140 Inspiring January Quotes and January Sayings

January consistently ranks as “the worst” or “least favourite” month of the year.

But what do you think?

Do you, like me, look forward to the arrival of each New Year? Or do you dread those short winter days?

However you feel about the first month on the calendar, there are some January quotes to match your mood.

Whether you’re feeling optimistic, melancholy, or anywhere in between, you’re sure to appreciate this list of famous January sayings. Check them out!

Interested in January motivational quotes? You might also like these…

January Motivational Quotes

1. “New Year = A New Life! Decide today who you will become, what you will give, and how you will live.” — Tony Robbins

2. “The beginning is the most important part of the work.” — Plato

3. “Each day is a new beginning, the chance to do with it what should be done and not to be seen as simply another day to put in time.” — Catherine Pulsifer

4. “Approach the New Year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day.” — Michael Josephson

5. “The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.” — G. K. Chesterton

6. “We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” — Edith Lovejoy Pierce

7. “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go. They merely determine where you start.” — Nido Qubein

8. “Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on.” — Hal Borland

9. “In the New Year, never forget to thank your past years because they enabled you to reach today! Without the stairs of the past, you cannot arrive at the future!” — Mehmet Murat Ildan

10. “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” — L.M. Montgomery

11. “The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.” — J.P. Morgan

12. “Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can.” — Douglas Pagels

13. “What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.” — Vern McLellan

14. “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” — Brad Paisley

15. “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbours, and let every new year find you a better man.” — Benjamin Franklin

16. “Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb. That’s where the fruit is.” — Frank Scully

17. “We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential.” — Ellen Goodman

18. “Intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you.” — Andy Andrews

19. “January is the quietest month in the garden, but just because it looks quiet doesn’t mean that nothing is happening.” — Rosalie Muller Wright

20. “Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction.” — Germany Kent

21. “When you see a new year, see realities and limit fantasies!” ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

22.

For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice.

— T.S. Eliot

23. “Let us do something incredible this New Year: Let us try to see the world from the window of other cultures!” — Mehmet Murat Ildan

24. “Any new beginning is forged from the shards of the past, not from the abandonment of the past.” — Craig Lounsbrough

25. “For January, I don’t care how the story ends as long as I spend it with you.” ― Emily Henry

26. “No one’s ever achieved financial fitness with a January resolution that’s abandoned by February.” — Suze Orman

27. “Every man should be born again on January first. Start with a fresh page.” — Henry Ward Beecher

28. “Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be.” — Marsha Petrie Sue

29. “If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” — Andrew Carnegie

30. “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.” — Robin Sharma

31. “We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

32. “I wish you a beautiful new month from the first day of this month to the last day.” — J. K. Rowling

33. “To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.” — Aristotle

34. “The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written.” — Melody Beattie

35. “The shortest day has passed, and whatever nastiness of weather we may look forward to in January and February, at least we notice that the days are getting longer.” — Vita Sackville-West

36. “I like starting projects in January. That’s the best time to start something. It’s so inward.” — Carolyn Chute

37. “Your life does not get better by chance. It gets better by change.” — Jim Rohn

38. “You should set goals beyond your reach so you always have something to live for.” — Ted Turner

39. “The magic in new beginnings is truly the most powerful of them all.” ― Josiyah Martin

40. “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” — Lao Tzu

41. “You can get excited about the future. The past won’t mind.” — Hillary DePiano

42. “The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” — Bill Copeland

Famous January Sayings

43. “I love the scents of winter! For me, it’s all about the feeling you get when you smell pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread and spruce.” — Taylor Swift

44. “I pray this winter be gentle and kind — a season of rest from the wheel of the mind.” — John Geddes

45. “The attraction of New Year is this: The year changes, and in that change, we believe that we can change with it. It is far more difficult, however, to change yourself than turn the calendar to a new page.” – R. Joseph Hoffmann

46. “January is my favourite month when the light is plainest, least coloured. And I like the feeling of beginnings.” — Anne Truitt

47. “December is the toughest month of the year. Others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, October, August, and February.” ― Mark Twain

48. “To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for a walk in June.” — Jean Paul

49. “January opens the box of the year, And bring out days that are bright and clear, And bring out days that are cold and grey, And shouts, “Come see what I brought today.” — Leland B. Jacobs

50. “I think it would be much more sensible if resolutions began generally on January the second.” — Helen Fielding

51. “Lots of people go mad in January. Not as many as in May, of course. Nor June. But January is your third most common month for madness.” — Karen Joy Fowler

52. “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus

53. “Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” — Edith Sitwell

54. “Your hair is winter fire, January embers. My heart burns there, too.” — Stephen King

55. “January: Sparkling winter sunshine, face all aglow, making resolutions, and angels in the snow – steaming cups of cocoa, a year that’s fresh and new…all of this is magic – unfolding just for you.” — Unknown

56. “Through the chill of December the early winter moans… but it’s that January wind that rattles old bones.” — John Facenda

57.

January was a two-faced month, jangling like jester’s bells, crackling like snow crust, pure as any beginning, grim as an old man, mysteriously familiar yet unknown, like a word one can almost but not quite define.

— Patricia Highsmith

58. “If I had my way, I would remove January from the calendar altogether and have an extra July instead.” — Roald Dahl

59. “If you are brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.” — Paul Coelho

60. “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” — Anne Bradstreet

61. “Like January weather, the years will bite and smart, and pull your bones together to wrap your chattering heart.” — Dorothy Parker

62. “Winter blues are cured every time with a potato gratin paired with a roast chicken.” — Alexandra Guarnaschelli

63. “Leaving any bookstore is hard…especially on a day in January when the wind is blowing, the ice is treacherous, and the books inside seem to gather together in colourful warmth.” — Jane Smiley

64. “I am the seasons, I think sometimes, January, May, November; the mud, the mist, the dawn.” ― Virginia Woolf

65. “January brings the snow, makes our feet and fingers glow.” — Sara Coleridge

66. “The first day of January always presents to my mind a train of very solemn and important reflections and a question more easily asked than answered frequently occurs viz: How have I improved the past year and with what good intentions do I view the dawn of its successor?” — Charlotte Bronte

67. “January? The month is dumb. It is fraudulent. It does not cleanse itself.” — Anne Sexton

68. “December is letting go of all the past years fails, and starting anew in January as time again chases its tail.” — Stewart Stafford

69. “It is deep January. The sky is hard. The stalks are firmly rooted in ice.” — Wallace Stevens

70. “It’s never too late to become who you want to be. I hope you live a life that you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

71. “January is here, with eyes that keenly glow, A frost-mailed warrior striding a shadowy steed of snow.” — Edgar Fawcett

72. “Welcome, winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy, but I love you nonetheless.” — Terri Guillemets

73. “If January is the month of change, February is the month of lasting change. January is for dreamers… February is for doers.” — Marc Parent

74. “I like these cold, grey winter days. Days like these let you savour a bad mood.” — Bill Watterson

75. “Bare branches of each tree on this chilly January morn look so cold so forlorn. Yet in the heart of each tree waiting for each who wait to see new life as warm sun and breeze will blow, like magic, unlock springs sap to flow, buds, new leaves, then blooms will grow.” — Nelda Hartmann

New Years Quotes for January

76. “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” — Oprah Winfrey

77. “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.” — Joseph Campbell

78. “New beginnings are in order, and you are bound to feel some level of excitement as new chances come your way.” — Oscar Auliq-Ice

79. “Every year you make a resolution to change yourself. This year, make a resolution to be yourself.” — Anonymous

80. “Each year’s regrets are envelopes in which messages of hope are found for the New Year.” — John R. Dallas Jr.

81. “I’ll never understand why everybody puts so much emphasis on January first. There are three hundred and sixty-four other days in the year that you can make a change.” — Elizabeth Eulberg

82. “January is the beginning of anything you want.” — Anonymous

83. “New year—a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately we write it. The choice is ours.” — Alex Morritt

84. “Life is about change, sometimes it’s painful, sometimes it’s beautiful, but most of the time it’s both.” — Kristin Kreuk

85. “And now let us believe in a long year that is given to us, new, untouched, full of things that have never been.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

86. “Don’t be afraid to start again. This time, you are not starting from scratch. You are starting from experience.” — Unknown

87. “I love beginnings. If I were in charge of calendars, every day would be January 1st.” — Jerry Spinelli

88. “Be like a tree. Stay grounded. Connect with your roots. Turn over a new leaf. Bend before you break. Enjoy your unique natural beauty. Keep growing.” — Joanne Raptis

89. “A worthy New Year’s resolution, perhaps, is to take no hatred into the New Year without requiring it to restate its purpose.” — Robert Brault

90. “New month, new intentions, new goals, new love, new light, and new beginnings.” — April Mae Monterrosa

91.

Few things illustrate self-control as vividly as New Year’s resolutions. February is even better, though, because it lets us study why so many of those resolutions are broken.

— Sendhil Mullainathan

92. “Call it ‘the New Year’s resolution effect’— it’s why gyms that were crowded in January are only half full in July and why so many slightly used guitars are available on Craigslist.” — Anders Ericsson

93. “January looks forward to the new year and back to the old year. He sees past and future.” — M.L. Stedman

94. “The New Year is a painting not yet painted; a path not yet stepped on; a wing not yet taken off!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

95. “Change can be scary, but you know what’s scarier? Allowing fear to stop you from growing, evolving, and progressing.” — Mandy Hale

96. “When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. When life is bitter, say thank you and grow.” — Shauna Niequist

97. “New Year’s Day. A fresh start. A new chapter waiting to be written.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach

98. “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” — Joseph Campbell

99. “January, the first month of the year, a perfect time to start all over again, changing energies and deserting old moods, new beginnings, new attitudes.” — Charmaine J Forde

100. “This year, know your worth and don’t give discounts.” — Unknown

101. “Somewhere along the way, I realized that the new year doesn’t begin for me in January.” — Betsy Cañas Garmon

102. “Thank goodness for the first snow, it was a reminder that no matter how old you became and how much you’d seen, things could still be new if you were willing to believe they still mattered.” — Candace Bushnell

103. “Welcome January: January is a time of quiet and new beginnings – the perfect time to reflect on how you want to live your life. January is the perfect time to refocus on your priorities and set goals.” — Unknown

104. “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” — Stephanie Simpson

105. “Take a leap of faith and begin this wondrous new year by believing.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach

106. “January is the best time of year for gym owners. You all come. It’s great! And then, by Valentine’s Day, you’re not coming in anymore.” — David Kirsch

Short Quotes About January

107. “No one ever regarded the first of January with indifference.” — Charles Lamb

108. “Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.” — Pietro Aretino

109. “A New Year has tiptoed in. Let’s go forward to meet it.” ― Anusha Atukorala

110. “Don’t wait until February to start living in January.” ― Anthony T. Hincks

111. “January is the calendar’s ingrown hair.” — Stewart Stafford

112. “January 26th. The day when nothing remarkable happens to anyone else.” — Ashley Newell

113. “Winter forms our character and brings out our best.” — Tom Allen

114. “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” — George Eliot

115. “You can’t get too much winter in the winter.” — Robert Frost

116. “January is the month for dreaming.” — Jean Hersey

117. “Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.” — Karen Kaiser Clark

118. “Ring out the false, ring in the true.” — Alfred Lord Tennyson

119. “The best time for new beginnings is now.” — Unknown

120. “Nothing burns like the cold.” — George R.R. Martin

121. “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” — Muhammad Ali

122.

Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.

— Victor Hugo

123. “A year of ending and beginning, a year of loss and finding.” ― C.J. Cherryh

124. “If you wait, all that happens is you get older.” — Larry McMurtry

125. “Feeling a little blue in January is normal.” — Marilu Henner

126. “Without Valentine’s Day, February would be… well, January.” ― Jim Gaffigan

127. “Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” — Paul Theroux

128. “Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over, she became a butterfly.” — Unknown

129. “New Year’s Day is every man’s birthday.” — Charles Lamb

130. “Celebrate endings, for they precede new beginnings.” — Jonathan Lockwood Huie

131. “Don’t make plans. Make options.” — Jennifer Aniston

132. “A man says a lot of things in summer he doesn’t mean in winter.” — Patricia Briggs

133. “Welcome, January! A bounty of beautiful beginnings and never-ending blessings.” — Unknown

134. “I blink January’s lashes and gush down December’s cheeks.” — Sanober Khan

135. “Don’t let today’s disappointments cast a shadow on tomorrow’s dreams.” — Unknown

136. “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” — Hal Borland

137. “Slow as molasses in January.” — Unknown

138. “No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.” — Buddha

139. “In this world only winter is certain.” — George R.R. Martin

140. “Treat every day like it’s a new year because it is.” — Temitope Ibrahim

January Quotes for the New Year

No matter how you feel about the new year, no doubt you found inspiration (and hopefully some motivation) with these January quotes.

But remember — you don’t have to wait until next winter to revisit these January sayings. Bookmark this list so you’ll always have it handy!

If you enjoyed these January motivation quotes, there’s plenty more where that came from. Check out this post next for a long list of quotes that will inspire you to take chances!