105 Powerful Suicide Prevention Quotes That May Help You or a Loved One
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that we all go through a rough patch in our lives every so often but some people can feel those lows a little bit harder than others which leads to depression. Depression is a form of mental illness and can be the deadliest form. People experience depression differently but symptoms of depression include: loss of interest in things they used to particularly enjoy, erratic sleeping patterns, and feelings of sadness or hopelessness.
When a friend or loved one is struggling with chronic depression or is going through a particularly tough time in life, they may be thinking of taking their own lives. Suicide isn’t something that should be taken lightly and we know that sending a loved one some suicide prevention quotes won’t be enough to take the pain away completely. But, it will let them know you’re thinking of them, and that alone is sometimes enough. If your loved one has expressed that they are taking their own lives, maybe suggest some free resources along with your suicide prevention quotes. Some that come to mind are online therapy services like TalkSpace and BetterHelp. Or you could simply offer a little bit of kindness like offering to cook your friend dinner that night or taking them out for a cup of coffee.
If you feel like your friend or loved one is too far gone for a suicide prevention quote and an act of kindness would do more harm than good, please call the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 for immediate help and to speak with someone who knows exactly what’s going on. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They also have online chats available and all information is confidential. You can also text “HELLO” to 741741 to be connected with the Crisis Text Line. Be sure to also check out the Suicide Prevention Resource Center where you can see a complete list of resources that are offered state-by-state.
There is always a reason to stay alive. You are loved. You are worthy. You are enough. You are not alone.
Related: What Mental Health Experts Wish People Understood About Suicidal Thoughts
Suicide Prevention Quotes
1. “If I could tell anybody that’s thinking about taking their own life, is to reach out to people. Don’t hold it inside — don’t isolate. Reach out to people, whether it’s close friends, family. If you feel like you don’t have anybody, look within yourself and try to find that resilience that will ultimately get you through whatever it is you’re going through. Every single person on this planet is worth life." — Demi Lovato
2. Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” — Helen Keller
3. “Don't forget who you are and where you came from. Don't get too emotional over little things. Don't. Quit until you win the grand prize.” — Robert Randle
4. “You can either be crushed by a horrific event and lose your sanity, your family and your life. Or, you can take this pain that was thrust upon you, to propel into greatness. You can make it through this. I know it's hard.” — Marie White
5. "You can do things today that shape your unknown future. Make every day the time when you turn what you don't know into what would like to happen.” — Michael Nulty
6. “Soak up the views. Take in the bad weather and the good weather. You are not the storm.” — Matt Haig
7. “Suicide is not an answer, it’s destruction.” — Al Green
8. “When you feel like giving up, just remember the reason why you held on for so long.” — Hayley Williams
9. “Stay alive for the good times. Stay alive through the bad. Stay alive for the hopes and the fears and the dreams, the best that we ever had." — Andy Black
10. “To write poetry and to commit suicide, apparently so contradictory, had really been the same, attempts at escape.” — John Fowles
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11. “Think of all the beauty that's still left in and around you and be happy!” — Anne Frank
12. “When you don't have the strength to take another step, ask those you love to pull you.” — Unknown
13. “Never let a stumble in the road be the end of the journey.” — Unknown
14. “Suicide is a serious thing. And if you know anyone who is suicidal, you need to get them help. No one should be in pain. Everyone should love themselves.” — Gerard Way
15. “Suicide doesn’t solve your problems. It only makes them infinitely, un-countably worse.” — Sinead O’Connor
16. “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” — Seneca
17. "Now don’t lose your fight, kid. It only takes a little push to pull on through. With so much left to do, you’ll be missing out, and we’ll be missing you." — All Time Low
18. “Don’t give up. You've still got a couple of people to prove wrong.” — Unknown
19. "There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.” — John Green
20. “Nothing in my life has ever made me want to commit suicide more than people’s reaction to my trying to commit suicide.” — Emilie Autumn
Related: Suicide Prevention: How You Can Make a Difference
21. “If you're going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill
22. “When the weight of the world is holding you down, remember the courage to keep fighting is what got you this far.” — Unknown
23. “They can’t rescue you if they don’t know you need it. Ask for help to fight another day.” — Unknown
24. “That’s the thing about suicide. Try as you might to remember how a person lived his life, you always end up thinking about how he ended it.” — Anderson Cooper
25. “This life. This night. Your story. Your pain. Your hope. It matters. All of it matters.” — Jamie Tworkowski
26. “The real reason for not committing suicide is because you always know how swell life gets again after the hell is over.” — Ernest Hemingway
27. “It isn't weak to ask for help. It's like using a flashlight when you're lost in the dark.” — Unknown
28. “Sometimes the best thing you can do is not thinking, not wondering, not imagining, not obsessing and just breathing. Have faith that everything will work out for the best.” — Unknown
29. “Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'” —Maru Anne Radmacher
30. “One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks.” — Jack Penn
Related: What to Say When Someone Opens up to You About Suicidal Thoughts
31. “When the weight of the world is holding you down, remember the courage to keep fighting is what got you this far.” — Unknown
32. “Every flower must grow through dirt.” — Unknown
33. “If you want to show me that you really love me, don’t say that you would die for me, instead stay alive for me.” — Unknown
34. “The great thing about suicide is that it’s not one of those things you have to do now or you lose your chance. I mean, you can always do it later.” — Harvey Fierstein
35. “The pain passes, but the beauty remains.” — Pierre August Renoir
36. “It isn't weak to ask for help. It's like using a flashlight when you're lost in the dark.” — Unknown
37. “Life has its ups and downs. Keep on swinging.” — Unknown
38. “Because if you kill yourself, you’re also going to kill the people who love you.” — Unknown
39. “Hope is a necessity for normal life and the major weapon against the suicide impulse.” – Karl A. Menninger
40. “If your heart is still beating, God is not done with you yet.” — Dillion Burroughs
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41. “You've fought through too many yesterdays to not see the beauty of tomorrow.” — Unknown
42. “If you’re looking for a sign not to kill yourself tonight, this is it.” — Unknown
43. “Did you really want to die? No one commits suicide because they want to die. Then why do they do it? Because they want to stop the pain.” — Tiffanie DeBartolo
44. “Suicide. A sideways word, a word that people whisper and mutter and cough: a word that must be squeezed out behind cupped palms or murmured behind closed doors. It was only in dreams that I heard the word shouted, screamed.” — Lauren Oliver
45. “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start now and make a brand new ending.” — Carl Bard
46. “When your heart is empty, find something you love to fill it up.” — Unknown
47. “When things are tough, you must be tougher. Show them that your life can be better. Prove them wrong.” — Unknown
48.“There was a moment in my life when I really wanted to kill myself. And there was one other moment when I was close to that... But even in my most jaded times, I had some hope.” — Gerard Way
49. “On average, since the urge to kill myself isn’t so strong that I actually kill myself, the world is worth living in.” — Tao Lin
50. “Suicide is not a remedy.” — James A. Garfield
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51. “This world is more beautiful with you in it. ” — Unknown
52. “The coward sneaks to death; the brave live on.” — Unknown
53. “When you are tempted to give up, your breakthrough is probably just around the corner.” — Joyce Meyer
54. “Never never never give up.” — Winston Churchill
55. “Grit your teeth and let it hurt. Don't deny it, don't be overwhelmed by it. It will not last forever.” — Harold Kushner
56. “Choosing to live is never easy, but it's always worth it.”— Unknown
57. “You have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light. You were given this life because you were strong enough to live it.” — Unknown
58. "The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us." —Voltaire
59. “Anyone desperate enough for suicide should be desperate enough to go to creative extremes to solve problems: elope at midnight, stow away on the boat to New Zealand and start over, do what they always wanted to do but were afraid to try.” — Richard Bach
60. “When it is darkest, we can see the stars.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
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61. “Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe
62. “Have the strength to find a reason to live.” — Unknown
63. “Be like the lotus, we too must rise from the mud, bloom out of the darkness and radiate into the world.” — Unknown
64. "You matter more than you'll ever know." — Unknown
65. “But in the end, one needs more courage to live than to kill himself.” — Albert Camus
66.“We cannot tear out a single page of our life, but we can throw the whole book in the fire.” — George Sand
67. “There are far, far better things ahead than anything we leave behind.” — C.S. Lewis
68. “Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” — Christian D. Larson
69. “It is far better to dance in the rain than to let it drown you.” — Unknown
70. “Sometimes life pushes us to our limits, it tests us beyond our endurance, because God only gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers.” — Unknown
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71. "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
72. “Some people suffer in silence, pain in the hearts but smiles on their faces.” ― Isha Barlas
73. “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
74. “Suicide is the last attempt of re-emergence of the will of life.” ― Lamine Pearlheart
75. “Your life is not over. Your life is important. Don't take your beauty from the world.” — Unknown
76. “There is no greater strength than choosing to live.” — Unknown
77. “Tough times don’t last, tough people do. Everybody wants to be a diamond, the more it is cut, the brighter it sparkles. Remember, diamonds are created under pressure from dirty coal.” — Unknown
78. "The harder the journey the more glorious the victory." — Melissa Dohme
79. “It's not about battling your past, but fighting for your future.” — Jazz Thornton
80. “It's so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself. That’s above and beyond everything else, and it’s not a mental complaint—it’s a physical thing, like it’s physically hard to open your mouth and make the words come out. They don’t come out smooth and in conjunction with your brain the way normal people’s words do; they come out in chunks as if from a crushed-ice dispenser; you stumble on them as they gather behind your lower lip. So you just keep quiet.” — Ned Vizzini
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Major Depressive Disorder
81. “Suicide doesn't end the chances of life getting worse, it eliminates the possibility of it ever getting any better.” — Unknown
82. “All things are difficult before they are easy.” — Thomas Fuller
83. “There is no greater strength than choosing to live.” — Unknown
84. “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly. The moment you’re ready to quit is usually the moment right before a miracle happens. Don’t give up.” — Unknown
85. “If the meaning of your life is lost, ask for help finding it.” — Unknown
86. “Before you can see the light, you have to deal with the darkness.” — Unknown
87. "When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." — Franklin D. Roosevelt
88. "We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same." — Carlos Castaneda
89. “Everybody wants happiness, nobody wants pain. You can’t have a rainbow without the rain.” — Unknown
90. “If your brain is telling you to give up, just breathe. With one breath comes the next. Use that to get you to tomorrow.” — Unknown
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91. “If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a word of encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person, extraordinary things begin to happen.” — Loretta Girzartis
92. “Place your hand over your heart, can you feel it? That is called purpose. You're alive for a reason so don't ever give up.” — Unknown
93. “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe
94. “They would rather have you messy and alive than not there at all.”— Jazz Thornton
95. “You may not understand today or tomorrow, but eventually God will reveal why you went through everything you did.” — Unknown
96. “The bravest thing I ever did was continuing my life when I wanted to die.” — Juliette Lewis
97. “Everybody goes through difficult times, but it is those who push through those difficult times who will eventually become successful in life. Don't give up, because this too shall pass.” — Jeanette Coron
98. “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” — Phil Donahue
99. “When you twist the roots of your life with others, it's easier to weather the storm.” — Unknown
100. "Make it stop, let this end, all these years pushed to the ledge. But proud I stand of who I am, I plan to go on living." — Rise Against
Related: What To Say to Someone Who Is Depressed
101. "The epic story of tomorrow can't be written if it ends today.” — Unknown
102. “The key to getting beyond your struggles is making choices that invite new possibilities—new ways of thinking, feeling, behaving, and living your life for the better.” — Michael Nulty
103. "You don’t wanna die tonight. Take one more breath to clear your mind. Every moment’s relevant, bittersweet and delicate." — The Maine
104. "The most beautiful rocks are those that have weathered the storm.” — Unknown
105. "There is beauty in the journey, regardless of the outcome. Let's grieve and hope and fight together." — Marie White
