of encouragement said by William Arthur Ward,
"Flatter me, and I may not believe you.
Criticize me, and I may not like you.
Ignore me, and I may not forgive you.
Encourage me, and I will not forget you."
Share the verses in these poems and you may positively influence a person's life. And, We agree with the words of Jim Stovall, "You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help each other, everybody wins." Promoting and fostering each other's strengths is a great form of encouragement. We all need hope for a better tomorrow and you can give that hope with encouragement to your friends, family, and coworkers.
We hope our collection gives you poems of encouragement for yourself and to share with others!
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