100 Being Single Quotes That Celebrate Flying Solo

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Women shunning romance for singledom is becoming increasingly common — so much so that financial institution Morgan Stanley suggested as many as 45% of American women aged between 25 and 44 will be single in 2030 — that's a 4% increase compared to 2018. As more women embrace independent lifestyles and delay or steer clear of traditional paths like marriage, the stigma around taking control of their own lives is shifting, too. Because, seriously, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being single — whether it's a choice or not. 

But, as actor, talk show host and gorgeously transformed Drew Barrymore mused in her book "Wildflower," there's still a way to go to make the concept of prolonged singledom truly mainstream. "It's ironic that we rush through being 'single' as if it's some disease or malady to get rid of or overcome. Why does no one tell us how important it is to enjoy being single and being by yourself?" she wrote. But, as we're sure Barrymore will be happy to hear, we're here to do just that.

We've rounded up 100 inspiring quotes that celebrate single life and all it has to offer, with insights from A-List celebs like Taylor Swift, to authors like Sue Grafton, and relationship experts like Dr. Marisa Franco. And these poignant words are sure to have you happily shouting your single status from the rooftops — or at least posting an empowering quote to your Instagram story.

• "I don't believe I shall ever marry. I'm happy as I am, and love my liberty too well to be in a hurry to give it up for any mortal man" – Louisa May Alcott in "Little Women"

• "I'm okay with [being single]. I really am. This time in my life, getting to know who I am, what I want" — Allison Janney on "The Drew Barrymore Show"

• "I'm in my happy era. I think, for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm free. I'm on my own. And it feels really good" — Jennifer Lopez on "Good Morning America"

• "Do I have a boyfriend? No! And not looking. You know why? I love being single" – Kelly Clarkson on Instagram

• "I was alone because I genuinely enjoyed it. I was choosing it. I didn't need to fill every moment with noise. And when I tell you that was the most freeing realization of my life? Oh. My. Gosh." — Drew Barrymore to Us Weekly

• "I'm finally okay with being alone. I think that's something we have to talk about more: that you can be alone. But my future doesn't rely on having a partner" — Miley Cyrus to Time

• "The man for me is now the cherry on the pie, but I'm the pie and my pie is good all by itself, even if I don't have a cherry. That's the way I'm looking at it — my pie is good all by itself and that sometimes means being alone, but I'm okay with that these days" — Halle Berry to Mirror (via UPI)

• "I never believed the whole 'I'm happy single' spiel. I was like, 'This is totally spiel.' It took me a long time, but I'm very happy [being single]. I call it being self-partnered" — Emma Watson to British Vogue (via People)

• "I love being single. It's almost like being rich" — Sue Grafton in "D is for Deadbeat"

• "There's so much freedom in being single — I don't have to text anyone what I'm doing and I get to do whatever I want!" — Jana Kramer to People

• "I have been in lots of relationships. Right now I am focused on the one that really counts the one with Me. I am doing really good in this one I give Me whatever I want and I know how to make me happy" – Tiffany Haddish on X

• "As soon as I realized that I could actually live and breathe, and eat and sleep, and walk and talk without having a boyfriend, something clicked in me. Becoming single was one of the things that made me feel strong and powerful. The fact that I am a young woman who doesn't need a man for money. I don't need a man for a job. I get up when I want, shop when I want" — Nicki Minaj to Elle

• "I'm a very strong woman. I don't need a man. I can be on my own" — Paris Hilton on "Live with Regis and Kelly" (via People)

• "I'm a single-minded individual, and I really like my freedom. I think there's a lot of people that need to be in relationships and need to be in love. I want it sometimes, but I don't need it" — Lizzo to People

• "I don't need anyone to take care of all my needs and desires. I can take care of them myself now" — Mindy Kaling to Good Housekeeping

• "I also know I don't need the Prince Charming to have a happy ending. I can make the happy ending myself" — Katy Perry to Daily Record

• "As girls, I think we are taught from a very young age that someone is going to bring us our happiness. I was waiting for Prince Charming. And then you realize, 'I'm strong, I'm my own keeper, my own savior'" — Jennifer Lopez to InStyle (via Fox News)

• "So many fairytales we read as children — and the love stories we watch on TV when we're older — tell us that we're not enough unless we have man. And it's like, 'No, homie! You can be a bonus when I have time for you in my life'" — Sophia Bush to Us Weekly

• "If there's one thing we all need to stop doing, it's waiting around for someone else to show up and change our lives. Just be the person you've been waiting for. Live your life as if you are the love of it. Because that's the only thing you know for sure" — Heidi Priebe in "This Is Me Letting You Go"

• "I really do believe that women really...make s**t happen for ourselves. And I think this idea of relationships [...] society approach them in the sense of like, 'Obviously, that is something that you need and want.' And that's really not been the case for me" — Charlize Theron to E! News

• "It's like you see relationships and you're like, 'I am so glad I'm going home alone.' You know what's not happening in my house? That s**t" — Kelly Clarkson while on stage (via E! News)

• "Yes, you can also have a relationship with a man, but if it's going to be a sh**ty one, it's better to have a relationship with your flowers" — Salma Hayek on "The Oprah Winfrey Show"

• "It seemed to me that the desire to get married – which, I regret to say, I believe is fundamental and primal in women – is followed almost immediately by an equally fundamental and primal urge, which is to be single again" – Nora Ephron in "Heartburn"

• "I don't think it would have been a good idea for me to have married, and I'm really glad I didn't, and I'm sure they're happy about it, too" — Diane Keaton to People

• "I don't want someone across the table from me while I'm eating my breakfast. I don't want to share the newspaper and I don't want to talk to anyone at the end of the day. If I were interested in that s**t, I'd be married again by now and put a permanent end to all the peace and quiet" — Sue Grafton in "N is for Noose"

• "Being single is wonderful! Doing whatever you want whenever you want to — nothing beats that. Some of my personal favourites are finding the food you left in the fridge is still there when you get home, not having to compromise, sleeping diagonally in the bed, never dealing with your partner's mood swings, and not having to pretend to be asleep to avoid having sex when you're not in the mood" — Andrea Bain in "Single Girl Problems: Why Being Single Isn't a Problem to Be Solved"

• "It has been lovely waking up every day going, 'Oh, no one's going to make me cry today but me'" — Taylor Tomlinson during her Netflix stand-up "Have It All"

• "Not everyone has to ride off into the sunset with a man. Some of us just want a tan" — Mandy Hale in "The Single Woman–Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass: Embracing Singleness with Confidence"

• "Because the last [guy] was a d**k and I'm not stupid" — Iliza Shlesinger on why she's single during a stand-up show (via TikTok)

• "The more boys I meet, the more I love my dog" — Carrie Underwood in "The More Boys I Meet"

• "We are becoming the men we wanted to marry" — Gloria Steinem to CNN

• "One of the reasons I'm perfectly happy being alone is that no one gets hurt this way" — Taylor Swift to Billboard (via Us Weekly)

• "The best part about being single is knowing that my happiness is coming from no other person than myself" — Demi Lovato via Instagram Stories (via People)

• "I'm learning there's more in life than a relationship with a man" — Halle Berry to Mirror (via UPI)

• "[Men are] pleasure and fun, but not a part of my core" — Emily Ratajkowski to Elle U.K.

• "You are the longest relationship you'll ever have" – Drew Barrymore to Us Weekly

• "A busy, vibrant, goal-oriented woman is so much more attractive than a woman who waits around for a man to validate her existence" — Mandy Hale in "The Single Woman–Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass: Embracing Singleness with Confidence"

• "You have nothing to prove to anybody" – Maya Angelou

• "I never met a man I could marry" — Greta Garbo (via Garboforever.com)

• "After years of searching, I have found my soulmate, and it is myself" – Marci Shimoff in "Chicken Soup for the Single's Soul"

• "I did really feel a sense of relief because I was feeling kind of bogged down. To feel that I finally said the things that were on my mind and in my heart, to get them finally out there, and to feel like I can finally move on and heal from these things was freeing to me" — Katie Maloney on "You're Gonna Love Me" (via Us Weekly)

• "Sometimes it takes a heartbreak to shake us awake and help us see we are worth so much more than we're settling for" — Mandy Hale in "The Single Woman–Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass: Embracing Singleness with Confidence"

• "Love doesn't die, it simply evolves. We grow up, we realize what we truly want. I'm excited for this new chapter in my love life – love is all around" — Ariel Winter on Instagram (via Young Hollywood)

• "It's about living in the moment and feeling every tinge of pain, then waking up the next day and going, 'All right, I'm going to ride my ponies. I'm going to have a girls' night'" –- Miranda Lambert to Cosmopolitan

• "I thought it was the end of the world, and I thought I was going to die if I didn't have him in my life. You have to let it be painful and get through it. Every day gets better. Because when you're in love, you kind of give everything and make that person your life. So every day you get more and more of yourself back, and it feels better" — Selena Gomez to Seventeen

• "Letting go doesn't mean that you don't care about someone anymore. It's just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself" — Deborah Reber in "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: 101 Stories of Life, Love and Learning"

• "I had gone through a break up. I was taking stock of my relationships and what I want[ed] in my life, and really learning how to lean into being alone. I started really loving my singledom. It was a long time without any intimacy with anyone else, and I had always feared that before I experienced it, just having this notion that I needed someone to be happy, which I found to be completely untrue" — Kacey Musgraves to NPR

• "There's something so beautiful about people who are heartbroken; they think about how they're feeling much more" — Taylor Swift to Coffee Break (via RTE)

• "I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand. Talk to myself for hours, say things you don't understand. I can take myself dancing and I can hold my own hand. Yeah, I can love me better than you can" — Miley Cyrus in "Flowers"

• "We're all where we're supposed to be. I am exactly where I want to be now. You can't go backward. I'm not going backward. I'm grateful that I'm here, blessed to have what I have. Nobody can be prepared for anything. If you end up in a place where you can look back and go, 'It happened, but I'm so lucky to be sitting where I am sitting. . . .'" — Sandra Bullock to Vogue

• "Guys need attention. They need that nourishment, that little stroke of the ego that gets them by every now and then. I'll give it to my family, I'll give it to my work—but I will not give it to a man right now" — Rihanna to T

• "My mom said to me, 'You know, sweetheart, one day you should settle down and marry a rich man.' And I said, 'Mom, I am a rich man'" — Cher in a 1996 interview

• "Single |sin•gle| (adjective) – Too fabulous to settle" — Mandy Hale in "The Single Woman–Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass: Embracing Singleness with Confidence"

• "I'm single because I'm tired of raising boys. I'm tired. I do not want a project" — Leslie Jones on "The Drew Barrymore Show"

• "One taught me love, one taught me patience, and one taught me pain. Now, I'm so amazin'" — Ariana Grande in "thank u, next"

• "Next time you see a single woman, instead of asking her where her boyfriend, husband or eunuch is, congratulate her on her accomplished sense of self and for reaching the solitary mountaintop by herself without a ring on her finger weighing her down like a male paperweight" — Chelsea Handler to Time

• "Some people said, 'Oh. You don't want to be alone.' And I said, 'I'm not alone! I'm with myself. And myself is fabulous'" — Eva Longoria to People

• "I'm done dating. I've had it with dating. Because I just find people to be insincere and not worth my time, and I enjoy my alone time and time with my kids and my friends more" — Sharon Stone on "The Drew Barrymore Show"

• "Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you're wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore" – Lady Gaga to Cosmopolitan

• "I put the sing in single. Ain't worried 'bout a ring on my finger" — Lizzo in "Truth Hurts"

• "Of course you feel like a failure. It's a big deal but again, it's an opportunity to grow. I thought love conquered all and I had to reevaluate everything. And you need your girlfriends, you need to take long, long walks until you're exhausted and no longer freaking out and you hold on until a new dawn" — Susan Sarandon to Reuters

• "I don't feel a void. I really don't. To stay in a marriage based on fear feels like you're doing your one life a disservice. When the work has been put in and it doesn't seem that there's an option of it working, that's okay. That's not a failure" — Jennifer Aniston to Elle

• "I recognized that not everybody's cut out to be in a relationship. Some people are just cut out to be one-night stands. I don't want to live with anybody. I don't need to be sleeping with them" — Whoopi Goldberg to Interview

• "Being single is not a flaw. It's not a sign that you failed or that you're behind. It's a season. And it's far healthier than being in a relationship just to avoid being alone" – certified relationship coach April Newlin on Instagram

• "I want to be by myself. I am paid for fully. I can eat my own French fries at that table, I don't have to share with anybody. I can go to bed when I want to. I can sit there and scroll aimlessly as long as I need" — Jeannie Mai on "Sherri" 

• "For the longest time I would only sleep on one side of the bed until I thought, 'Wait a minute, I don't have to do that. I can sleep right there in the middle of my king-sized bed.' I can snore, I can fart, I can do all of these things without thinking, 'Oh, God!' It's amazing freedom you have with it and then the thought of someone invading your space" — Kim Cattrall on "Women's Hour" 

• "The mated format is charted territory. Those venturing into singlehood are the Lewis and Clarks of a pioneering lifestyle with few maps, unexpected ambushes, and an infinity of adventures. Therein lies its glory!" — Barbara Feldon in "Living Alone and Loving It"

• "Single people should know that they need love and connection in their lives, but that can come from many different spheres such as through friendship and family. The assumption that we need 'romantic love' is a limiting falsehood" — psychologist and relationship expert Dr. Marisa Franco, Ph.D. to Bustle

• "Divorce might make one feel like a failure, but eventually you start to find grace in the idea that life goes on" — Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman to Us Weekly

• "I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together" — Marilyn Monroe (via Goodreads)

• "I don't feel alone. I feel very un-alone. I know women who are going, like, 'I don't want to grow old alone.' And I'm like, 'See, that doesn't scare me.' Because I'll never be alone. I'll always be surrounded by people. I'm like the crystal ball and these are all the rings of Saturn around me" — Stevie Nicks to Vulture

• "The loves of my life are my children and my mother. I don't feel as though I need a man. Luckily I don't have an opportunity to be lonely because I have kids and my work. That is fine with me" — Diane Keaton to Shadows On The Wall

• "I'm going to focus on my family, my friends, my career—and I've never, ever missed having a love life. We have become such a tight unit of family. We respect and love one another, laugh and cry together—and it's better than being married" — Sally Struthers to Woman's World

• "Remember that being by oneself is not the same as being abandoned. The world is still there" — Barbara Feldon in "Living Alone and Loving It"

• "There is a difference between being lonely and being alone. I have been single for a very long time but there is nothing lonely about my life" — Teri Hatcher to People

• "Singleness is actually the jackpot of friendship" — friendship expert and author Dr. Marisa G. Franco to Elite Daily

• "In my wonderful and robust experience of being single, I have learned to have a productive relationship with loneliness and an intensely juicy relationship with my joyful solitude — I really enjoy my company" — Tracee Ellis Ross to Shape

• "Lots of times love doesn't work out. Yet even when it fails, it connects you to others and, in the end, that is all you have, the connections" – Delia Owens in "Where the Crawdads Sing"

• "You can have love all around you without being in love, and find romance in your everyday life without being in a romantic relationship. That can be just as fulfilling" — Taylor Swift to Seventeen

• "I'm not lonely. There would be a difference if I was single and lonely: 'I really need my partner.' I am single and thriving. I feel like I'm working on myself so much and am getting to such a good place that I just don't want something to disrupt it" — Khloé Kardashian, who's taught us some harsh love lessons, to Bustle

• "I don't have any guy who doesn't want a woman who is willing to be angry and who doesn't want a woman who is willing to be angry and stand up. I'm not threatening anybody. I can watch whatever I want on TV. So I don't ever want to be married again" — Jane Fonda during a pre-2021 Golden Globes conversation (via Page Six)

• "Many women are not just surviving alone, they're thriving. They're empowered, they're making money, they're being healthy, they're traveling. You are allowed to be proud of your life when you're not part of a couple" — Teri Hatcher to People

• "[A relationship] certainly is not something I'm going to go looking for, because it seems like an enormous amount of work to construct something I've never known. If I'm happy, which I am" – Joan Baez, who's had a gorgeous transformation, to The Telegraph

• "People who embrace single life see it as an offering rather than a lack. Single life offers freedom, the ability to work on personal goals, and to more deeply cultivate non-romantic connections" — Dr. Marisa Franco, Ph.D., to Bustle

• "Although I don't have one special partner... my life is wonderfully full of so much special love. And one of my favorite parts of being single is how I get to choose who I spend my time with, share my heart with, hang with, giggle with, call, dine across from" — Tracee Ellis Ross on Instagram (via Women's Health)

• "Everyone should be single. I'm serious. Be single. Stop dating. Be single. Have a great time alone. Find out for yourself if you can 100 percent be okay alone before you date. That's what I found out" — Chappell Roan on "Call Her Daddy"

• "I recommend to all my friends that they be alone for a while. When you're in love, or dating someone, you filter your life decisions through their eyes. When you spend a few years being who you are, completely unbiased, you can figure out what you actually want" — Taylor Swift, who's taught us many a love lesson, to Seventeen

• "Get to know who you are instead of waiting for some magical person to walk into your life and make you more adventurous, richer, nicer, smarter, sexier, or more relaxed in your own skin. That's too big a job for anyone to take on anyway" — Andrea Bai in "Single Girl Problems: Why Being Single Isn't a Problem to Be Solved"

• "A lot of people kind of wish their singledom away looking for someone else. But I think the whole point of spending that time alone is to really figure out what you need, you know, and who you are in the silence and who you are without someone. That's the best bit" — Dua Lipa to Audacy Music

• "A lot of great things can happen to you while you are single. I came up with a show called 'Grey's Anatomy' while I was single. Just saying" — Shonda Rhimes on Shondaland.com

• "Now, I'm at the point where if I meet someone, they better really elevate my life, because I love being single" — Lucy Hale to Cosmopolitan

• "Something else would suffer if a relationship came along. It would have to be someone so amazing that I would want to make room. Someone who would contribute to my happiness and not take away from it" — January Jones to Red

• "Stay single as long as you need to. Heal. Rest. Rebuild. Relearn love on your terms" — Stefanos Sifandos, relationship teacher, on Facebook

• "I swore I would never ever get in another relationship if it meant changing who I was, or taking me out of that mode where my friends are everything to me" — Taylor Swift to Vanity Fair

• "I refuse to settle... it would be nice to find a partner, but I'd much rather remain single than settle for someone that's undeserving" — Evette Dionne in "Weightless: Making Space for My Resilient Body and Soul – Poignant Essays on Fat, Black Women and Cultural Expectations"

• "I've learnt that just because someone is cute and wants to date you, that's not a reason to sacrifice your independence and allow everyone to say what they want about you" — Taylor Swift to Cosmopolitan U.K.

• "We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child. We get to decide for ourselves what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies. That decision is ours and ours alone" — Jennifer Aniston to HuffPost

• "Selfishly, I don't want to compromise. I don't want to negotiate everything — what to eat for dinner, what movie we're going to see, what TV show we're going to watch in bed. That's a lot of what it is when you're with somebody" — Fran Drescher to People

• "There's too many things going on in the world that I want to be focused on. So, boys and stuff like that, you'd have to be really fantastic to get me to lose my focus" — Chelsea Handler on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show"

• "I would much rather be single and happy than coupled and lonely" — Jill Whelan to People (because you should never be in a relationship just to avoid being alone)