Deep Thoughts Quotes: Wisdom for Reflection

The unexamined life is not worth living.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

Knowledge is power.

We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

Happiness depends upon ourselves.

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

By believing passionately in something that does not yet exist, we create it.

We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.

It is not length of life, but depth of life that matters.

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself.

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate.

In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.

Life expands or contracts in proportion to one’s courage.

Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.

The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.

Life becomes easier when you learn to accept the apology you never got.

Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.

Love is not about possession. It's about appreciation.

To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.

The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.

We loved with a love that was strong than fate.

Absence diminishes small loves and increases great ones, as the wind blows out the candle and fans the bonfire.

The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.

Love makes man grow up and sink down at the same time.

To be brave is to love someone unconditionally, even when you’re not sure you’ll be loved in return.

There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.

Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.

Existence precedes essence.

Nothing in the universe can travel at the speed of light, except light.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.

Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.

I think, therefore I am.

Nothingness lies at the heart of being.

Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.

We invent our lives through our choices.

Each man is born as several men and dies as a single one.

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought.

The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.

Self-discovery is the foundation of fulfillment.

You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.

To find yourself, think for yourself.

The journey into selfhood is the return to the real self.

No tree can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.

The self is not something ready-made. It is formed through choice and action.

Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time' is like saying 'I don't want to.'

The trouble is, you think you have time.

One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.

Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

The past has no power over the present moment.

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift: that’s why they call it the present.

Time is the school in which we learn, time is the fire in which we burn.

The awareness of death intensifies our experience of life.

We are eternal beings having a temporary experience.

Every breath is a reminder: you are alive, now.

Life is not measured in years, but in moments that take your breath away.

Man is wolf to man.

We are all broken—that’s how the light gets in.

What a strange illusion it is to suppose that beauty is goodness.

Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished.

The capacity for wonder is the seed of humanity.

We are made not to shine alone, but to reflect each other’s light.

People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.

The worst enemy of creativity is self-doubt.

Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence.

We are all different, which is great because we are all unique. Without diversity, life would be a bland existence.

Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.

The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.

The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion.

Wherever you are, be there totally.

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.

Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.

Be where you are; otherwise you will miss your life.

The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.

Each morning we are born again. What we do today matters most.

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

To live in the present moment is the highest form of spirituality.

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.

Science is not only a disciple of reason but, also, one of romance and passion.

We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us very special.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

We are stardust seeking itself.

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff.

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

With freedom comes responsibility. With responsibility comes growth.

Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else.

Responsibility is the price of freedom.

True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline.

Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.

Freedom is not given; it is earned through vigilance and courage.

No one is free who is not master of himself.

To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

We are responsible for everything we do, and everything we fail to do.

Freedom is meaningless if people cannot make choices that matter.