Journal ideas with quotes: 25 ways to use them on the page

How to use quotes in a journal

A quote on its own is decoration. A quote plus your own thoughts is journaling. The simple method is three steps.

1. Copy it outWrite the quote by hand, with the name of the person who said or wrote it and where it comes from.
2. Say it in your own wordsOne sentence: what is this quote really saying?
3. Connect it to your lifeWhere have you seen this be true or false this week? What would change if you lived by it?

Journal ideas with quotes

• 1. Quote of the week. Write one quote at the top of your weekly page and note each day how it showed up.
• 2. Agree or disagree. Copy a quote and argue with it. Write two reasons you agree and two you do not.
• 3. Quote and memory. Find a quote that reminds you of a moment in your life and tell that story.
• 4. Quote collection page. Keep a page at the back of your journal just for lines you love. Add the date you found each one.
• 5. Book lines. When you finish a book, copy your favorite line and write why it stayed with you. Pairs well with a reading journal.
• 6. Things people said. Write down lines from friends, family and teachers. These are often more meaningful than famous quotes.
• 7. Kids' quotes. Funny and wise things children say, with their age and the date.
• 8. Song line page. Write a short line from a song that matches your mood and the memory it brings back. Keep it to a line or two.
• 9. Rewrite it. Take a quote and rewrite it so it fits your life exactly.
• 10. Quote as a title. Use a short line as the title of a journal entry and write the entry underneath.
• 11. Morning quote. Start the day with a line and one sentence on how you will use it today.
• 12. Monthly theme. Pick one quote per month and decorate a cover page around it.
• 13. Letter to the author. Write to the writer of a quote as if they could read it.
• 14. Quote then question. Turn the quote into a question and answer it. "Am I true to myself at work?"
• 15. Two quotes that disagree. Put opposite ideas side by side and decide where you stand.

Classic quotes for your journal, with sources

These lines are old enough to be in the public domain, and each one is from a real, checkable source.

• "I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train." Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), said by Gwendolen.
• "It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then." Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), said by Alice.
• "I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship." Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868 to 1869), said by Amy.
• "Hope is the thing with feathers." Emily Dickinson, first line of one of her poems.
• "This above all: to thine own self be true." William Shakespeare, Hamlet, said by Polonius.
• "We know what we are, but know not what we may be." William Shakespeare, Hamlet, said by Ophelia.
• "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately." Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854).

Journal prompts to go with them

• Wilde: If someone read your diary, what would surprise them most?
• Carroll: How are you a different person than you were a year ago?
• Alcott: What storm are you learning to sail through right now?
• Dickinson: What small thing gives you hope this week?
• Shakespeare: Where in your life are you not quite being yourself?
• Thoreau: What would living on purpose look like tomorrow?

Original short lines you can use

We wrote these for you. Use them as page titles, cover lines or prompts. No credit needed.

• Small steps still move you.
• Write it down, then let it go.
• Today is a page, not the whole book.
• You do not have to be finished to be enough.
• Rest is part of the work.
• Notice the good. It is there.
• One honest line beats a perfect page.
• Be kind to the person in the mirror.
• Brave can be quiet.
• Keep the door open for joy.

For more lines you say to yourself, try our affirmation journal prompts.

Journal quotes ideas for students

Teachers often ask students to respond to a quote in a reading or reflective journal. Here is a simple frame that works from middle school up.

1. The quote. Copy it exactly, with the speaker and the book or source.
2. Context. Who says it and what is happening at that moment?
3. Meaning. What does it mean in your own words?
4. Connection. How does it connect to your life, another book, or the world?
5. Question. One question the quote makes you ask.

• 16. Character quote. Pick a line from a book you are studying and explain what it shows about the character.
• 17. Quote and goal. Choose a line about effort and write one study goal it inspires.
• 18. Class quote wall. Collect lines classmates and teachers say that made you think.
• 19. History quote. Copy a line from a famous speech you studied and explain why it mattered then and now.
• 20. Exam week line. Pick one short line to read before each exam and note how you felt after.

See more journal examples for students for school journals.

Pretty ways to write quotes on the page

• 21. Banner. Draw a ribbon banner across the top of the page and write the quote inside.
• 22. Big and small. Write the key word large and the rest small around it.
• 23. Washi frame. Write the quote on a card and frame it with four strips of washi tape.
• 24. Circle text. Write a short quote around the edge of a circle, with your thoughts in the middle.
• 25. Torn paper. Write it on a torn scrap of book page or brown paper and glue it in.

For more decorating ideas see aesthetic journal ideas, or go back to the main journal ideas list.

Questions people ask