Inspire21 has shared uplifting stories since 2000. Some are true, some are told for the lesson in them, and some are written by our own story team. Every story carries a label so you always know which kind you’re reading.
True story
Sent in by a reader who tells us it really happened to them or to someone they know. We read every one, but we can’t verify every detail, so the label means the author says it’s true.
Submitted story
Written and sent in by a reader. It may be a memory, a reflection or a piece of fiction, but it isn’t claimed as fact.
Inspirational fiction
Imagined stories written by the Inspire21 story team with AI assistance and reviewed before publishing. They’re published under pen names, and each pen name is clearly marked as one. The people and events in these stories are not real.
From the archive
Classic stories collected and shared on Inspire21 over the past 25 years. Many have been passed along by email and on the web for decades, and the original author is often unknown. If you know who wrote one, please tell us so we can credit them.
Poems and humor
Poems and funny stories carry their own labels. If one was written by our story team, it is also labelled inspirational fiction.
Pictures
Pictures marked “Illustration” are made for the story and don’t show real people or events.