Quotes for the New Year: Literary Advice to Ring In the New Year

Literary Advice to Ring In the New Year

As we close out of this year and enter into 2024, I thought it was appropriate to compile some thoughtful quotes for the New Year. Quotes are very special to me. As a lover of words, I enjoy catching glimpses of emotion as described by others. When I get into my own head and can’t quite tell how I feel, I find that these preordained thoughts are quite comforting.

For more of my favorite quotes, including some that would suit the New Year, be sure to check out my dedicated Pinterest board here! I came across these sweet New Year quotes for kids, too, that offer some nice sentiments for the seasonal shift.

If you’re looking for some literary inspiration and advice, I hope these quotes help you out. I’ve pulled from some of my favorite authors and writers, including Tennyson, Anaïs Nin, and T.S. Eliot, as well as other iconic individuals from history, like Benjamin Franklin. Cheers to the new year!

Quotes for the New Year

“Hope Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering ‘it will be happier’…”

Lord Alfred Tennyson

“The horizon leans forward, 
Offering you space to place new steps of change.”

Maya Angelou

“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing.”

Herman Melville

“The beginning is always today”

Mary Shelley

“I keep turning over new leaves, and spoiling them, as I used to spoil my copybooks; and I make so many beginnings there never will be an end.”

Louisa May Alcott

“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

“I wake expectant, hoping to see a new thing.”

Annie Dillard

“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

“[T]omorrow is a new day. You shall begin it well & serenely, & with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day … is too dear with its hopes & invitations to waste a moment on the rotten yesterdays.” 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Not knowing when the dawn will come
I open every door.”

Emily Dickinson

“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” 

Benjamin Franklin

“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”

L.M. Montgomery

“Each age has deemed the new-born year
The fittest time for festal cheer.” 

Sir Walter Scott
Tabby cat getting ready for New Year's Eve

Are you a reader at heart, like me? This quotes post is, in a way, related to my What to Read series, where I share themed reading lists and book guides based on genre, time period, theme, or author.
You can peruse more of my What to Read reading guides here!

 *This post was originally published in 2021. It was most recently updated on January 2, 2024.