Globally, 1 in 100 deaths is a suicide. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
At Good Good Good we know that hope is real and change is possible. This is true when it comes to the heartbreak, pain, and injustice of the world — and it’s just as true for anybody who’s struggling.
It’s not possible to move forward without acknowledging that the pain we experience is real and shouldn’t be ignored. Your story matters — and it isn’t finished. There’s so much left to be written.
We’ve collected meaningful and hopeful quotes about suicide and suicide prevention — but also about experiencing pain, and heaviness, and the big questions of life.
Our hope is that these words will remind you of the hope that lies ahead — and that you are not alone on your journey. Countless people have experienced this weight and made it through. These words are a testament to that.
Scroll through, find a few quotes that especially speak to you, and find a way to hold them close. Write them in a journal, change your computer background, or share on social media. Whatever you do, please don’t forget that hope and help are real.
Explore these quotes about suicide & hope
Quotes About Suicide Prevention
“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.”
— Lucius Annaeus Seneca
“No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.”
— Maya Angelou
“Soak up the views. Take in the bad weather and the good weather. You are not the storm.”
— Matt Haig
“When you feel like giving up, just remember the reason why you held on for so long.”
— Hayley Williams
“The real reason for not committing suicide is because you always know how swell life gets again after the hell is over.”
— Ernest Hemingway
“When you are tempted to give up, your breakthrough is probably just around the corner.”
— Joyce Meyer
“To anyone out there who’s hurting — it’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help. It’s a sign of strength.”
— Barack Obama
“It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.”
— John Steinbeck
“Hope is a funny thing because in a way it’s everywhere. Like, people will say ‘Everything happens for a reason’ or ‘It will all work out in the end’ — which are very hopeful sentiments — it’s just that they’re also, you know, bullshit. And for me anyway, they just don’t hold up in the face of real suffering. But I’ll tell you what does hold up for me. There’s an Emily Dickinson poem that starts out, ‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all.’
And you’ll notice that Emily Dickinson doesn’t say that one never stops hearing the song of hope — only that it doesn’t stop playing.
I’m really sorry that you’re in so much pain, and your pain is real, but the song of hope is still singing. And I know you can’t hear it, but someday soon you will.”
— John Green
“You can't see the future coming — not the terrors, for sure, but you also can't see the wonders that are coming, the moments of light-soaked joy that await each of us.”
— John Green
On Making It Another Day
“The bravest thing I ever did was continuing my life when I wanted to die.”
— Juliette Lewis
“I am very glad I lived through some hard days so that I could have this one.”
— John Green
“Take a shower, wash off the day. Drink a glass of water. Make the room dark. Lie down and close your eyes. Notice the silence. Notice your heart. Still beating. Still fighting. You made it, after all. You made it, another day. And you can make it one more. You’re doing just fine.”
— Charlotte Eriksson
“Sometimes the only cure for a bad day is to make a cup of tea, take a deep breath, and hope that tomorrow is better.”
— Dominee Calderon
“For all the air that's in your lungs For all the joy that is to come For all the things that you're alive to feel Just let the pain remind you hearts can heal”
— Paramore
“These mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb.”
— Najwa Zebian
“If you feel too much, there’s still a place for you here. If you feel too much, don’t go. If this world is too painful, stop and rest. It’s okay to stop and rest. If you need a break, it’s okay to say you need a break. This life — it’s not a contest, not a race, not a performance, not a thing that you win. It’s okay to slow down. You are here for more than grades, more than a job, more than a promotion, more than keeping up, more than getting by. This life is not about status or opinion or appearance. You don’t have to fake it. You do not have to fake it. Other people feel this way too. If your heart is broken, it’s okay to say your heart is broken. If you feel stuck, it’s okay to say you feel stuck. If you can’t let go, it’s okay to say you can’t let go. You are not alone in these places. Other people feel how you feel. You are more than just your pain. You are more than wounds, more than drugs, more than death and silence. There is still some time to be surprised. There is still some time to ask for help. There is still some time to start again. There is still some time for love to find you. It’s not too late. You’re not alone. It’s okay — whatever you need and however long it takes — it’s okay. It’s okay. If you feel too much, there’s still a place for you here. If you feel too much, don’t go. There is still some time.”
― Jamie Tworkowski, If You Feel Too Much: Thoughts on Things Found and Lost and Hoped For
“We held on to hope that better days were coming. And when we did, we were right.”
— The Mountain Goats
“To all who walk the dark path, and to those who walk in the sunshine but hold out a hand in the darkness to travel beside us: Brighter days are coming. Clearer sight will arrive. And you will arrive too. No, it might not be forever. The bright moments might be for a few days at a time, but hold on for those days. Those days are worth the dark.”
— Jenny Lawson, Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
→ Read more quotes about depression
Inspirational Quotes
“This life. This night. Your story. Your pain. Your hope. It matters. All of it matters.”
— Jamie Tworkowski
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
“The shadow is the greatest teacher for how to come to the light.”
— Ram Dass
“If you were born with the weakness to fall, you were born with the strength to rise.”
— Rupi Kaur
“There are far, far better things ahead than anything we leave behind.”
— C.S. Lewis
“I hope you live a life you are proud of. If you find that you are not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
“You are proof that beauty can grow in the most difficult of places.”
— Wednesday Holmes
Quotes To Help
“If you're going through hell, keep going.”
— Winston Churchill
“More than anything, my wish for you is this: That when your awful darkest days come, you will know you’re not alone. Pain will tell you to keep quiet, but that’s a lie. Life is fragile and we all break in different ways. I hope you know you can be honest. I hope you know that you can ask for help. Did you catch that? It is absolutely positively okay to ask for help. It simply means you’re human. Help is real and it is possible; people find it every day.”
— Jamie Tworkowski, If You Feel Too Much
“There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.”
— John Green
“We’re all in this together. It’s okay to be honest. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to say you’re stuck, or that you’re haunted or that you can’t begin to let go. We can all relate to those things. Screw the stigma that says otherwise. Break the silence and break the cycle, for you are more than just your pain. You are not alone. And people need other people.”
— Jamie Tworkowski, If You Feel Too Much
“You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.”
— Brené Brown
“Don’t give up. Don’t give up on your story. Don’t give up on the people you love. Hope is real. Love is real. It’s all worth fighting for.”
— Jamie Tworkowski, If You Feel Too Much
Uplifting Quotes From Matt Haig
Matt Haig is a beloved writer, known for his bestselling works of fiction like The Midnight Library, How To Stop Time, and The Humans — but he positively changed the world forever when he released Reasons to Stay Alive, a memoir that shares his own struggles with mental health and suicide and explores what it means to be truly alive. He's since released other books on mental health, Notes on a Nervous Planet and The Comfort Book. His words have provided millions of people hope — and we hope they'll do the same for you today. (We also hosted Matt Haig on our podcast, Sounds Good!)
“You will one day experience joy that matches this pain. You will cry euphoric tears at the Beach Boys, you will stare down at a baby’s face as she lies asleep in your lap, you will make great friends, you will eat delicious foods you haven’t tried yet, you will be able to look at a view from a high place and not assess the likelihood of dying from falling. There are books you haven’t read yet that will enrich you, films you will watch while eating extra-large buckets of popcorn, and you will dance and laugh and have sex and go for runs by the river and have late-night conversations and laugh until it hurts. Life is waiting for you. You might be stuck here for a while, but the world isn’t going anywhere. Hang on in there if you can. Life is always worth it.”
― Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive
“[Books] were, in and of themselves, reasons to stay alive. Every book written is the product of a human mind in a particular state. Add all the books together and you get the end sum of humanity. Every time I read a great book I felt I was reading a kind of map, a treasure map, and the treasure I was being directed to was in actual fact myself.”
— Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive
“Life is waiting for you. You might be stuck here for a while, but the world isn’t going anywhere. Hang on in there if you can. Life is always worth it.”
— Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive
“Once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
— Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive
“If you have ever believed a depressive wants to be happy, you are wrong. They could not care less about the luxury of happiness. They just want to feel an absence of pain.”
— Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive
“Even more staggeringly, depression is a disease so bad that people are killing themselves because of it in a way they do not kill themselves with any other illness. Yet people still don’t really think depression really is that bad. If they did, they wouldn't say the things they say.”
— Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive
“The key is in accepting your thoughts, all of them, even the bad ones. Accept thoughts, but don’t become them. Understand, for instance, that having a sad thought, even having a continual succession of sad thoughts, is not the same as being a sad person. You can walk through a storm and feel the wind but you know you are not the wind.”
— Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive
To Write Love On Her Arms Quotes
Somehow it seems the nonprofit organization To Write Love On Her Arms always has the right words we need to hear. Here are a few of our favorites related to suicide:
“It’s OK to be scared of what lies ahead. You are not alone in feeling this way, nor are you a burden for it — no matter how much you are made to believe otherwise.”
— TWLOHA
“You deserve to love and be loved, to care and be cared for, to hold and be held.”
— TWLOHA
“It makes sense that amidst what is often being said ... The things we label as ‘too heavy’ to share morph into a deep nagging sense that we have become a burden. Stigma is vicious and the primary enemy of suicide prevention.”
— TWLOHA
“You are not alone in feeling burnt out. You are not alone in feeling discouraged. You are not alone.”
— TWLOHA
“We’re asking you to stay. For your friends. For your loved ones. But above all else, for yourself.”
— TWLOHA
“Hope tells us the truth. Tonight, let it tell you that you matter very much.”
— TWLOHA
“It's OK to feel weighed down by the heaviness. If you need time to process, there’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes self-care means setting boundaries, and you deserve the space those boundaries can provide.”
— TWLOHA
“If you feel alone, know that you deserve to be cared for. If you feel silenced, know that you deserve to be listened to. If you feel unimportant, know that you deserve to be appreciated.”
— TWLOHA
“The light you bring into this world is beautiful, irreplaceable, and needed.”
— TWLOHA
“When you feel like you can’t fight anymore — don’t give up. Just take some time to rest.”
— TWLOHA
“So much of the good and beauty that exists in the world comes from people like you who choose to continue telling their story. When the pain around us feels overwhelming, know that you are one of the bright spots shining through.”
— TWLOHA
“Your existence brings a light into this world like no other. Please keep that light shining.”
— TWLOHA
“You are a story still going. You deserve to be proud of yourself for all the chapters you've made it through.”
— TWLOHA
“Yesterday may have been tough. Today may be tough. Tomorrow may be as well. But you're tough, too.”
— TWLOHA
“You are worthy of seeing the sun rise again and again.”
— TWLOHA
“This is not the end of your story. You still have chapters to write, new characters to meet, and victories to celebrate. Keep going.”
— TWLOHA
“If the heaviness is weighing down on you, know that it’s OK if you don’t feel hopeful. It’s OK to be scared, upset, or sad. You are not alone for any of it.”
— TWLOHA
“Please stay alive isn’t a sentiment that ends with those three words. It continues on into each day after we make that plea. It manifests by making this life one that has less suffering, and more support. It provides the kind of community that not only believes that better days are ahead, but wants to put in the work to make them possible for everyone.”
— TWLOHA
More Suicide Awareness Quotes
“Love belongs to the people who feel they are not enough. Love belongs to the kids who grow up wondering why they’re different. Love belongs to the person reading this right now. Love is for everyone.”
— Erin Kingham
“There is beauty in the journey, regardless of the outcome. Let's grieve and hope, and fight together.”
— Marie White
“The presence of fear and darkness does not mean that the hopeful parts of me cease to exist.”
— Erin Frye, on a TWLOHA blog post
“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.”
— Og Mandino
“Death will come for all of us but let us fight to live.”
— Jamie Tworkowski, If You Feel Too Much
“We are all that girl on the bathroom floor. Rock bottom just means crisis. It is not the end. Life does not evict us from anything unless it’s inviting us to something better.”
— Glennon Doyle
