Words have a way of finding us exactly when we need them. In this episode, we share 22 quotes that have inspired, grounded, and guided us through different seasons of life.
This conversation was sparked by a listener who asked us: What are the quotes you return to again and again? So we gathered the words that have stayed with us—and the meaning behind them.
We’d love to know: what quotes have shaped your life?
Quotes:
“The women I love and admire for their strength and grace did not get that way because shit worked out. They got that way because shit went wrong and they handled it. They handled it a thousand different ways on a thousand different days, but they handled it. Those women are my superheroes.” -Elizabeth Gilbert
“The more scared we are of a work or calling , the more sure we can be that we have to do it. Resistance is experienced as fear. The degree of fear equates to the strength of resistance. Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific enterprise the more certain we can be that enterprise is important to us and the growth of our soul. “ Stephen Pressfield from “War of Art”
“The wound is the place where the light enters you. “ Rumi
“Love is the most powerful force in the world. If people tell you the opposite of love is fear, it is not so. Love just is. Love has no opposite, it’s the answer to everything, everything. Where there is disharmony, wherever there’s pain, whoever there’s hunger or wherever there is sorrow. Just send love. Not only to humanity, but to all of life. To the rivers, the oceans, the forest, to the animals the birds, the bees to air you breathe. To the whole cosmos because you are part of the one, we are all part of the one. There is no separation. “
-Delores Cannon
“Let your heart break, so your spirit doesn’t.” – Andrea Gibson
“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act , just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” -Rainer Maria Rilke “Letters to a Young Poet”
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you do, but they will never forget the way you made them feel”. Maya Angelou
“To strive for perfection is to kill love, because perfection does not recognize humanity.” -Marianne Woodman
“How to do the thing you are afraid to do. Grab fears by the hand, grab hope by the hand and start walking.” -Cleo Wade
“Nothing has as strong of influence psychologically on your environment, and especially on your children, than the un-lived life of the parent.” Carl Yung
“Of course I’ve changed darling, I’ve grown.” -Cleo Wade
“Aging is no accident. It is necessary to the human condition, intended by the soul. We become more characteristic of who we are simply by lasting into later years; the older we become, the more our true natures emerge. Thus the final years have a very important purpose: the fulfillment and confirmation of one’s character.” – James Hillman
“You are the sky, everything else is the weather.” – Pema
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I’m only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when? -Hillel
“The best thing to hold onto in life, is each other.” – Audrey Hepburn
“Your new life is going to cost you your old one.
It’s going to cost you your comfort zone and your sense
of direction.
It’s going to cost you relationships and friends.
It’s going to cost you being liked and understood.
It doesn’t matter.
The people who are meant for you are going to meet you
on the other side. You’re going to build a new comfort
zone around the things that actually move you forward.
Instead of being liked, you’re going to be loved. Instead of
being understood, you’re going to be seen.
All you’re going to lose is what was built for a person you
no longer are.” – Brianna Wiest
“I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.” – Audrey Hepburn
“She knows that she’ll get her butt kicked if she chooses aliveness , her light will blind others, her darkness will not let her fit in, her success will provoke conflict, her ways of healing will be judged, her enemies will want her to cower, and fear will do it’s best to take her down. So she draws a circle around herself and keeps opening up, because aliveness is freedom. She’s embracing the risk to bypass the ordinary and she’s exactly what the world needs right now.”
-Tanya Markul She Book
“Strong back, soft front, wild heart.” – Joan Hallifax / Brene’ Brown
Past Episodes You Might Like with Kate & Betsy:
Episode 100: The Upper Limit: Living In Your Full Potential
Episode 80: Self Compassion: The Secret Sauce of Life
Episode 153: Connecting to Soul as a Path to Abundance
Episode 55: Boundaries & Self Sabotage
LIVE PODCAST EVENT
Seasoned Wisdom
Date: April 1st, 11am – 1pm
Come soak up the wisdom that only comes from age…A signature event of the Water Bearer Collective in partnership with the Tend HER Wild Podcast.
Join the Water Bearer Collective in partnership with Tend HER Wild Podcast hosts Dr. Betsy Rippentrop and Kate Moreland, for a special live podcast event, “Seasoned Wisdom.” This intimate and powerful conversation will feature 4 legendary older women who are overflowing with unapologetic authenticity, hard-won insight, and deep self-trust and wisdom that only comes with age.
Event Details:
This event will be held at the James Theatre, Iowa City on April 1st from 11am – 1pm. A light lunch will be served and time to network will follow the recording.
Today’s Episode sponsored by:
The Local Hub (https://thelocalhub-ic.com/)
Kate Moreland Coaching (https://www.
Dr Yoga Momma (https://dryogamomma.com/)
Heartland Yoga (https://heartlandyoga.com/)
Want to go on retreat?
Want to join Betsy in Costa Rica in May 11-18 2026 at her favorite retreat center to help you connect with your inner healer using yoga, meditation, energy medicine, and creativity? At this retreat, broadway director Kristin Hanggi is joining to lead on the power of creativity to move us through our collective and personal anxiety. All the details here!
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