21 incredibly relatable, motivational divorce quotes

Woman standing in front of blossom trees, smiling into the sun

As the saying goes ‘’getting divorced sucks, but being divorced doesn’t.’’ It’s true! Being divorced can be an incredible time in your life: a chance for growth and fun, a time to discover new love. Getting there however, that’s not always so wonderful. Yet sometimes all you need is a little flame of hope – and these 21 divorce quotes might just strike that spark.

From the witty to the heartfelt, from the inspirational to the relatable, these quotes about going through a split will help you move on and move forward with life after divorce – and they may even move you to start dating again!

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21 of the most motivational quotes about divorce

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1. For when you need to be brave and start over

Your dream doesn’t have an expiration date. Take a deep breath and try again.

― KT Witten

2. For when you want a refresher on how to embrace change

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

– Viktor Frankl

3. For when you crave some perspective

Divorce isn’t such a tragedy. A tragedy’s staying in an unhappy marriage, teaching your children the wrong things about love. Nobody ever died of divorce.

– Jennifer Weiner, Fly Away Home

4. For when you need motivation to move on

If you spend your time hoping someone will suffer the consequences for what they did to your heart, then you’re allowing them to hurt you a second time in your mind.

– Shannon L. Adler

5. For when you realize that forgiveness is a gift for you, not them

Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got

– Robert Brault

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6. For when your divorce is feeling more like an on-going separation

Taking a thing apart is always faster than putting something together. This is true of everything except marriage.

― Joe Hill, 20th Century Ghosts

7. For when you’re not sure if you’re completely ready to start dating again

Immediately after a divorce or a breakup, your mind whispers that there are plenty more fish in the sea, while your heart shouts that there is only one: whoever-you-just-divorced-or-broke-up-with.

― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

8. For when you know it’s over, but your heart needs reminding

Sometimes you’re going to have to let one person go a thousand different times, a thousand different ways, and there’s nothing pathetic or abnormal about that. You are human.

― Heidi Priebe, This Is Me Letting You Go

9. For when you realize that you really have grown apart

If you made a list of reasons why any couple got married, and another list of the reasons for their divorce, you’d have a hell of a lot of overlapping.

― Mignon McLaughlin

10. For that morning when you wake up and realize it’s going to be OK

And then the dream dies and the dream breaks into a tiny million pieces which leaves you with a choice. You can either stick with it, which is unbearable, or you can go off and dream another dream.

― Rachel (Meryl Streep) in Heartburn

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11. For when you realize that you’re actually loving your new life

Divorce, the end of an ERROR.

― Unknown

12. For when you know you’re ready to move on

Ex: You’ll never find another like me!
Me: That’s the point!

― Unknown

13. For when all you can do is laugh at the twists in life

A 99-year-old man is filing for divorce from his 96-year-old wife, making them the world’s oldest divorced couple. It’s got to be weird when a divorce lawyer is fighting for your kids to get custody of you.

― Jimmy Fallon

14. For when you realize that divorce is far from a modern invention

Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient.

― Voltaire (translated)

15. For when you want a rueful chuckle

“Take me now, God!” I shout to the inky sky. “I´m ready.”
“You´re not ready. You´re not even divorced yet,” Bunny says. “You cannot die married to that man.”

― Suzanne Finnamore, Split: A Memoir of Divorce

Like Suzanne Finnamore’s quote? Read more about Split in our guide to the best books about relationships

5 motivational divorce quotes for when you want to start dating again

16. For when you need to quiet the shoulda woulda couldas

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

– Lily Tomlin

17. For when you need to focus on what lies ahead, not what lies behind

You cannot start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.

― Michael McMillan

18. For when you want to be reminded to hope

When your heart is broken you plant seeds in the cracks and wait for rain.

― Andrea Gibson, Dive

19. For when you understand that you are so much more than just your relationships

The divorce has lasted way longer than the marriage, but finally it’s over. Enough about that. The point is that for a long time, the fact that I was divorced was the most important thing about me. And now it’s not.

― Nora Ephron

20. For when you know that, no matter what, you got this

Just because I didn’t have a spouse to help and enjoy those activities with didn’t mean they couldn’t happen. Just because my plan A didn’t work out didn’t mean plan B couldn’t be really kickass. In fact, who was to tell me that my life as a single mother couldn’t be completely wonderful?

― Emma Johnson, The Kickass Single Mom

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And a bonus quote for anyone getting over heartbreak

21. For when you understand that you are the one writing this story – you get to decide what happens next

Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.

― Nora Ephron, Remarks to Wellesley College Class of 1996

Want to keep reading? Here are even more tips for dating after divorce

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