Blue Monday 2023 quotes: 15 positive sayings to keep you motivated on the ‘most depressing day of the year’

Blue Monday is said to be ‘the most depressing day of the year’, but what is the day and what are some positive sayings to keep you motivated? Here’s what you need to know.

What is Blue Monday?

After December, January can feel like a huge slog, with cold, dark evenings and post-Christmas comedown. Blue Monday (16 January) is meant to be the focal point of this bad feeling, but, despite Blue Monday’s existence being widely acknowledged, there’s actually no scientific evidence of its existence.

It was actually borne out of a PR stunt. The concept of Blue Monday first came into public knowledge in 2004, when holiday firm Sky Travel tasked psychologist Cliff Arnall with concocting a scientific formula for the January blues.

Suicide prevention charity Samaritans has instead coined a new term for the day, named ‘Brew Monday’. The charity said this is a positive day when people should reach out to friends, family and colleagues over a cup of tea to make sure they’re feeling alright.

Samaritans said that we all have good and bad days, and that a calendar date cannot determine when we feel certain things. It also says its Brew Monday idea can be done at any time of the year -not just on one particular day.

15 motivational quotes and positive sayings

If you’re looking for some motivational quotes, regardless of the day, here are 15 positive sayings.

• ‘Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you’ - Walt Whitman
• ‘All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination’ - Earl Nightingale
• ‘Train your mind to see the good in every situation’
• ‘Stay positive. Better days are on their way’
• ‘Extraordinary things are always hiding in places people never think to look’ - Jodi Picoult
• ‘Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible’ - Tony Robbins
• ‘Only in the darkness can you see the stars’ - Martin Luther King, Jr.
• ‘A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at’ - Bruce Lee
• ‘Each day provides its own gifts’ - Marcus Aurelius
• ‘Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory’ - Dr. Seuss
• ‘No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted’ - Aesop
• ‘No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world’ - Robin Williams
• ‘It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light’ - Aristotle Onassis
• ‘Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can’ - Arthur Ashe
• ‘There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind’ - C.S. Lewis