100+ Will Smith Quotes About Love, Life, And Happiness

Updated: May 12th, 2022

100+ Will Smith Quotes About Love, Life, And Happiness

Willard Carroll Smith Jr., popularly known as Will Smith, is an award-winning American actor, rapper, and producer. He is known for his work in the music, television, and film industries. From 1998 to 2007 he became one of the best leading men on the big screen in America. Smith became widely popular for his Men In Black series and he is one of the highest-paid celebrities of all time.

Throughout his years in the industry, he has received numerous awards. Some of the most notable awards that he received are 4 Grammy Awards, 1 Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe, etc. He was also nominated thrice for the best actor award at the Oscars and recently in 2022 he received his first-ever Oscar for the 2021 movie King Richard.

Alongside movies, Will Smith also ventured into a business called Treyball Development Inc. with his brother Harry in Beverly Hills. Plus, he also penned three books - Will, Just the Two of Us, and Anthology of Sci-Fi V19, the Pulp Writers.

We've put together an incredible collection of the best Will Smith quotes to read.

Here they are:

Inspiring Will Smith Quotes On Love

“Love is the ultimate theme, but it’s not just for women.”


When you look around at the six people that you spend the most time with, that's who you are. I think that in making those decisions in who you are going to be married to, who your friends are going to be, those are really huge, critical, life decisions. Who gets to talk to you every day, is almost like the food that you eat. It is a very huge critical situation to choose who the people are that you are spending your life with, spending your time with, and to who you are choosing to give your love and everything.


“Because that is what people do, they leap and hope to God they can fly! Because otherwise, we just drop like a rock, wondering the whole way down “why in the hell did I jump?” But here I am Sarah, falling. And there’s only one person that makes me feel like I can fly. That’s you.”


“We all want to be in love and find that person who is going to love us no matter how our feet smell, no matter how angry we get one day, no matter the things we say that we don’t mean.”


“Basic principles: no matter what, no matter when, no matter who, any man has a chance to sweep any woman off her feet. He just needs the right broom.”


“When you’re wondering what to say, or how you look, just remember, she is already out with you. That means, she said yes, when she could’ve said no. That means she made a plan, when she could’ve just blown you off. So that means it is no longer you job to make her like you. It’s is your job not to mess it up.”


“You cannot make a person happy. You can make a person smile, feel good and laugh. However, whether a person is happy or not is deeply and utterly and totally out of your control.”


“Love will make you do crazy things"


“Her happiness was her responsibility and my happiness was my responsibility and we decided that we were going to find our individual internal, private joy and then we were going to present ourselves to the relationship and to each other, already happy. Not coming to each other, begging without empty cups out demanding that she fill my cups and demanding that she meet my needs. It’s unfair and it’s kind of unrealistic and can be destructive to place the responsibility for your happiness on anybody other than yourself.”


“Our perspective is, you don’t avoid what’s natural and you’re going to be attracted to people. And if it came down to it, then one would say to the other: ‘Look, I need to have sex with somebody. Now, I’m not going to if you don’t approve of it.’… In our marriage vows, we didn’t say ‘forsaking all others.’ We said, ‘you will never hear I did something afterwards.’ Because if that happens the relationship is destroyed.”


Marriage is the hardest thing you will ever do. The secret is removing divorce as an option. Anybody who gives themselves that option will get a divorce.


Everybody need a partner to stand right by their side. Not only down for the good times. But also down through the bad times.


She has got to have command of her body. So when she goes out into the world, she's going out with a command that is hers. She is used to making those, decisions herself.


“I’m a student of patterns. At heart, I’m a physicist.”


“I love being black in America, and especially being black in Hollywood.”


“We all want to be in love and find that person who is going to love us no matter how our feet smell, no matter how angry we get one day, no matter the things we say that we don't mean.”


“I love producing. I am loving doing that. I think that is my most natural space in the business. I just love producing or editing and that's where I thrive.”“I love producing. I am loving doing that. I think that is my most natural space in the business. I just love producing or editing and that's where I thrive.”


“Everybody need a partner to stand right by their side. Not only down for the good times. But also down through the bad times.”


“I was raised in a Baptist household, went to a Catholic church, lived in a Jewish neighborhood, and had the biggest crush on the Muslim girls from one neighborhood over.”


“When your wondering what to say, or how you look… just remember… she is already out with you. That means, she said yes, when she could’ve said no. That means she made a plan… when she could’ve just blown you off. So that means it is no longer you job to make her like you… It’s is your job NOT TO MESS IT UP.”


“Because thats what people do… they leap and hope to God they can fly! Because otherwise, we just drop like a rock… wondering the whole way down…”why in the hell did I jump?” But here I am Sarah, falling. And there’s only one person that makes me feel like I can fly… That’s you.”


“It’s better to be prepared than to get ready.”


“So if you stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready, and that is how I run my life.”


“Remember, don’t try to build the greatest wall that’s ever been built. Focus on laying a single, expertly-placed brick. Then keep doing that, every day.”


“Smiling is the best way to face every problem, to crush every fear, to hide every pain.”


“Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity. Why would you be realistic? What’s the point of being realistic? I’m going to do it. It’s done. It’s already done. The second I decide it’s done, it’s already done.”


“Never lie to people, because the people you are able to lie to, are the people who trust you.”


“Greatness exists in all of us.”


“I’d rather live my life knowing that I’m not perfect than spend my whole life pretending to be.”


“Greatness lives on the edge of destruction.”


“A sad thing in life is that sometimes you meet someone who means a lot to you, only to find out in the end it was never bound to be, and you just have to let go.”


“Don’t chase people. Be yourself, do your own thing and work hard.”


“The first step before anybody else in the world believes it, is that you believe it.”


“There’s a certain delusional quality that all successful people have to have.”


“10 ways to love: listen, speak, give, pray, answer, share, enjoy, trust, forgive, promise.”


“The women who don’t seek attention are usually the women you need to be giving your attention to.”


“When I say I am going to run three miles, I run five. With that mentality, it is actually difficult to lose.”


“The best feeling in the world is knowing that you actually mean something to someone.”

Powerful Will Smith Quotes On Life

It's better to be prepared than to get ready.


If you're not willing to work hard, let someone else do it. I'd rather be with someone who does a horrible job, but gives 110% than with someone who does a good job and gives 60%.


When you're running and you are there, there's a little person that talks to you and that little person says “Oh, I'm tired”, “My lounge's about to pop”, “I'm so hurt”, “I'm so tired”, “There's no way I can possibly continue”. And you wanna quit. Right? That person, if you learn how to defeat that person when you're running you will learn how to not quit when things get hard in your life.


In my mind, I've always been an A-list Hollywood superstar. Y'all just didn't know yet.


You have to make every group you come in contact with better.


There is nothing like having to change your physical form to put you in contact with every weak part of yourself, to train yourself in discipline. Put somebody on a treadmill and I'll tell you how good they are at any other thing they do in life.


For me, the greater purpose of the story is just to illuminate some pattern of human truth.


I read a Bruce Lee quote that shifted how I'm trying to live my life right now. He said, "Some targets are only meant to be aimed at." Right? And I took that to mean a shift for myself from goal orientation to path orientation.


You can't win enough, you can't have enough money, you can't succeed enough. There is not enough. The only thing that will ever satiate that existential thirst is love. And I just remember that day I made the shift from wanting to be a winner to wanting to have the most powerful, deep, and beautiful relationships I could possibly have.


The separation of talent and skill is one of the largest misconceptions in modern society. Talent is something you born with, but skill can only be attained through Hours and Hours of hard work perfecting your talent as a craft. Which is why Talent will fail you without skill.


I just think that the gifts that God has given me and the attention that I have, I just don't feel like acting is the limit of it. I just feel like there's so much more that I could do...And, you know, every day I wake up and I try to do a little more and I just want the world to be different and better because I was here.


I believe that eclecticism is a virtue. It may not be a word, but its definitely a virtue.


Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away.


One of my teachers used to call me Prince, because I always had a way of charming myself in and out of different situations.


I want the world to be better because I was here. I want my life, I want my work, my family, I want it to mean something and if you are not making someone else's life better then you are wasting your time.


Give me a problem, I'll give you a solution. I just love living. That's a feeling you can't fake. I'm glad every single day. I think that even the camera can feel that I'm a happy man.


The things that have been most valuable to me I did not learn in school. Traditional education is based on facts and figures and passing tests - not on a comprehension of the material and its application to your life.


I've never really viewed myself as particularly talented. I've viewed myself as slightly above average in talent. And where I excel is ridiculous, sickening, work ethic. You know, while the other guy's sleeping? I'm working. While the other guy's eatin'? I'm working. While the other guy's making love, I mean, I'm making love, too. But I'm working really hard at it.


I’m a student of patterns. At heart, I’m a physicist. I look at everything in my life as trying to find the single equation, the theory of everything.


The keys to life are running and reading.


Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocracy


I try to connect to human emotion. I'm always looking for something primal, something really base that is beyond language, that people understand beyond language.


Whatever you have is gonna die and you are gonna have to rebirth something new. You have to be willing to ride the waves.


I know who I am, I know what I believe, that's all I need to know. From there, you do what you need to do.


I'm profoundly changed. There's a bittersweet emotion that I feel from playing this role. . . . I want the world to be different because I was here. However lofty or crazy or delusional that may sound, I want people's lives to be better because I was here.


You'd be surprised how much you don't understand what other people see your actions as; how other people view the things you say and the things that you do. And a lot of times just clarifying what your intentions are with people makes a huge difference.


Life is lived on the edge.


I want to be the person that is the first person there and the last person to leave. That's who I want to be, because I think the road to success is through commitment, and through the strength to drive through that commitment when it gets hard. And it is going to get hard and you're going to want to quit sometimes, but it'll be colored by who you are, and more by who you want to be.


When you create art, the world has to wait.


I love living. I think that's infectious, it's something you can't fake.


Greatness is not this, wonderful, esoteric, elusive, god-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste. You know? It's something that truly exists, in, all of us. It's very simple, this is what I believe, and, I'm willing to die for it. Period. It's that simple.


Those who say I can, and those who say I can't - are both usually right


I do not have to build a perfect wall today. I just have to lay a perfect brick.


What developed in my early days was the attitude to start attacking the thing I was scared of


Part of being an actor is almost self-hypnosis during those brief moments when the cameras are rolling. You want to actually believe you're Chris Gardner or Muhammad Ali.


There’s a redemptive power that making a choice has rather than feeling like you’re an effect to all the things that are happening. Make a choice. Just decide what it’s gonna be, who you’re gonna be, how you are going to do it. Just decide. And from that point, the universe will get out of your way.


For our family, the entire structure of our life, our home, our business relationships - the entire purpose is for everyone to be able to create in a way that makes them happy. Fame is almost an inconsequential by-product of what we're really trying to accomplish. We are trying to put great things into the world, we're trying to have fun, and we're trying to become the greatest versions of ourselves in the process of doing things we love.


There's so much negative imagery of black fatherhood. I've got tons of friends that are doing the right thing by their kids, and doing the right thing as a father - and how come that's not as newsworthy?


The quality of your life was determined by the quality of your service. I'm attracted to characters who have a higher calling, who want to serve in ways where you get beyond the comfortable service and you get into the space of the sacrificial. And I really am attracted to characters who just want to do things that brighten the world. That probably is the central aspect of my personality.


If the world attacks and you slide off track, remember one fact, I got your back.

Favorite Will Smith Quotes On Happiness

“You can make a person smile, you can make a person feel good, you can make a person laugh but whether or not a person is happy deeply, totally and utterly out of your control.”


“I know who I am, I know what I believe, that’s all I need to know. From there, you do what you need to do.”


“Make a choice of what you want, who you want to be and how you’re going to do it. The universe will get out of your way.”


“I want the world to be better because I was here. I want my life, I want my work, my family, I want it to mean something and if you are not making someone else’s life better then you are wasting your time.”


“Begin each day as if it were on purpose.”


“Danger is very real but fear is a choice.”


“Don’t let failure go to your heart, and don’t let success go to your head.”


“Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings, and emotions.”


“99% is the same as zero. If you are gonna do 99, go ahead and stay home.”


“My first record came out while I was a senior in high school, which is dangerous.”


“As a child, I watched ‘Dallas’ and that was my vision for my life for as long as I could remember.”


“Well, all I know is what I read in the papers.”


“I’ve viewed myself as slightly above average in talent. And where I excel is ridiculous, sickening work ethic.”


“When I was growing up, I installed refrigerators in supermarkets. My father was an electrical engineer.”


“When you create art, the world has to wait.”


“The things that have been most valuable to me I did not learn in school.”


“And where I excel is ridiculous, sickening, work ethic. You know, while the other guy’s sleeping? I’m working.”


“Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there.”


“Being realistic is the quickest path to mediocrity.”


“I’m a guy. Since when do we get anything right the first time?”


“I don’t know what my calling is, but I want to be here for a bigger reason. I strive to be like the greatest people who have ever lived.”


“You can cry, ain’t no shame in it.”


“There’s no reason to have a plan B because it distracts from plan A.”


“Don’t chase people. Be yourself, do your own thing, and work hard. The right people – the ones who really belong in your life – will come to you. And stay.”


“Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there.”


“Being realistic is the most common path to mediocrity.”


“Greatness exists in all of us.”


“I don’t know what my calling is, but I want to be here for a bigger reason. I strive to be like the greatest people who have ever lived.”


“In my mind, I’ve always been an A-list Hollywood superstar. Y’all just didn’t know yet.”


“Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, elusive, god-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste, it’s something that truly exists in all of us.”


“Hey. Don’t ever let somebody tell you… You can’t do something. Not even me. All right?”


“You got a dream… You gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.”


“Probably means there’s a good chance. Possibly means we might or we might not.”


“The first step is you have to say that you can.”


“I never viewed myself as particularly talented. Where I excel is ridiculous, sickening, work ethic. You know, while the other guy’s sleeping, I’m working.”

Famous Will Smith Quotes On Success

“The road to sustained happiness is through disciplining your behaviour.”


“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is that something is broken if it’s your responsibility to fix it. For example, it’s not somebody’s fault if their father was an abusive alcoholic, but it’s for damn sure their responsibility to figure out how they’re going to deal with those traumas and try to make a life out of it.”


“You can make a person smile, you can make a person feel good, you can make a person laugh; but whether or not a person is happy is deeply and totally and utterly out of your control.”


“Your heart, your life, your happiness is your responsibility and your responsibility alone.”


“We tend to base our self-esteem on what other people think and that’s not really self-esteem. Self esteem is suppose to be how we feel about ourselves.”


“Been stuck in the past makes it extremely difficult to find your way out and future thinking for me has always been the way to get over difficult times. To be able to look over the darkness to a potential time of light.”


“Pain and suffering are bound to joy. The being able to survive something is actually a big part of being able to find that next wave of joy, you appreciate smaller things.”


“The difference between depression and joy is purpose. When you wake up in the morning, and your life means something to somebody other than you, then you have a purpose. If you don’t go do the thing you’re going to do then people’s lives will suffer. I think that kind of purpose, to live in service of humanity, to your family, your city, the world, I feel that is the purest form of joy.”


"Don't chase people. Be yourself, do your own thing, and work hard. The right people… the ones who really belong in your life, will come to you. And stay. "


“Very rarely do I look backwards, I’m always looking forward.”


"If you're not willing to work hard, let someone else do it. I'd rather be with someone who does a horrible job, but gives 110% than with someone who does a good job and gives 60%."


"Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings & emotions."


"Smiling is the best way to face every problem, to crush every fear, and to hide every pain."


"If you don't fight for what you want, then don't cry for what you lost."


"I know who I am, I know what I believe, and that’s all I need to know."


"Don't let success go to your head and failure go to your heart."


"6+3 = 9 but so does 5+4. The way you do things isn't always the only way to do them. Respect other people's way of thinking."


"I wake up every morning believing today is going to be better than yesterday."


"If you're absent during my struggle, don't expect to be present during my success."


"One day you'll laugh at the problems you have today."


"If you want something, go get it, period."


"The things that have been most valuable to me I did not learn in school."


“Wealth can also be that attitude of gratitude with which we remind ourselves every day to count our blessings.”


"The first step is you have to say that you can."

meet the author
Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.