Sometimes in life, we all end up stuck in a rut. However, the right words can sometimes put our experiences in the right perspective and help us shift from neutral into drive. Surprisingly, sometimes you can move on from a loss and let go of the pain that’s holding you back from being happy again with the right quote.

If you want to reclaim your happiness, the first step is letting go of the past. Here are a few tips, quotes and captions that can help you get unstuck from painful memories and experiences.

Moving On Quotes

What direction will you go?

  • “You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. So let them go, let go of them. I tie no weights to my ankles.” – C. JoyBell C.
  • “Because you simply cannot draw these things out forever. At some point, you just pull off the Band-Aid and it hurts, but then it’s over and you’re relieved.”– John Green
  • “But part of surviving is being able to move on.”– Alexandra Bracken
  • “Change has to come for life to struggle forward.”– Helen Hollick
  • “Even a rock moves on.”– Anthony Liccione
  • “I have to get my life on track. Order as an antidote to chaos. Calm after the storm.”– Susane Colasanti
  • “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”– Robert Frost

“It happens to everyone as they grow up. You find out who you are and what you want, and then you realize that people you’ve known forever don’t see things the way you do. So you keep the wonderful memories, but find yourself moving on.” – Nicholas Sparks

  • “It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn’t matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over.”– Paulo Coelho
  • “It is important that we forgive ourselves for making mistakes. We need to learn from our errors and move on.”– Steve Maraboli
  • “Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.” – Hermann Hesse
  • “Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to known when to let go and then do it.”– Ann Landers
  • “Sooner or later we’ve all got to let go of our past.”– Dan Brown
  • “The only thing a person can ever really do is keep moving forward. Take that big leap forward without hesitation, without once looking back. Simply forget the past and forge toward the future.”– Alyson Noel

“There comes a time in your life when you have to choose to turn the page, write another book or simply close it.”– Shannon L. Alder

  • “There’s a trick to the Graceful Exit. It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, a relationship is over — and to let go. It means leaving what’s over without denying its value.”– Ellen Goodman
  • “You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months overanalyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could’ve, would’ve happened… or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move on.”– Tupac Shakur
  • “You really don’t have to burn any bridges to let go… You don’t have to destroy anything. You can just decide to cross over and move on.”– Marta Mrotek
  • “You’ve got to make a conscious choice every day to shed the old — whatever ‘the old’ means to you.”– Sarah Ban Breathnach

Smiling and Moving on Quotes

The best is still ahead.

  • “Don’t cry over the past, it’s gone. Don’t stress about the future, it hasn’t arrived. Live in the present and make it beautiful.”– Author Unknown
  • “Every day is a new day, and you’ll never be able to find happiness if you don’t move on.”– Carrie Underwood
  • “Get over it. Life isn’t supposed to be fair. Get over yourself, and be of service to others.”– Jonathan Lockwood Huie
  • “I’ve been burdened with blame trapped in the past for too long, I’m moving on.”– Rascal Flatts
  • “In order to move on, you must understand why you felt what you did and why you no longer need to feel it.”– Mitch Albom
  • “Keeping baggage from the past will leave no room for happiness in the future.”– Wayne L. Misner
  • “Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.”– Bob Newhart
  • “Once you realize you deserve a bright future, letting go of your dark past is the best choice you will ever make.”– Roy T. Bennett

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”– Thich Nhat Hanh

  • “Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, but you didn’t. So you move on.”
  • “The great courageous act that we must all do, is to have the courage to step out of our history and past so that we can live our dreams.”– Oprah Winfrey
  • “The secret of joy is the mastery of pain.”– Anaïs Nin
  • “We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”– Joseph Campbell
  • “We need to learn to let go as easily as we grasp and we will find our hands full and our minds empty.”– Leo F. Buscaglia
  • “When you are sorrowful look again in your own heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”– Kahlil Gibran
  • “You clutch the past too tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present.”– Jan Glidewell

Moving on Quotes about Relationships

Moving on from a bad relationship can be difficult.

  • “And perhaps there is a limit to the grieving that the human heart can do. As when one adds salt to a tumbler of water, there comes a point where simply no more will be absorbed.”– Sarah Waters
  • “Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.” – Steve Maraboli
  • “Don’t dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.”– Denis Waitley
  • “Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.”– Lewis B. Smedes
  • “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”– Author Unknown
  • “I can choose to let it define me, confine me, refine me, outshine me — or I can choose to move on and leave them behind me.”– Author Unknown
  • “I had to cease to mourn what could never be and make the most of what was possible. And I would begin doing that by trying to mend the hurts of the past.”– Cameron Dokey
  • “I’m guilty of giving people more chances than they deserve but when I’m done, I’m done.”– Turcois Ominek