Did you know that suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States? In 2020, over 44,000 people died by suicide. Unfortunately, despite these shocking numbers, suicide is still a topic that is often taboo. People don’t want to talk about it.

But by ignoring the issue, we are doing a disservice to those who are struggling with mental illness and suicidal thoughts. It’s time to talk openly and honestly about suicide and what we can do to prevent it. And what better way to start than by sharing some powerful suicide awareness quotes?

71 Suicide Awareness Quotes

Below, we share some of the most powerful suicide prevention quotes:

1. “You can do things today that shape your unknown future. Make every day the time when you turn what you don’t know into what would like to happen.” — Michael Nulty

2. “The epic story of tomorrow can’t be written if it ends today.” — Unknown

3. “Soak up the views. Take in the bad weather and the good weather. You are not the storm.” — Matt Haig

4. “When you don’t have the strength to take another step, ask those you love to pull you.” — Unknown

5. “Never let a stumble in the road be the end of the journey.” — Unknown

6. “Suicide doesn’t solve your problems. It only makes them infinitely, uncountably worse.” — Sinead O’Connor

7. “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” — Seneca “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” — Helen Keller

8. “Suicide is a serious thing. And if you know anyone who is suicidal, you need to get them help. No one should be in pain. Everyone should love themselves.” — Gerard Way

9. “Don’t forget who you are and where you came from. Don’t get too emotional over little things. Don’t. Quit until you win the grand prize.” — Robert Randle

10. “You can either be crushed by a horrific event and lose your sanity, your family and your life. Or, you can take this pain that was thrust upon you to propel into greatness. You can make it through this. I know it’s hard.” — Marie White

11.“The most beautiful rocks are those that have weathered the storm.” — Unknown

12. “Don’t give up. You’ve still got a couple of people to prove wrong.” — Unknown

13. “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.” — John Green

14. “The bravest thing I ever did was continuing my life when I wanted to die.” —Juliette Lewis

15. “Nothing in my life has ever made me want to commit suicide more than people’s reaction to my trying to commit suicide.” — Emilie Autumn

16. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill

17. “When the weight of the world is holding you down, remember the courage to keep fighting is what got you this far.” — Unknown

18. “They can’t rescue you if they don’t know you need it. Ask for help to fight another day.” — Unknown

19. “That’s the thing about suicide. Try as you might to remember how a person lived his life, you always end up thinking about how he ended it.” — Anderson Cooper

20. “The key to getting beyond your struggles is making choices that invite new possibilities—new ways of thinking, feeling, behaving, and living your life for the better.” — Michael Nulty

21. “To write poetry and to commit suicide, apparently so contradictory, had really been the same, attempts at escape.” — John Fowles

22. “Think of all the beauty that’s still left in and around you and be happy!” — Anne Frank

23. “The real reason for not committing suicide is because you always know how swell life gets again after the hell is over.” — Ernest Hemingway

24. “If your heart is still beating, God is not done with you yet.” — Dillion Burroughs

25. “You’ve fought through too many yesterdays to not see the beauty of tomorrow.” — Unknown

26. “When the weight of the world is holding you down, remember the courage to keep fighting is what got you this far.” — Unknown

27. “It isn’t weak to ask for help. It’s like using a flashlight when you’re lost in the dark.” — Unknown

28. “Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” —Maru Anne Radmacher

29. “One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks.” — Jack Penn

30. “It isn’t weak to ask for help. It’s like using a flashlight when you’re lost in the dark.” — Unknown

31. “Life has its ups and downs. Keep on swinging.” — Unknown

32. “Because if you kill yourself, you’re also going to kill the people who love you.” — Unknown

33. “Hope is a necessity for normal life and the major weapon against the suicide impulse.” – Karl A. Menninger

34. “This life. This night. Your story. Your pain. Your hope. It matters. All of it matters.” — Jamie Tworkowski

35. “Suicide is not an answer, it’s destruction.” — Al Green

36. “When you feel like giving up, just remember the reason why you held on for so long.” — Hayley Williams

37. “Every flower must grow through dirt.” — Unknown

38. “Sometimes the best thing you can do is not thinking, not wondering, not imagining, not obsessing, and just breathing. Have faith that everything will work out for the best.” — Unknown

39. “If you want to show me that you really love me, don’t say that you would die for me; instead, stay alive for me.” — Unknown

40. “The great thing about suicide is that it’s not one of those things you have to do now or you lose your chance. I mean, you can always do it later.” — Harvey Fierstein

41. “The pain passes, but the beauty remains.” —Pierre August Renoir

42. “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start now and make a brand new ending.” — Carl Bard

43. “When your heart is empty, find something you love to fill it up.” — Unknown

44. “When things are tough, you must be tougher. Show them that your life can be better. Prove them wrong.” — Unknown

45. If you’re looking for a sign not to kill yourself tonight, this is it.” — Unknown

46. “Did you really want to die? No one commits suicide because they want to die. Then why do they do it? Because they want to stop the pain.” — Tiffanie DeBartolo

47. “Suicide. A sideways word, a word that people whisper and mutter and cough: a word that must be squeezed out behind cupped palms or murmured behind closed doors. It was only in dreams that I heard the word shouted, screamed.” — Lauren Oliver

48. “There was a moment in my life when I really wanted to kill myself. And there was one other moment when I was close to that… But even in my most jaded times, I had some hope.” — Gerard Way

49. “The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.” —Voltaire

50. “Anyone desperate enough for suicide should be desperate enough to go to creative extremes to solve problems: elope at midnight, stow away on the boat to New Zealand and start over, do what they always wanted to do but were afraid to try.” — Richard Bach

51. “When it is darkest, we can see the stars.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson

52. “Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe

53. “The person who completes suicide dies once. Those left behind die a thousand deaths, trying to relive those terrible moments and understand … Why?” – Clark (2001)

54. “My own failed suicide attempt led me to the profession of helping others. Reach out. You are never alone.” – David Essel

55. “On average, since the urge to kill myself isn’t so strong that I actually kill myself, the world is worth living in.” — Tao Lin

56. “There are far, far better things ahead than anything we leave behind.” — CS Lewis

57. “Suicide is not a remedy.” — James A. Garfield

58. “This world is more beautiful with you in it. ”— Unknown

59. “The coward sneaks to death; the brave live on.”— Unknown

60. “When you are tempted to give up, your breakthrough is probably just around the corner.” — Joyce Meyer

61. “Never never never give up.” – Winston Churchill

62. “Grit your teeth and let it hurt. Don’t deny it, don’t be overwhelmed by it. It will not last forever.” — Harold Kushner

63. “Choosing to live is never easy, but it’s always worth it.”— Unknown

64. “You matter more than you’ll ever know.” — Unknown

65. “But in the end, one needs more courage to live than to kill himself.” — Albert Camus

66. “We cannot tear out a single page of our life, but we can throw the whole book in the fire.” — George Sand

67. “You have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light. You were given this life because you were strong enough to live it.”— Unknown

68. If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a word of encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person, extraordinary things begin to happen.” – Loretta Girzartis

69. “They tell us that suicide is the greatest piece of cowardice… That Suicide is wrong; when it is quite obvious that there is nothing in this world to which every man has a more unassailable title than to his own life and person.”— Arthur Schopenhauer

70. “Have the strength to find a reason to live.” — Unknown

71. “Be like the lotus; we too must rise from the mud, bloom out of the darkness and radiate into the world.” — Unknown

Importance Of Suicide Prevention Quotes

Suicide prevention quotes can provide comfort and hope to someone who may be struggling with suicidal thoughts. They can also be a source of strength for someone who is supporting a friend or loved one through a difficult time.

These quotes remind us that we are not alone in our struggle against suicide and that there is always help available. They also emphasize the importance of reaching out for help when we are feeling overwhelmed or hopeless.

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out for help. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.