50 Powerful Quotes About Speaking Your Mind

Speaking your mind requires courage and bravery, especially if your thoughts are different to those around you. Why should you speak your mind, and why is it important? In this article, we will explore the benefits of being outspoken, alongside 50 powerful quotes about speaking your mind to encourage you. 

What does it mean to speak your mind?

Speaking your mind seems simple enough; all it involves is saying what you really think. It turns out that speaking your mind is actually quite difficult to do, for a number of reasons: 

1. Fear of judgment: we all crave social acceptance and reinforcement. If you voice your opinions and they are different to those around you, you might be judged as a result. No one enjoys feeling isolated or alone. 
2. Fear of rejection: what about if you speak your mind and openly share your feelings and those listening reject you? This is enough to make even the most confident people nervous!
3. Fear of conflict: what you might have to say could upset others, and cause an argument. Sometimes it can be easier to go with the majority just to keep the peace. 

As you can see, speaking your mind is a scary thing to do at times… 

So why should you speak your mind? 

There are times where you need to be honest with those around you and let them know what you really think. No matter how afraid you are, it’s important that you find your voice and speak openly. 

Speaking up is especially important if you witness something that is unjust. We need to hold each other accountable and call out anything that isn’t acceptable. This requires bravery and courage, but it’s essential that we all do it. 

Decide from today that you are going to begin speaking your mind on a regular basis. Uncommunicated thoughts and feelings can quickly build up to form resentment and anger. Open and honest communication is always the best choice. 

Here are 50 powerful quotes about speaking your mind to help you communicate better…

Quotes about speaking your mind 

1. “Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.” – James E. Faust
2. “The one thing I have never been afraid of is standing before important people and speaking my mind. I represent women who may never have the opportunity to go to the UN or meet with a president. I’m never afraid to speak truth to power.” – Leymah Gbowee
3. “When there is oppression and dictatorship, by not speaking out, we lose our dignity.” – Asma Jahangir
4. “Somewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals, that without distance closeness cannot cure.” – Henri Nouwen
5. “Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful. If the answer is no, maybe what you are about to say should be left unsaid.” – Bernard Meltzer
6. “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” – Epictetus
7. “He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.” – Lao Tzu
8. “Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.” – Thurgood Marshall
9. “Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
10. “There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak.” – Simon Sinek

Speak up quotes

11. “Never store the negative energy and emotions such as fear, anger within you. Be open and always speak your mind.” – Dr Anil Kumar Sinha
12. “Never be afraid to speak your mind, you have one for a reason.” – Sarah Moores
13. “You should always speak your mind, and be bold, and be obnoxious, and do whatever you want and don’t let anybody tell you to stop it.” – Chelsea Handler
14. “Just remember to always be yourself and don’t be afraid to speak your mind or to dream out loud” – J.A. Redmerski
15. “To say what you think will certainly damage you in society, but a free tongue is worth more than a thousand invitations.” – Logan Pearsall Smith
16. “The mouth is the portal of the mind. If not carefully guarded, it leaks true intents and motives. Feelings are the feet of the mind. If not carefully watched, they will take you onto all kinds of wayward paths.” – Hong Zicheng
17. “In order to speak your mind, you need to have a pretty good idea of who you are.” – Halley Bondy
18. “You can have regret from yesterday, fear tomorrow, but peace today by sharing your heart’s deepest feelings. A life spent being fearful of showing your soul is a life not worth living.” – Shannon Alder
19. “To say nothing is saying something. You must denounce things you are against or one might believe that you support things you really do not.” – Germany Kent
20. “It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent” – Madeleine K. Albright

Quotes about being outspoken 

21. “I don’t know if I’m a feminist, but I just know that I am all for outspoken, powerful women.” – Mac Miller
22. “I don’t fear being outspoken. The only thing I fear is losing my sense of integrity or losing sight of the values on which I guide my life. So I don’t think it’s particularly brave or unusual for me to speak out.” – Constance Wu
23. “I’m very outspoken. I will ask a silly question, but I really am deadly serious. I’m like, ‘I want to know the answer.’” – Millie Bobby Brown
24. “I am a fierce patriot, and I try to be outspoken about my beliefs.” – Martha Plimpton
25. “In reality, American girls are among the most outspoken, ambitious, successful girls in the history of the human race.” – Christina Hoff Sommers
26. “Be transparent. Let’s build a community that allows hard questions and honest conversations so we can stir up transformation in one another.” – Germany Kent
27. “One has to tell people what to think. There is no alternative. Otherwise, someone else will do it.” – Olga Tokarczuk
28. “Your voice is the most potent magic in existence.” –  Michael Bassey Johnson
29. “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gogh
30. “When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” – Malala Yousafzai

Quotes about being bold

31. “Your life is your canvas, and you are the masterpiece. There are a million ways to be kind, amazing, fabulous, creative, bold, and interesting.” – Kerli
32. “Boldness doesn’t mean rude, obnoxious, loud, or disrespectful. Being bold is being firm, sure, confident, fearless, daring, strong, resilient, and not easily intimidated. It means you’re willing to go where you’ve never been, willing to try what you’ve never tried, and willing to trust what you’ve never trusted. Boldness is quiet, not noisy.” – Mike Yaconelli
33. “A bold act requires a high degree of confidence.” – Robert Greene
34. “Make bold choices and make mistakes. It’s all those things that add up to the person you become.” – Angelina Jolie
35. “Originality implies being bold enough to go beyond accepted norms.” – Anthony Storr
36. “If you knew that your life was merely a phase or short, short segment of your entire existence, how would you live? Knowing nothing ‘real’ was at risk, what would you do? You’d live a gigantic, bold, fun, dazzling life. You know you would. That’s what the ghosts want us to do – all the exciting things they no longer can.” – Chuck Palahniuk
37. “Don’t save bold lashes and red lips for nighttime – do it in the day!” – Tyra Banks
38. “Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.” – Mary Tyler Moore
39. “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” – Billy Graham
40. “Being brave isn’t the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it.” – Bear Grylls

More quotes about speaking your mind 

41. “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” – Desmond Tutu
42. “Speak from your mind and people will hear you with their mind. Speak from your heart and people will hear you with their heart.” – Marianne Williamson
43. “It’s better to speak your mind and tell the truth, than to stay quiet and lie to yourself.” – Anonymous
44. “Only by speaking out can we create lasting change.” – DaShanne Stokes
45. “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Dr Martin Luther King Jr
46. “Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind – even if your voice shakes.” – Maggie Kuhn
47. “It is always the best policy to speak the truth.” – Jerome K. Jerome
48. “It takes courage and honor to stand up for yourself. I stand in honor and no longer in fear of speaking out.” – Catherine Jane Fisher
49. “The act of speaking out may make you feel alone” – Ravish Kumar
50. “Give yourself permission to say NO. Do not feel  guilty, mean, or selfish.” – Stephanie Lahart

Final thoughts on quotes about speaking your mind

Hopefully the above quotes will inspire you to speak your mind when you need to. Write down your favorite ones in your journal, or share them with your friends. Remember that speaking your mind is so important. Get comfortable expressing yourself, even if you only start small.