Quotes About New Year’s Resolutions

The promises we make, the promises we break

Did you make New Year’s resolutions this year? Have you broken them already or are you committed to the changes you vowed to make in your life? Whether you think they’re a catalyst for change or a waste of time, these quotes about New Year’s resolutions illustrate how people view this annual tradition.

1. “Don’t make resolutions without an action plan. The secret to success is right in your hands.” -J. Allen Shaw

2. “For a change, don’t add new things in your life as a New Year’s resolution. Instead, do more of what’s already working for you and stop doing things that are time-waste.” -Salil Jha

3. “Many years ago, I resolved never to bother with New Year’s resolutions, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.” -Dave Beard

4. “Every year, you make a resolution to change yourself. This year, make a resolution to be yourself.” -Unknown

5. “New Year’s Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time.” -James Agate

6. “I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.” -Anaïs Nin

7. “Why do New Year’s resolutions fail? Mainly because they are only a statement, or what we wish for in the coming year. There are usually no action plans, no deadlines, no backup plans. Sometimes they are unrealistic resolutions, with no other thought or plans beside the statement.” -Catherine Pulsifer

8. “New Year’s resolutions are a consolation for it being impossible for us to really start our lives afresh.” -Mokokoma Mokhonoana

9. “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

10. “Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.” -Oscar Wilde

11. “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” -Abraham Lincoln

12. “New Year’s Day…now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” -Mark Twain

13. “The meaning of resolution is ‘a firm decision to do or not to do something.’ The key words are ‘firm decision.’ If you make a firm decision about something then you must also take action and set a deadline, in other words, set a goal!” -Catherine Pulsifer

14. “He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; he who makes one is a fool.” -F.M. Knowles

15. “Let our New Year’s resolution be this: We will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word.” -Göran Persson

16. “Kindness, kindness, kindness. I want to make a New Year’s prayer, not a resolution. I’m praying for courage.” -Susan Sontag

17. “I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. I think if you want to change something, change it today and don’t wait until the New Year.” -Georgina Bloomberg

18. “Demands for healthy food choices were like New Year’s resolutions. Top priority on Boxing Day, forgotten with time to spare for Valentine’s chocolate.” -Richard A. Lovett

19. “Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.” -Cavett Robert

20. “May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions!” -Joey Adams

21. “Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle.” -Eric Zorn

22. “A failure to take precise and deliberate action is the reason why so many New Year’s resolutions and other goals fail.” -Jordan Ring

23. “Resolutions are a complete waste of time. They’re just this meaningless ritual, empty promises we make and break within hours of each other.” -Hillary DePiano

24. “Making New Year resolutions is one thing. Remaining resolute and seeing them through is quite another.” -Alex Morritt

25. “Never tell your resolution beforehand, or it’s twice as onerous a duty.” -John Selden

26. “Work on your strengths, not your weaknesses. How many of your New Year’s resolutions have been about fixing a flaw?” -Jonathan Haidt

27. “But can one still make resolutions when one is over forty? I live according to twenty-year-old habits.” -Andre Gide

28. “One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.” -John Burroughs

29. “Use your New Year’s resolution or resolutions as a method to correct or improve upon that which leads to finishing a past goal.” -Byron Pulsifer

30. “The New Year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.” -Melody Beattie

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Sources:

30 New Year Resolution Quotes. Inspirational Words of Wisdom https://www.wow4u.com/happynewyearquotes2/

Jenkins, C. and Bourque, K. (2022, December 29). 83 Best New Year Quotes That Will Inspire You Through All of 2023. Good Housekeeping. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/g4069/new-years-quotes/

Liles, M. (2023, January 5). 100 Best New Year’s Quotes To Celebrate 2023. Parade. https://parade.com/948122/marynliles/best-new-years-quotes/

Lowin, R. (2022, December 28). 73 Best New Year Quotes to Ring in 2023 With Inspiration. Country Living. https://www.countryliving.com/life/g4974/new-year-quotes/

New Year’s Resolutions Quotes. Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/new-year-s-resolutions

New Year Resolution Quotes to Give You a Boost. Everyday Power. https://everydaypower.com/new-year-resolution-quotes/

Sarkis, S. (2011, December 29). 23 New Year’s Quotes. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/201112/23-new-years-quotes