Wisdom from Taylor Swift - Positively Present

There’s so much we can learn from the lyrics Taylor has written, but she’s also shared words of wisdom in other places throughout the years — interviews, speeches, etc. In honor of her birthday (and the almost 3 month anniversary of The Story of You‘s release!), I’ve rounded up some of my favorite Taylor Swift quotes that aren’t from song lyrics!

On Relationships

Be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.
There doesn’t have to be loneliness in being alone. You can find romance in your life even if you aren’t involved in a romance. Life can be beautiful and spontaneous and surprising and romantic and magical without you having some love affair happening. You can replace all of those feelings you used to have when you were enamored with someone with being enamored with your friends and enamored with learning new things and challenging yourself and living your life on your own terms.
May your heart remain breakable, but never by the same hand twice.
There are two different categories of love. The first category is called a fairytale. The second category of love is called just another lesson.
We should love, not fall in love, because everything that falls gets broken.
Forgive yourself for having gone through something that didn’t pan out the way you thought it would.
You can love people without it being the great love.
To truly love is to have the courage to walk away and let the other person who wishes to be free go no matter how much it hurts.
Just because something is over doesn’t mean it wasn’t incredibly beautiful.
People fuel you, they fuel every part of you, and they make you walk taller, and they make you present in a more vibrant way.
There are no rules when it comes to love. I just try to let love surprise me.
You may think you’ll never get over it. But you also thought it would last forever.
Grow a backbone, trust your gut, and know when to strike back. Be like a snake — only bite if someone steps on you.
The only words you’ll regret more than the ones left unsaid are the ones you use to intentionally hurt someone.

On Trying

Never be ashamed of trying. Effortlessness is a myth.
The worst kind of person is someone who makes someone feel bad, dumb or stupid for… being excited about something. I don’t think you should ever have to apologize for your excitement just because something’s cliche doesn’t mean it’s not something that’s awesome.
Learn to live alongside cringe. No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively.
Trying and failing and trying again and failing again is normal.
Giving up doesn’t always mean you’re weak, sometimes you’re just strong enough to let go.

On Happiness

Life isn’t always going to give you what you want. You’re not always going to get your way. You’re going to get your heart broken, things are going to happen to you, chaos will ensue. But you have to pick your own happiness. You choose it. It doesn’t always choose you. It doesn’t always show up, knocking on your door. You sometimes have to make your own happiness.
If you can’t get joy from silly little things, like the mop cart, you’re doing it wrong.
Happiness isn’t a constant. You get fleeting glimpses. You have to fight for those moments, but they make it all worth it.

On Hard Times

Hard things will happen to us. We will recover. We will learn from it. We will grow more resilient because of it.
There are two ways you can go with pain. You can let it destroy you or use it as fuel to drive you.
It’s all in how you deal with loss. I respond to extreme pain with defiance.
We think that these bad things are happening to me, or to us. If you flip it around correctly and you react in a certain way, those things can be happening for you.
If you’re being met with resistance, that probably means that your doing something new. If you’re experiencing turbulence or pressure, that probably means you’re rising. And there might be times when you put your whole heart and soul into something, and it is met with cynicism or skepticism. You cannot let that crush you. You have to let it fuel you.
Never believe anyone who tells you that you don’t deserve what you want.

On Self-Awareness

You are the only one who gets to decide what you’re remembered for.
Just be yourself, there is no one better.
If you go too far down the rabbit hole of what people think about you, it can change everything about who you are.
If you’re lucky enough to be different, never change.
People are going to judge you anyway, so you might as well do what you want.
You are not going nowhere just because you haven’t gotten where you want to go yet.
She lost him, but she found herself, and somehow that was everything.
The tiniest little thing can change the course of your day, which can change the course of your year, which can change who you are.
You are not the opinion of someone who doesn’t know you.
You should think of your energy as if it’s expensive, as if its a luxury. Not everyone can afford it.
You’ve been you your whole life, but we are different shades of ourselves at different volume levels…
Anything you feed your brain, it will internalize; anything you feed the internet, it will kill.

On Letting Go

You only have so much room in your life and so much energy to give to those in it. Be discerning.
Losing things doesn’t just mean losing. A lot of the time, when we lose things, we gain things, too.
Life can be heavy, especially if you try to carry it all at once. Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life is about catch and release; you can’t carry all things, decide what is yours to hold and let the rest go.
You may think you’ll never get over it. But you also thought it would last forever.
Hang on. It gets easier, and then it gets okay, and then it feels like freedom.

On Words & Music

People haven’t always been there for me, but music always has.
Getting a great idea with song writing is a lot like love. You don’t know why this one is different, but it is. You don’t know why this one is better, but it is. It sticks in your head, and you can’t stop thinking about it.
Words can break someone into a million pieces, but they can also put them back together. I hope you use yours for good, because the only words you’ll regret more than the ones left unsaid are the ones you use to intentionally hurt someone.

On Bravery & Action

There will be times in life when you need to stand up for yourself. Times when the right thing is to back down and apologize. Times when the right thing is to fight, times when the right thing is to turn and run. Times to hold on with all you have and times to let go with grace.
You deserve to look back on your life without a chorus of resounding voices saying, “I could’ve, but it’s too late now.”
Anytime you’re standing up against or for anything, you’re never going to receive unanimous praise. But that’s what forces you to be brave.
There is a time for silence, there is a time for waiting your turn but if you know how you feel and you clearly know what you need to say you’ll know it, I don’t think you should wait. I think you should speak now.
To me, fearless is not the absence of fear. It’s not being completely unafraid. To me, fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death.
Every day I try to remind myself of the good in the world. The love I’ve witnessed and the faith I have in humanity. We have to live bravely in order to truly feel alive, and that means not being ruled by our greatest fears.
My response to anything that happens, good or bad, is to keep making things. Keep making art.
The people who are the most successful in this world are the ones who don’t stop asking questions, who don’t stop being curious, and who don’t stop searching for the truth.

Those are just a few of the words of wisdom I’ve picked up from Taylor over the years. And, as we’re getting to the end of the year here, I’ll leave you with one more simple-but-true reminder from Taylor: “This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change.”