Letting go of something or someone you’re attached to can be a painful and difficult process. But releasing things that don’t serve you is necessary to make room for new opportunities in your life. We only have so much attention to give, so it’s important to be mindful of where we are directing our energy. That’s why it’s important to take stock and let go of negative beliefs, relationships, resentment, or anything else holding you back. It’s not an easy process, but letting go quotes can help you on your journey.
Letting go and healing are essential for growth, as it helps to free ourselves from emotional pain that has been weighing us down. By actively letting go, we can create space for positive transformation. Every difficult period of our lives has the potential to make us stronger. Letting go and healing also helps us to focus on the present moment and accept the things that we cannot change. Through learning to let go, we can take back control of our lives and start making progress toward a brighter future.
But letting go is easier said than done. If it was that simple, you wouldn’t be reading this blog post right now. The good news is that quotes can be a great source of inspiration when it comes to letting go and finding peace. Whether you’re looking for support after a loss or want to break free from a toxic relationship, quotes can help you find the strength you need to move on.
37 letting go quotes
We’ve gathered 37 of our favorite letting go quotes to help you find the courage and strength to do just that.
1. Accepting and loving yourself is the first part of the letting go journey.
“Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.” ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
2. Forgiving yourself is also important.
“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.” ― Steve Maraboli
3. This quote is all about the importance of gratitude during the process of letting go.
“If you want to forget something or someone, never hate it, or never hate him/her. Everything and everyone that you hate is engraved upon your heart; if you want to let go of something, if you want to forget, you cannot hate.” ― C. JoyBell C.
4. And sometimes things or people are just not meant to be contained.
“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that’s all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you.” ― Red in Shawshank Redemption
5. This letting go quote shines a light on how sometimes people don’t want to let go on a subconscious level.
“No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories.” ― Haruki Murakami
6. Just because someone was part of your past, it doesn’t mean they are meant to be part of your future.
“Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.” ― Steve Maraboli
7. Letting isn’t about not caring—it’s about distancing yourself and not using your precious energy on things that don’t serve you.
“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 in Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul
8. Remind yourself that endings go hand in hand with new beginnings.
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.” ― T.S. Eliot
9. Take whatever learnings you can from the experience, incorporate them into your life, and then move forward instead of overanalyzing the past.
“You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could’ve, would’ve happened… or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the fuck on.” ― Tupac Shakur
10. Don’t rely on time to heal your pain—if you make a conscious decision to truly let go, the process will be much easier.
“Time doesn’t heal emotional pain, you need to learn how to let go.” ― Roy T. Bennett
11. Remember that tomorrow is a new day, and it’s never too late to change your mindset.
“The splendid thing about falling apart silently…is that you can start over as many times as you like.” ― Sanober Khan, A Thousand Flamingos
12. This letting go quote can encourage us to use the learnings from the hard times to build a happier future.
“Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.” ― Steve Maraboli
13. If you find yourself clinging to the past for comfort, take a step back and question whether you truly want to let go.
“Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain.” ― Mary Manin Morrissey
14. While letting go can feel like your world is ending, you might just find it’s the start of a new adventure.
“Letting there be room for not knowing is the most important thing of all. When there’s a big disappointment, we don’t know if that’s the end of the story. It may just be the beginning of a great adventure. Life is like that. We don’t know anything. We call something bad; we call it good. But really we just don’t know.” ― Pema Chödrön in nWhen Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
15. Accept that you can’t control everything and learn to appreciate the unknown.
“Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control.” ― Epictetus
16. It’s not always brave to hold on to something and persist―sometimes, it’s far more courageous and kind to let go.
“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
17. Practicing self-love and knowing that you deserve happiness are essential aspects of the letting go process.
“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 in The Light in the Heart
18. For some people, the scariest part of letting go is figuring out what will fill the void that is left.
“Sometimes the hardest part isn’t letting go but rather learning to start over.” ― Nicole Sobon in Program 13
19. As they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
“Even on my weakest days I get a little bit stronger.” ― Sara Evans
20. This is one of our favorite quotes―it reminds us to appreciate and remember the beautiful moments we experienced before the loss.
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” ― Dr. Seuss
21. What’s going on in your heart has a greater impact on the outside world than you might imagine.
“Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts – and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place. Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them.” ― Paul Coelho
22. There’s something both devastating and beautiful in knowing whatever happens, the world will go on.
“Morning will come, it has no choice.” ― Marty Ruben
23. Letting go doesn’t mean erasing every memory.
“The song is ended but the melody lingers on.” ― Irving Berlin
24. Even Queen Bey even chipped in on this topic.
“Thank God I found the GOOD in goodbye” ― Beyonce Knowles
25. Think of every night as a way of resting and resetting.
“Every sunset is an opportunity to reset.” ― Richie Norton
26. To forgive and release resentment, you have to let go of the past.
“Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions.” ― Gerald G. Jampolsky in Love Is Letting Go of Fear
27. The more attention you give something, the more it impacts you.
“The more you talk about it, rehash it, rethink it, cross-analyze it, debate it, respond to it, get paranoid about it, compete with it, complain about it, immortalize it, cry over it, kick it, defame it, stalk it, gossip about it, pray over it, put it down or dissect its motives it continues to rot in your brain.” ― Shannon L. Alder
28. Sometimes, the kindest, most loving thing to do is to let go.
“Love is proved the moment you let go of someone because they need you to.” ― Shannon L. Alder
29. This letting go quote is a metaphor for knowing when to release the bigger things in life.
“The best skill at cards is knowing when to discard.” ― Baltasar Gracián in The Art of Worldly Wisdom
30. There’s comfort in accepting that some things just aren’t meant to be.
“Whatever comes, let it come, what stays let stay, what goes let go.” ― Papaji
31. Remember that you get one shot at life, so make sure you carve out the path you want.
“Life happens once. Get into character, and act the part you were given.” ― Utibe Samuel Mbom
32. This letting go quote is simple, yet profound.
“One of the simplest ways to stay happy is letting go of the things that makes you sad.” ― Anonymous
33. Accepting that your past isn’t going to define your future is essential for letting go.
“Forgiveness means saying that you’re not going to let what happened to you define you any longer.” ― Heidi Priebe, This Is Me Letting You Go
34. This letting go quote reminds us how much our destiny is in our own hands― you won’t fully let go until you make that decision.
“You start whenever you decide to start.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert
35. If you’re trying to let go of something, it’s because it has already left you in some way.
“What you are trying to let go of…is already gone.” ― Sanober Khan
36. Letting go is incredibly difficult― it’s something we should all learn to master.
“The most beautiful form of mastery is the art of letting go.” ― Claudia Gray in Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View
37. Last but not least, think of letting go as acceptance rather than erasure.
“To let go does not mean to get rid of. To let go means to let be. When we let be with compassion, things come and go on their own.” ― Jack Kornfield
When should you let go?
It’s important to let go at the right time. If you rush the process of letting go, it can actually be detrimental to your mental health. You should give yourself enough time to process your emotions and heal. Everyone’s timing is different, so be sure to take the time you need. Rushing the process can also mean we miss out on valuable lessons that can be learned from reflecting on a situation.
So, while these quotes will hopefully inspire and motivate you to let go and move forward in the best way possible, don’t think that you need to do this straight away. Letting go at the right time is just as important as letting go in the right way.
Once you’re ready, it’s important to remember that letting go doesn’t mean forgetting or erasing every memory or emotion associated with something or someone. It’s about accepting and moving on from the past so you can embrace the future.
Final thoughts on letting go quotes
We hope these letting go quotes have brought up concepts and perspectives that will help you process your loss and inspire you to move forward. Loss is one of the most difficult things anyone will ever have to deal with. But you’ve got this. The team at So Syncd wishes you well on your healing journey.
If you liked this post, you might also like How to Let Go of Someone You Love and Everything You Need to Know About Letting Him Go.
